By KidsDirect Editorial Team

The Complete Babysitter Checklist, Plus How to Find and Keep a Great One

Are the kids driving you a little nuts? It might be time to call a sitter and take a breather. This checklist covers everything worth handing off before you walk out the door, from emergency numbers to screen time rules, plus tips on where to actually find a good sitter and how to keep one once you do.  This is a babysitter checklist for parents.

Important Names and Numbers

• Where you can be reached, and a backup way to reach you if your phone doesn’t get service
• Two nearby friends, relatives, or neighbors
• Fire department
• Police department
• Poison Control, 1-800-222-1222, the national number that reaches your local center anywhere in the U.S.
• Pediatrician
• Hospital (choose one nearby that offers good emergency care for kids)

Instructions to Leave the Sitter

• What your child is allowed to eat and drink
• Bedtime or nap time, and how to enforce it
• Play activities your child enjoys
• Activities that aren’t allowed while you’re gone
• How much screen time your child is allowed, and which shows, apps, or games are okay
• How you want behavior problems handled
• How to use any baby equipment
• A reminder not to open the door to strangers
• A reminder not to tell a caller the sitter is home alone with the kids, just take a message
• Your rules for the sitter’s own phone use, screen time, smoking, and alcohol
• What to do in case of fire or another emergency
• A walkthrough of all entrances and exits, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, first aid supplies, flashlights, and the breaker box
• Your address and clear directions to the house, in case the sitter needs to give directions to emergency responders
• How much screen time your child is allowed, and which shows, apps, or games are okay (our guide to parental control tools can help you set actual limits on a device rather than just leaving it to an honor system)

Emergency Medical Consent Form

Without parental permission, most doctors will only treat a child in a genuinely life threatening situation. To make sure your child can get emergency medical treatment while in a sitter’s care, prepare a signed consent form that includes:

• Your child’s full name and date of birth
• Insurance carrier and policy number
• Your doctor’s name and phone number
• Important medical history, including allergies, chronic conditions, and current medications
• A statement along these lines: “Any licensed physician, dentist, or hospital may give necessary emergency medical care to my child, (child’s name), at the request of the person holding this consent form.”
• Your signature

How to Find a Good Babysitter

When you start the search, a few approaches tend to work better than others.

• Get references from friends or neighbors who already use a sitter they trust.
• Ask around at schools, community centers, or a local pool where teens and college students spend time.
• Check student employment offices at nearby colleges. Recruiting at the start of a semester works well, since that’s when students are still building out their schedules.
• Check with church or community leaders for names of responsible teens.
• Look into a babysitting certification course, like the Red Cross Babysitting and Child Care Training course, available both in person and online. Some libraries, hospitals, and community centers run similar local courses, and either one is a good place to find candidates who’ve already learned the basics, or to send a teen you’d like to train up yourself.
• A trusted sitting app or platform, like Care.com or UrbanSitter, can widen your search beyond word of mouth, though it’s still worth doing your own reference checks rather than relying only on the app’s reviews.
• Ask sitters you already know and trust for names of friends or siblings looking for similar work.
• Think twice about a student who’s heavily booked with school activities and sports. A great sitter who’s never actually available doesn’t solve your problem.
• Give real weight to a sitter who’s also completed pediatric first aid and CPR training. It’s a separate certification from the babysitting course, but it’s the one that actually matters most in a real emergency.

How to Keep a Good Babysitter

Once you’ve found someone you trust, a little effort goes a long way toward keeping them.

• • Take the time to properly introduce a new sitter to your home. Have your kids give the tour if they’re old enough, pointing out favorite play spots and anything that needs a heads up.
  • Be clear about your expectations up front, bedtime, how to handle fights between siblings, your rules on sweets, and anything that’s off limits.
  • For a first assignment, consider a short daytime outing rather than a late night out, so everyone gets comfortable before it counts the most.
  • Check in with your kids too before booking a return visit, not just your own read on how it went.
  • Always leave a number where you can actually be reached, and let the sitter know texting is fine if that’s easier than calling.
  • Stock the fridge with something the sitter likes to eat.
  • Settle on a fair rate up front. It’s worth checking the going rate for sitters in your area, and if you’re happy with someone, consider a raise every six months or so.
  • Book ahead of time when you can, and try to avoid last minute cancellations, which make it a lot less likely a good sitter keeps prioritizing you.
  • Call or text often enough that the sitter feels like a real part of your routine, not someone you only remember exists when you need a night out.

• A small gift around a birthday or the holidays goes further than you’d expect.
• Settle on a fair rate up front. The national average currently runs around $21 an hour for one child, though it swings quite a bit by city, so it’s worth checking the going rate in your own area. If you’re happy with someone, consider a raise every six months or so.