What information should you leave for a babysitter?

Start with how to reach you

The American Academy of Pediatrics keeps a short babysitting checklist on its HealthyChildren.org site, and it opens with phone numbers: the parents, neighbors, the pediatrician, fire and rescue, police, the Poison Help line, the home phone and the home address. Nemours KidsHealth gives nearly the same list and adds friends and relatives, which matters because the most useful backup is someone who can actually come to the door.

Phone numbers alone are not enough. KidsHealth recommends telling the sitter where you will be and how to reach you the whole time, and deciding ahead of time which situations mean the sitter should call 911 before calling you. That conversation takes two minutes in the hallway and saves the sitter from making the decision alone.

Your child, in writing

Anything about your child that could matter in a hurry should be written down, not only mentioned at the door while you look for your keys. KidsHealth names allergies, whether to a food or to bee stings, and any medicine that has to be given at a set time, with the directions written out. The AAP adds a detail many parents miss: a note with each child's date of birth and approximate weight, in case a medical professional needs them.

Both organizations are firm about medicine and food. The AAP's checklist says sitters should never give children any medicine or food unless the parents told them to, and KidsHealth says not to give medicine without your specific instruction. If you do want the sitter to give something, say so and write down how much and when.

For children under 4, KidsHealth lists foods a sitter should not serve because they can block the windpipe: popcorn, nuts, hard candy, raw carrots and other hard, smooth foods. It also says hot dogs and grapes should be chopped into very small pieces, with the skin taken off hot dogs. If your toddler's favorite snack is on that list, the sitter needs to hear it from you.

Routines and house rules

Routines are where sitters improvise most, and children notice. KidsHealth recommends going over the usual schedule for homework, meals and bedtime, and the AAP suggests talking through feeding, bathing and sleeping arrangements. Write times rather than just an order. Dinner at 5:30, bath at 6:45 and lights out at 7:30 tells a sitter much more than "dinner, bath, bed".

Then the rules. The AAP advises parents who rely on more than one sitter to make sure every one of them understands the same rules on media use such as TV, internet and texting, on smoking and drinking, and on taking your child outside. KidsHealth adds the questions parents tend to answer only after something happens: may the sitter leave the house with your child, drive them anywhere, or have visitors over? If the sitter will drive, the AAP says to provide and install the right car seats or booster seats.

Comfort details belong on the sheet too: the name of the stuffed animal that goes to bed, the song that works, whether the hall light stays on. No pediatric checklist asks for them, but they often decide whether bedtime takes ten minutes or an hour.

What a note can't do: the walk-through

Some things are faster to show than to write. KidsHealth suggests showing the sitter the emergency exits, smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, how to turn a security alarm on and off, where the keys to inside doors are kept in case a child locks themselves in a room, and what is in the first-aid kit. The AAP adds pointing out fire escape routes and telling the sitter to leave the house right away in a fire and call the fire department from a neighbor's house or a mobile phone.

The AAP also recommends keeping a flashlight, a first-aid chart and first-aid supplies where a sitter can find them, and storing any guns unloaded in a locked cabinet with the ammunition locked away separately. For a new sitter, both organizations suggest a trial run while you are at home. The AAP's tips for parents go further and suggest paying the sitter for that first hour, so it is a real shift rather than a favor.

Common mistakes

The fridge note that never changes. A sheet written for the first sitter two years ago still lists an old shoe size, a pediatric practice you have since left and a neighbor who moved away. Update the information when something changes, not on the evening you need it.

Saying it instead of writing it. Instructions given in the doorway while a toddler cries are the first thing to be forgotten. KidsHealth specifically recommends writing medicine directions down.

A different version for every sitter. The AAP suggests keeping a list of two or three sitters who know your child, for when your regular sitter is busy or ill. That is good advice, and it also means three people need the same information. Keep one source and send the same thing to each of them, rather than retyping a shorter version for whoever is new.

Leaving out when to call. A sitter who is unsure whether a fall or a fever is worth interrupting your evening will often wait. Say in advance which situations mean 911 first, which mean call you, and which can wait until you are home.

Keeping it in one place

Some families print one page and tape it inside a cupboard door; others keep a note on their phone and text it before each evening out. Either works if it is current and the sitter has it before you leave.

SitterCard is one way to keep it current. It holds your child's allergies and cautions, emergency contacts, bedtime routine, sizes, and pediatrician and insurance numbers on one card on your phone, and sends the sitter an image or PDF with only the parts you choose. It does not replace the walk-through, and it adds no medical guidance of its own.

This guide summarizes published advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics and Nemours KidsHealth. It is not medical advice. Ask your child's doctor about anything specific to your child's health, including allergies and medicines.

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