Choosing to leave your children with a babysitter takes a tremendous amount of trust. These individuals are responsible for our most cherished family members; let’s set them up for success and provide them with all the information they’ll need in case of an emergency.
I’ll talk you through all the information that we’ve included in our babysitter information binder and then keep an eye out for the downloadable template at the end – all you have to do is fill in your own information and print – tadaa!
1. Parental Contact Information
This is where you’ll put down your cell phone numbers, the address and phone number of the place you’ll be (write this on a sticky note, that way you can quickly change it out each time!), your house address and nearest streets and major landmarks.
2. Allergies & Medical Conditions
Write out a brief overview of each child’s health and any major concerns a babysitter should be aware of. Obviously you’ll want to go over this information verbally with them, but humans forget and having it written out can be critical.
3. Emergency Information
Obviously if there is an emergency warranting immediate assistance – your babysitter should call 911 (and then call you).
I know there are a large portion of you who’s homes are like ours – we don’t have a landline telephone. What if the babysitter’s cell phone is dead because they spent the evening after the kids were asleep texting with their friends?
One option we’ve come across is leaving an old cell phone, even without a SIM card, plugged in near this information binder.
According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) cell phones without SIM cards will still let 911 emergency calls go through. (https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/911-wireless-services)
Think about any and all emergency situations you could find yourself needing help with – identify those contact numbers and write them down for the babysitter.
The baby ate a half tube of prescription diaper rash ointment? Having Poison Controls phone number easily accessible can make an incident much less stressful.
Need Police assistance but its not quite 911 worthy? I certainly don’t know my town’s non-emergency number by heart.
Power went out on a blue sky afternoon – the power company’s outage number could be helpful.
You’ll also want to include information on the nearest emergency room – and don’t forget to print out physical driving directions – with maps – from your home address to the emergency room and include them in this binder!
Information such as medical insurance provider, a nurse advice line and pediatrician contact information is also worth writing down.
4. Emergency Contacts
In this section you’ll include the names and phone numbers of individuals you’ve pre-established as emergency contacts – think close neighbors, co-workers, or family friends who live near enough to help a babysitter out should the need arise.
5. Other Information
This is the place for any other information. Full names, birthdays, heights & weights and a current headshot photo of each child are imperative pieces of information in a medical or missing child emergency.
You may also want to include emergency next of kin contact information – think grandparents or close family friends that wouldn’t necessarily be the ones babysitting but could step in to take responsibility for your children should you or your spouse become incapacitated.
6. Attachments
If your children have any special medical protocols or treatment plans include them on their own page here.
At the end of the binder is also a good place to put the printed out driving directions to the emergency room.
7. Bind it up!
Pick up a plastic three ring binder or folder (plastic will protect the paper from the water drops that you didn’t see on the kitchen counter!), print out the information and set it out next to your emergency phone.
Don’t forget to go over the information with each new babysitter!
In Closing
Hopefully some of the points I’ve brought up got you thinking.
This is a simple project that really only cost’s you time, yet could be worth everything should the information be needed.
If you’re interested in putting together your own Babysitter Information Binder you can download a template copy of the one we use below.
What would you add to this binder?
Let me know in the comments section below.
Did you find this helpful?
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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE BABYSITTER INFORMATION BINDER TEMPLATE
