My husband and I went on a trip without our son for 5 days when our son was 9 months old. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were his baby sitters during that time. We were going to be out of cell reception for some of our trip so I wanted to make sure they were prepared in case they couldn’t get a hold of me.
I left lots of instructions, details, and information of pretty much everything they could possibly need to know. If you’re having a babysitter for an extended amount of time, here is what you should include!
Daily routine or schedule
You need to include a daily routine or a schedule that your child follows. It’s important that your babysitter keeps everything as normal as possible. This was the routine we followed:
- 7:30 wake
- 8:00 breakfast
- 9:30 breastmilk 4 oz
- 10:30 nap
- 12:00 wake
- 12:15 lunch
- 2:30 breastmilk 5 oz
- 3:00-3:30 start nap
- 4:30 wake
- 5:15 dinner
- 5:45 breastmilk mix 6-8 oz
- 8:30 bed time
Nap time routine
If your child takes naps, make sure you include the routine you follow for getting them ready. We were co-sleeping at the time and this is the routine we had for our son while we were away.
- Change his diaper
- Bring him to the bedroom
- Say “Alexa bed time” (white noise and night light will turn on)
- Lay him in the middle of the bed several inches below the pillow
- Lay next to him (it is okay for him to turn on his side or his stomach)
- Do not give him a pacifier!
- Once asleep, quietly slink away and let him sleep as long as possible
Bedtime routine
It’s important that your babysitter keeps the routine as close to yours as possible. This was our bedtime routine at the time.
- Give him his night time food (oatmeal & oat milk & breastmilk) after 6 he will drink around 10 oz
- Optional- read him a book
- Start at 8:15
- Put him in a night time diaper insert and (purple) night time cover
- Put him in pajamas
- Take him to his bedroom
- Say “Alexa bed time” (white noise and the night light will turn on)
- Lay him in the middle of the bed several inches below the pillow
- Lay next to him (it is okay for him to turn on his side or his stomach)
- Do not give pacifier!
- Once asleep, quietly slink away and let him sleep
General sleep information
This is the general sleep information that we included so that they knew everything and what was normal behavior for our son.
- His naps typically last at least 1 hour but can last up to 1.5 hours
- Let him cry for 5 seconds just to see if he’s actually awake or just crying in his sleep or peek at the baby monitor to see if he’s sitting up or not.
- If he wakes up before 6 am – get him back to sleep
- Around 4 am he will wake up to drink some milk
- Usually once he’s asleep loud noises don’t really bother him much
- Nothing should be over his face, no blankets should be over his body, he shouldn’t have any stuffed animals
- You can always peek in on him if you’re concerned
- Don’t talk to him or make eye contact while he is trying to go to sleep
- He may try to play around- this does NOT mean he isn’t tired (usually it means he is over tired & NEEDS to go to sleep as soon as possible)
- Tips to get him to sleep:
- Offer him some milk
- Pull him close
- Put your hand close to his face and let him hold onto your pinky and thumb
- Pretend to be asleep
- Stroke his face
- Butt/back pat (if he rolls onto his side or back)
- If desperate hold him on your chest and snuggle until he’s asleep then roll him off and slink away
Food
I actually left a huge list of foods my son could eat, which was completely unnecessary. Make sure to leave information about what food, when, how much, and where food should be eaten. This is an explanation I left for my mother-in-law.
- No Honey
- Starting at 5 pm he eats baby oatmeal, breast milk mix (helps him sleep)
- He eats about 1/3 cup to 3/4 cup of food at each mealtime (he can eat more if he is hungry)
- When he drops food pick it up and put it back on his tray unless he makes it a game
- His tray & high chair should be cleaned after each meal (wiped down with a cloth or taken to the sink and washed off)
- Let him feed himself
- For foods that can be grasped he doesn’t need utensils
- He WILL make a mess
- Gagging is okay
- At each meal offer 2-3 different types of foods
- Start by offering one piece of food to him if/once he either destroys it or eats it offer another
- Offer 2-3 pieces of each food
Related: Family Of 4 Meal Plan
Breastmilk or formula
If your child is still drinking breastmilk or formula, make sure your babysitter knows all the information they need to know, including how much, when, and how to prepare it. This is what we included:
- He should be eating about 20oz each day
- He will eat about 4-8 oz 4-5 times a day
- He typically eats at 4 am (small snack- sometimes 1:40 am), 9 am, 1pm, 5pm
- Fill the bottle with 2 oz oat milk and the rest breastmilk
- Try not to heat up more milk than is needed
- It takes about 15 hours for milk to defrost in the fridge
- Defrosted breastmilk can be kept in the fridge (once defrosted) for 1 day if it has never been warmed
- Defrosted breastmilk can be kept at room temperature for up to 8 hours
- If defrosted breastmilk just came from the fridge it will take up to 2 hours to get to room temperature
- To heat milk boil water in the tea kettle & submerge a bottle or bag or run water over the bag in an empty sink.
- If I’m a pinch milk doesn’t need to be heated and can be consumed cold (he just needs to drink slower or he will get upset from brain freeze)
- His bottle needs to be cleaned out with dish soap & a dedicated sponge (not used for other dishes)
- If he finishes a bottle of milk during the day then give him solids if he’s still hungry. At night he should be drinking 2 full bottles and one during the night.
Potty training
We were using elimination communication for our son and it was working most of the time. If your child is potty training make sure you include any help your child may need. Are they used to you pulling their pants down, are you in the room while they go, are they scared of the toilet flushing? This is the information we provided:
- Take him to the potty as soon as he wakes & after solid food meals
- If he heads to a corner and is very quiet see if he needs to go
- If he is tooting a lot see if he needs to go
- If he is grunting and squatting he is probably pooping
- Make cue sound
- You may need to put one finger on his penis to aim into the toilet (or you might get sprayed) he doesn’t know how to aim
- Give him about 2-3 minute to pee and poop (singing songs can help him stay happy/ entertained- he also likes peek-a-boo with the shower curtain)
- When/if he does go clap and cheer/ be excited for him
- If he doesn’t it’s not a big deal put him in a clean diaper
- The inner part of the potty needs to be rinsed out (the tub is the easiest place)
Related: Potty Training
Diapering
If your child is in diapers still, make sure you provide information on when they need to be changed, how often, and any other information related to diapering. We were using cloth diapers and my mother-in-law was familiar with how to change them.
- Check his diaper:
- As soon as he wakes
- Before sleeping
- After being in the high chair
- If it’s been 1 hour since the last change
- He seems incredibly fussy & nothing else seems to be the problem (it may be a poop)
- You smell poop
- If his diaper is dry the insert can be reused
Other information
We included this other information about caring for our child.
- The passcode for the iPad (our baby monitor connects to it)
- I try to fill up his water bottle about 3/4 of the way full (with a few ice cubes and water) in the morning
- Put him to sleep when he is super fussy or it is nap/bed time
- Expect him to be awake for about 3-4 hours at a time
- Try to keep track of when he is asleep, and when he poops
- If he falls/ tips tell him he’s okay (even if he cries). If it was a hard bump he might need some cuddling
- If he goes for or grabs something he shouldn’t (trash can, vacuum, inside of dishwasher) tell him “no” & put him in time out. If he continues more than 3 times pull him away and distract him
- His car seat center buckle should be up to his armpits
- Floors will need to be vacuumed every day (he will pick up every small piece of anything he can find)
- Shut doors as necessary – we keep the hobby room and bedroom doors shut
- He can be left alone in the living room for very short periods of time
Laundering diapers
Since we use cloth diapers, we needed to include how to wash diapers, as we only have enough to last two or three days. If your baby sitter will need to wash clothes, diapers, or anything else make sure they know how. Make sure you are specific. These were the instructions we left:
- His poop is no longer water soluble so it now needs to be shaken off in the toilet or sprayed off before being washed in the washer. Not all of the poop needs to be off the diaper- just the bulk of it/ as much as possible
- Take the whole diaper pail liner and put it inside out into the washer
- Put 1 scoop of powder (from the blue jar) into the powder section
- Put vinegar up to the fill line of the fabric softener slot
- Turn the washer to hot
- Press the extra rinse and deep rinse buttons
- Press the start button
- Do not dry diaper covers!
- Dry on timed dry for 40 minutes
- If the laundry smells bad when it’s done in the washer, put it through another load with laundry powder and vinegar again
Related: The Ultimate Cloth Diaper Guide
Sign language
If you use sign language with your baby, make sure your babysitter knows about them how to use them and when. These were some signs we were using:
- More – for food/ milk
- All done – with food & potty
- Drink – when he might want some milk or water
- Eat – when he might be hungry
Locations
It’s important that your babysitter knows where things are. We included a list of where we keep things in our home. Some items you may want to include:
- Food
- Diapers
- Extra night time diapers
- Favorite toys, & stuffed animals
- Books
- Burp cloths
- Clean up cloths
- Extra sheets
- Baby carriers
- Pain killer
- Thermometer
- Bandaids
- Trash (where trash bags are & where they should put full trash bags)
House Information
If your babysitter is staying at your home you may need them to take care of some house things. One great thing to include is contacts for if something goes wrong. We had a personal experience with this when our heating stopped working while we were on a flight. The next time we leave our kids with a babysitter, we plan on leaving information on our preferred service provider for the following.
- Heating
- Fuel
- Plumbing
- Electric
- Plowing
- Any helpful neighbors
Other requests
Make sure you include anything else you might need your babysitter to take care of. Here are some things they may need to do:
- Water the plants
- Check the mail
- Bring packages inside
- Take care of pets (make sure to include specific instructions)
- Turn on or off outdoor lights
Something else to consider is to set up your Alexa to give reminders to your babysitter. they may find it creepy, but they may find it helpful. You can always ask them if they would like that.
