by Heather Horn

Created on: January 29, 2009

Every child is unique. Your babysitter needs your help to provide the best possible care for your child, no matter how much previous experience he or she has. Talk to your sitter before leaving the house, and keep these areas of information in mind.

1. MEDICAL UPDATES
If your child has allergies, is on a prescription, or may be coming down with an illness, let your sitter know. Make sure the sitter is comfortable administering any medications that your child might need. Tell them what medicines you use for things like teething or headaches, including the doses you give your child. Make sure they know how to administer other medications such as insulin shots or allergy shots. Keep the sitter updated if new allergies or illnesses pop up.

2. BEHAVIORAL ISSUES
Let your sitter know if your child has been having any behavioral issues and how you have been handling these issues. Be honest. If your child has been difficult to handle lately, you should bring this up so that your sitter can ask you questions. You should prepare your sitter to handle issues like separation anxiety, biting, lying, problems falling asleep at naptime, and refusing to eat at mealtimes. Consistency is important for your child, so let your sitter know how you handle discipline. If your sitter isn't comfortable with your method of discipline, try to come up with something that works for both of you. Remember, your word is the bottom line on this. If your sitter isn't willing to use discipline that you are comfortable with, you may want to look up a different sitter.

3. BIG EVENTS
If something big just changed in your child's life or if there is a big event coming up, let your sitter know so they can handle unusual behavior. Excitement, nerves, grief, and other emotions affect your child's behavior, and your sitter should know what's going on so they can be the best possible help to your child. Even something that seems private might be important for your sitter to know if it could be affecting your child.

4. CONTACT INFORMATION
Make sure your sitter always has an updated list of people to contact in case of any unforeseen event. The sitter should have phone numbers for the family doctor, nearby relatives, neighbors, and family friends that could help out in an emergency. Of course, you should also leave information on how to contact you- office numbers if you are at work, the restaurant phone number if you go out, or your cell phone number if you will have the cell phone on.

5. DEVELOPMENTAL INFORMATION
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