Safety Babysitting Tips

Every babysitter, no matter how experienced he or she might be, keeps an eye out for good babysitter tips and babysitter training techniques. Every child is different and will require different methods and tactics to get them to behave, to help them have fun and to keep them safe. Here are some of the most popular babysitting tips that we could find:

Important Contact Numbers

Make sure you have all of the proper emergency contact information for each of your charges before the parents leave the house. Do not let the parents leave until they have provided you with at least three phone numbers to call in case of an emergency. These numbers need to be for people who can make decisions regarding the care of the child, not the standard numbers for police, fire and ambulance.

Health Issues

Make sure you know about any potential health issues or special instructions before the parents leave. Allergies, major fears, personality quirks—all of these need to be told to you before the parents leave. If a meal needs to be served, ask the parents what they would like you to serve or if there are any special treats to let the kids have (or things to keep them away from).

House Rules

Ask for the major house rules before the parents leave. Kids will tell you "my parents say it's okay" 100% of the time if you catch them doing something you think will probably not be allowed. Always err on the side of caution. If the parents truly do allow a certain activity or behavior, the charge can do that when the parents are home.

Create a Form

It is a good idea to provide the parents with something that makes it easy to list all of the previously mentioned babysitting tips. In babysitter training you should develop a form for the parents to fill out that will provide you with this information. Dropping off the form a day or two early is a good idea (always call the parents first to make sure that it is okay to drop by) or show up fifteen minutes early or so to give the parents time to go over the list with you.

Tour

Have your babysitting charges give you a tour of their home. They will enjoy showing off their home and belongings and you can use the tour to identify potential emergency escape routes or potential safety hazards to distract the children from. This is one of the babysitting tips that isn't quite as relevant if you have plenty of experience with a charge already.

These are just five babysitting tips to help you make sure that your babysitting charges are safe, protected and still able to have fun. When it comes to babysitter training you will probably encounter more tips and hints than you know what to do with. Here is the biggest and best babysitting tip you can get: When in doubt, play it safe and keep it lighthearted! This will help you keep the kids safe without scaring them!