Sitters... what info relating to routines do you leave behind...

kel716

We're having our first 'in our house' sitter soon, and beyond the usual emergency numbers, what information do you leave relating to routines, etc...  All of our sitters up to now have either been family members or a personal friend.  This one isn't either of those. 

(eg, dinner, bedtime, etc...)

Thanks

adamsbabble

I'm sure my MIL thinks I'm crazier than a loon (and she's probably right) but when I was in early labor at my house with Lila, I typed up and printed out a two page document and put it front and center on my fridge.  It included:

-General info (our address, phone #, children's names and birthdates... stuff she knows but in an emergency might not remember off the top of her head)

-Contact numbers (our numbers, other family members numbers, doctor, Ava's school, local hospital, poison control)

-Daily schedule (which I pointed out was just a guide, I wasn't going to freak if she didn't follow it exactly

-Allergy notes (very important)

-Additional helpful notes (things like "Charlotte has to have her soft pink doll to get to sleep" and "Sprout is channel 336" lol)

JenRose05

you aren't crazy Kessler, we did the same thing when I was in the hospital with N. FIL had Ben for 3 days so I emailed the list to him and he made it in to a spreadsheet, haha!

Moesten

When we were out of town and my IL's or my sister were watching them I printed out a whole daily schedule.

But for regular sitters I don't write out a schedule. I spend about 15-30 minutes walking them through the routine when they come to the house. Sometimes they end up jotting things down like dinner time or instructions for the humidifier, what blanket and bear K needs for bedtime, etc.  

Klmorgan83

We haven't had a non-family sitter yet, but with my MIL I have to write it all out because she has a short attention span when I'm trying to tell her stuff....she gets distracted easily playing with the boys and doesn't listen to me!

But I write down when Noah gets a snack, the time she has to cut off liquids, when bath starts, the easiest way to handle bathing two of them, turn sound machines and fans on, how/when to give medicine if needed.  I also make sure I have all of their pj's and overnight diapers out and ready to go, things like that. 

KYmama9286

If I were leaving Nicholas for more than 24 hours I would write a more detailed schedule for the person but that would be more for them than for me. I remember watching my nephews for like 4-5 days a couple years ago and my sister left a pretty detailed schedule which at first I thought was silly until the first day alone with them where I ran out of things to do after a few hours and it was helpful to have some structure since they weren't my kids and I didnt have any kids of my own at the time.

If I am just leaving Nicholas for the night I might jot down a few notes (bedtime between 7:30/8pm, takes bottle before bed (located in fridge), let him cry for 15-20 mins before going in-- call if you have any problems). But I also tell people watching DS that they can do what they need to do since they are in charge and if that means Nicholas is still up when we get home than so be it. I've found Nicholas is better for other people than he is for us when it comes to bedtime. 

ETA: I have a paper I always keep posted on the fridge with all emergency info (including local fire and police and poison control) plus I keep a notebook in the diaper bag with all of our family health care information-- it has specific contact info for all Nicholas' specialists, copies of our insurance card, hospital options, medicine info, etc. but that is more b/c Nicholas has special health issues and if he gets seriously sick and has to go to the ER there are special precautions to take.