Preparing for babysitter

[SomethingNastyInTheBallPool]

We’re using a paid babysitter tomorrow night for the first time ever, and I’ve just realised I’ve no idea what we should be providing for her.

We’ll show her where the tea and coffee are, obvs, and how the telly works. Do we need to lay on some snacks? Would you offer the Wi-Fi password? Anything else? Crazy times!

Wifi password yes. List of emergency numbers.
Snacks, nice but not necessary.

Thank you! Now I just have to pray fervently that DD goes to sleep nicely so we can escape…

Make sure they know the layout of the house, I used to sit for a creakingly well to do couple and their house was enormous, finding the nearest bathroom was daunting the first time I was there. If your child is old enough, reinforce that they aren’t telling the truth when informing babysitter that supper snack is lots of chocolate and that their bedtime really is midnight.

Hope you enjoy the evening

Not relevant at the moment but if you use a babysitter in the colder months, please make sure they are warm enough, either show them how to work heating or provide some form of heater or at least blankets to wrap up on the sofa. The number of times I used to babysit and the heating would go off at 2100 but I'd be there until 0100 shivering!

If you lock the doors, make sure you let her know where the keys to get out are incase of emergency....maybe where the calpol is, and home telephone if you have one, incase of lack of mobile signal/dead phone battery.
I guess as long as you keep your phone on you and not on silent, most things the sitter could ring about to ask if she needed to.
I used to babysit ALOT and snacks and drinks were much appreciated (just a tin of cheap biscuits and tea/coffee/squash is sufficient) Also the heating thing is a good point!

I hadn’t even thought about the heating! An excellent point for when it gets a bit colder.

Luckily the babysitter knows our house, as she is a carer who looks after DD for a few hours every weekend. But that’s arranged (and paid for) by the council so I have no idea what the etiquette is for standard babysitting.