Help Your Babysitter Prepare for Anything
Everyday activities keep many parents so busy that they can't take their children
with them everywhere.
That makes it crucial to find the right babysitter and make sure that the sitter can
be entrusted with your child.
When you're looking for a babysitter, give yourself enough time to be selective. You
should:
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Look for a sitter within your circle of friends, church, or community.
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Look for a sitter who is 13 years or older and mature enough to handle basic household
emergencies.
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Look for someone who already works with children.
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Have the sitter spend time with you before babysitting to meet the children and learn
their routines.
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Always check references.
Safe Sitter, a national organization devoted to training adolescents to become safe
babysitters, strongly recommends that the sitter have had some babysitting training.
This should include what to do if a child begins to choke, basic first aid, and CPR.
Parents must also make sure that their home provides first aid supplies and a safe
environment.
To make sure your sitter is ready for any situation that arises and knows how to get
help, give the sitter this checklist for use in an emergency:
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Family name:
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Phone number:
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Address:
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Children's names and ages:
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Children's allergies, medical history, and daily medicines:
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Phone number where parent or guardian will be:
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Address where parent or guardian can be reached:
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Cell phone numbers:
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Neighbor's name and phone number:
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Local relative's phone number:
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Local emergency phone number:
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Healthcare provider's name:
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Healthcare provider's phone number:
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Insurance name and number:
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Poison control center:
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Police:
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Ambulance:
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Fire department:
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What time you will be home:
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggests that if your child is close to age
12, the sitter should be quite a bit older. This will help your child to see the sitter
as being old enough to have authority. The AAP also suggests, that in addition to
checking references, you also speak with the sitter's parents before hiring so you
can get a sense of how the teenager handles responsibility.
Finally, make certain the sitter is clear on your "house rules" regarding what can
be watched on TV, visitors, telephone use, smoking or drinking, and taking your child
outside. Taking the time to find the right sitter will allow you to enjoy your out-of-home
activity with minimal worries about your child.
What to know about preventing SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths
Here are recommendations from the AAP on how to reduce the risk for sudden infant
death syndrome (SIDS) and sleep-related deaths from birth to age 1 to share with your
babysitter:
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Place the infant on his or her back for all sleep or naps until the child is 1-year-old.
This can decrease the risk for SIDS, aspiration, and choking. Never place the baby
on his or her side or stomach for sleep or naps. If the baby is awake, allow the child
time on his or her tummy as long as there is supervision. This helps the child build
strong tummy and neck muscles. This will also help minimize flattening of the head
that can happen when babies spend so much time on their backs.
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Offer the baby a pacifier for sleeping or naps. If the child is breastfeeding, do
not give the baby a pacifier until breastfeeding has been fully established.
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Use a firm mattress (covered by a tightly fitted sheet) to prevent gaps between the
mattress and the sides of a crib, a play yard, or a bassinet. This can decrease the
risk for entrapment, suffocation, and SIDS.
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Share the room instead of your bed with the baby. Putting the baby in bed with you
raises the risk for strangulation, suffocation, entrapment, and SIDS. Bed sharing
is not recommended for twins or other multiples. The AAP recommends that infants sleep
in the same room as their parents, close to their parents' bed, but in a separate
bed or crib appropriate for infants. This sleeping arrangement is recommended ideally
for the baby's first year, but should at least be maintained for the first 6 months.
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Avoid using infant seats, car seats, strollers, infant carriers, and infant swings
for routine sleep and daily naps. These may lead to obstruction of an infant's airway
or suffocation.
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Avoid placing infants on a couch or armchair for sleep. Sleeping on a couch or armchair
puts the infant at a much higher risk of death, including SIDS.
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Avoid using illicit drugs and alcohol, and don't smoke while babysitting. Don't allow
the baby to be around anyone who is smoking.
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Avoid over bundling, overdressing, or covering an infant's face or head. This will
prevent him or her from getting overheated, reducing the risks for SIDS.
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Avoid using loose bedding or soft objects—bumper pads, pillows, comforters, blankets—in
an infant's crib or bassinet to help prevent suffocation, strangulation, entrapment,
or SIDS.
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Avoid using cardiorespiratory monitors and commercial devices—wedges, positioners,
and special mattresses—to help decrease the risk for SIDS and sleep-related infant
deaths. These devices have not been shown to prevent SIDS. In rare cases, they have
resulted in the death of an infant.
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Always place cribs, bassinets, and play yards in hazard-free areas—those with no dangling
cords, wires, or window coverings—to reduce the risk for strangulation.