Home Safety Month: Babysitter Safety Tips
Leaving home for a night can be tough when you have little ones. Sometimes you have no choice but to hire a babysitter. Hiring a sitter is a great option for an evening of childcare—as long as you are careful about it. In honor of Home Safety Month (observed each June), we’ve compiled a few tips to help you choose the safest babysitter:
Make Sure The Sitter is Certified
The American Red Cross offers a babysitter training course for kids between 11 and 15. The class includes tips on making good decisions, keeping kids safe and handling emergencies. If you’d like your babysitter to be certified, consider offering to pay for them to take the class.
Leave Important Numbers
Make a list of important numbers, and put them next to the house phone. In the smartphone age, it’s also a good idea to have the babysitter put these numbers directly into his or her phone. Numbers to include are neighbors, family members, local police and fire departments as well as poison control.
Image credit: ehow.com.
Go over your Emergency Plan
Have the babysitter review your family’s emergency plan and show him or her where you keep your preparedness kit. Make sure the sitter knows how to operate your weather radios and where to go in the case of severe weather.
Along with these tips, it’s always a good idea to have your sitter spend some time with your children before staying alone with them for the evening. Also make sure your babysitter knows about any medications, allergies or conditions (asthma for example) your child has.
What are your criteria for choosing a safe babysitter?
