Must Do’s Before Leaving Your Child With A Babysitter
If you are a new parent then it is likely that at one point or other, you may have to leave your child with a babysitter who can either be a relative or a qualified & experienced care-giver. In this article, we are going to discuss certain things that every parent must prepare for in advance to make this transition simpler and efficient.
Must Do’s Before Leaving Your Child With A Babysitter
Leaving your child in someone else’s care can be a very stressful task for new parents bringing anxiety regarding child’s safety. Use the given checklist for all the preparation that parents must do before leaving the child with the babysitter.
1) Prepare a list of all the Critical information and share with Babysitter
While the babysitter can be experienced or be a known person to the parents, it is critical to equip them with all the information needed to quickly seek support in case of an emergency. Since the caregiver can be new to that particular area/block, it is important to assume that they will not have all the contact information and share it beforehand.
- Parent’s Phone Numbers
- Contact Information of someone in neighborhood
- Alternate emergency contact like Grandparents or a relative
- Doctor Contact Information
- Nearby Fire station contact
- Nearest Hospital Information
- Information about any kind of Allergy that child maybe suffering from
2) Items to Discuss with Babysitter
Parents must make sure to discuss these items with the babysitter –
- Properly check the reference and experience. Reach out to other parents using the same service to make sure you are completely comfortable.
- Ensure that the babysitter has proper medical training
- Spend some time with babysitter along with the child and observe how they make the child comfortable.
- Make sure that the babysitter is aware of child’s habits or any particular known issue / trigger.
- Give a proper walk-through of the house and show the fire escape route and location of critical areas.
- Show the babysitter location of first aid kit & smoke detectors/alarms
- Walk the babysitter through the emergency list compiled earlier and introduce them to the emergency contacts.
3) Preparation Activities For Parents
Parents should make sure that –
- All the weapons present in the house should be duly unloaded and safely locked inside
- All expensive jewelry should be locked safely but some emergency cash should be left with the babysitter
- Babysitter is aware of child’s eating habits and food timings
- Make sure that food is prepared in advance based on how parents feed the child
- Emergency Contact information is kept up to date
Do you have any other activities that you would like to share with us ? Please let us know through your comments below.
