How To Talk To Your Babysitter About Safety

Your babysitter’s primary job is to keep your children safe while they are under the sitter’s care. While your babysitter may have a basic understanding of child safety, every child and household is different. Therefore, it is important that you take the time to make sure your babysitter is aware of child safety, especially as it pertains to your children and household.

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Set clear rules

Before your babysitter’s shift, take the time to go over the rules and expectations you have for them. It may be tempting to just state the rules, but you may want to explain why a rule exists, especially if it pertains to your child’s safety. This will help your sitter know why rules exist and be mindful of the safety of your child. If your babysitter consistently breaks the rules, especially ones in place for your child’s safety, you may need to find a new babysitter.

Prepare your sitter

Your babysitter will be prepared to help keep your child safe if you prepare your babysitter for what happens in your household. This is especially true if your child has an allergy or medical condition. Alerting your babysitter to this information and how to handle things that may arise can help ensure that your child is safe and your babysitter feels ready for their shift. Take the time to answer any questions they have so they can feel confident in any emergency situation that may arise.

Talk about childproofing

It is likely that you have childproofed your house to help keep your child safe. When you do a walkthrough of your house, be sure to point out anything that is childproofed so your babysitter knows that a lock or a gate needs to be there for a reason and your babysitter can be mindful of these precautions.  If your babysitter does not know they exist or do not know the reasoning behind them, they may be more likely to overlook them, putting your child in danger.

Child’s behaviors

If your child is known to have dangerous behaviors such as climbing on furniture, it is crucial to let your babysitter know so they can keep an extra eye out to keep your child safe. Even if you are actively working on addressing these issues with your child, your babysitter still needs to be aware of this so they can be mindful and make sure your child is not doing something that could hurt them. These behaviors can include climbing and jumping off furniture, putting harmful or dangerous items in their mouths, and other dangerous things.

Share what you are comfortable with

Even if you are not around, your feelings are valid. Even if your babysitter may be comfortable with something, if you are not comfortable with your child partaking in an activity, your sitter needs to respect this. These rules and expectations need to be communicated to your babysitter ahead of time and can include activities such as the playground and the pool. You may want to explain your reasoning so it really hits home for your babysitter, though your sitter needs to follow your rules and expectations regardless of your reasoning.

Be open to questions

After you have been through all of the rules, expectations, and walkthroughs, your babysitter may have questions. If the babysitter does not have any in the moment, let them know that they can contact you at a later point if something comes up. Also, try to check in during the babysitter’s shift or allow them to contact you. If they are unable to reach you, be sure they have the contact information for a friend, family member, or neighbor nearby who they can contact if they have a question or concern during the shift. Leave emergency numbers, from local organizations to friends and family.

Household technology

Many households use various forms of technology to help keep their families safe. This includes baby cams and security systems. Be sure your babysitter is aware of how and when to use these pieces of equipment and how to turn them on and off. This is especially true if your babysitter is watching your child overnight and needs to set the security system. It is also important that you talk to your babysitter about when the kids can use the TV, tablets, or phones and when your babysitter can use these for their own personal use. This will help keep your kids safe as your babysitter will be attentive and will know when your kids can use technology. Set expectations for how long they can have screen time and if there are any guidelines for what they can do.

Focus on the kids

Having arbitrary rules that do not make sense can seem overwhelming for your babysitter. However, if you put the rules in the light of ensuring your child’s safety, your babysitter will have a better understanding of why the rule exists and will be more inclined to be sure it is being followed. Stressing how important this is to you and your child will help them understand that it needs to be followed.

Your child’s safety is the most important responsibility of a babysitter, so being able to talk to your babysitter about safety topics is crucial for your child’s well-being.