Babysitting A Sleepover: How to Prep Your Sitter

Children love to have sleepovers with their friends, but they do typically require supervision, especially if they are younger. Leaving children unattended and alone throughout the night can be very dangerous, but what if you’re unable to do so due to unforeseen circumstances or long-term plans? If you have a babysitter you know and trust, you can look to them for help. If they haven’t babysat a sleepover before, there is a little bit of prep that goes into it on your part so that they know what to expect and how to proceed throughout the night, but it mostly requires clear communication. If you want your babysitter to watch a sleepover, you can easily prep your sitter for the evening.

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Tell Them About the Kids

It’s important that the babysitter knows what they’re getting into when working the sleepover so they can prepare accordingly. How many kids will be attending the sleepover? Taking care of two children for the evening is much different than taking care of five! You should also give your sitter a quick rundown about their names, personalities, and other important information, such as allergies. After all, your sitter will be responsible for all of the kids at a sleepover, not just your own. They need to understand how to handle everyone attending. Sleepovers can be very mentally draining!

Provide Important Rules

Your sitter needs to know what is and isn’t allowed to happen during the sleepover. While children like to stay up late talking and having fun, you might want something to stop them at a certain time. Maybe movies need to be off by 9, lights out at 10, or something along those lines, depending on the ages of your children. If you have a usual nighttime routine and want your children to stick to it throughout the sleepover, brief your babysitter on it so they can follow it.

Other rules to consider are how often you would like to be updated. Do you want texts or calls every hour to hear how things are going, or do you only want to be disturbed in an emergency? No matter how small some of your rules may be, your sitter won’t know about them unless you provide them!

Plan Sleepover Activities

Running a sleepover is sometimes easier said than done. Children want fun things to do with their friends before finally going to sleep. Planning activities for your babysitter to host is a great way to take a load off their shoulders while also giving everyone something to do. These activities don’t have to be anything elaborate, but you can provide them with some DVDs or movies, board games, arts and craft supplies, or even some kitchen experiments if they don’t mind a little cleaning up!

You can also suggest that your sitter bring games of their own that your children don’t have as much experience with! Trying new games can always bring some excitement to the sleepover for both your sitter and your children.

Communicate Expectations

While your sitter likely knows what to do while babysitting a sleepover, it’s always great to communicate what exactly you expect from them throughout the night. Do you want constant supervision, or is it okay if they stay one room over? Do they need to stay up all night in case some type of emergency happens or the kids get up to mischief? You might want your sitter to be more involved in a younger child’s sleepover versus an older child. Consider what exactly you want your sitter to do throughout the night and make sure they’re aware before the sleepover starts.

Include Necessary Supplies and Information

While your babysitter is responsible for packing their own overnight bag, there are some supplies you can and should provide your babysitter with, such as important supplies for emergencies or general maintenance. A babysitter might be unsure what you have or don’t have at home, and it can be difficult to plan if they’re not told beforehand.

This includes a first aid kit, cleaning supplies, even extra cash just in case, and less concrete supplies like emergency contacts that they should reach if something should happen, and where the emergency exits and fire extinguishers are. While you hopefully won’t need these, your babysitter should be prepared in the worst-case scenario. By giving these to the babysitter, you are ensuring that they have everything they need to help the sleepover and night go smoothly.

If you are able to plan and prep your sitter for your children’s sleepover, they will know exactly what you expect and help things go off without a hitch. You can help them mentally prepare by giving them information and supplies so they show up and host the best sleepover your children could imagine while you get a lovely night off.