The Complete Babysitter Information Sheet: Printable Template and What to Include

Every parent has done the doorway briefing. The sitter has arrived, your ride is outside, and you're delivering the entire operating manual for your children in ninety seconds while putting on a coat. "The numbers are on the fridge. Well, my number is. Bedtime is eight, eight-thirty is fine, there's an EpiPen somewhere, you have my cell, okay bye!"

The sitter, who is seventeen and polite, nods. Maybe forty percent of that sticks. A babysitter information sheet exists so that the other sixty percent is written down. Here's what a complete one includes, and how to make it once instead of every time.

Download the free printable template (PDF) — a one-page fill-in version of all seven sections below.

Section 1: Reaching you

Both parents' cells, where you'll actually be (venue name and address, since "dinner" is not a location), and roughly when you'll be back. If you'll be somewhere phones get silenced, say so and give the venue's number.

Section 2: The backup adult

One nearby person the sitter can call if they can't reach you, with name, number, relationship, and distance. This single line is what separates a professional-grade sheet from a fridge note. It gives the sitter a human fallback before anything escalates. Make sure that person knows they're on duty tonight.

Section 3: Emergency numbers

911 goes without saying, so say it anyway. Add your street address written out (under stress, on an unfamiliar street, this is the line that matters most), Poison Control (1-800-222-1222), the pediatrician, the nearest urgent care, and the key-holding neighbor.

Section 4: Per-kid essentials

For each child, list their age, allergies in large friendly letters with the reaction and the response ("peanuts. EpiPen in the cabinet above the toaster. Use it, then call 911, then call us"), any medications with exact doses and times, and the honest behavioral briefing ("will claim bedtime is 10. It is 8.").

Section 5: The routine

Meals and what's off-limits, bath yes or no, the bedtime sequence (bath, teeth, two books, night-light on, in that order, because sequence is everything to a four-year-old), and screen rules. The routine section is the part of the sheet a sitter will actually reread. Nobody wants to negotiate bedtime liturgy with your toddler from a cold start.

Section 6: The house

Wi-Fi network and password, door locks and the alarm code if they need it, where the flashlight lives, quirks worth knowing ("the smoke detector chirps, it's the battery, ignore it," though better yet, fix it), and pet instructions, including the dog's whole deal.

Section 7: House rules for the sitter

The visitors policy, the phone and photo policy (many parents ask sitters not to post photos of the kids, which is entirely reasonable and easier to write than to say), and what's open kitchen versus off-limits.

The maintenance problem, and the fix

Most babysitter sheets die for one reason. They're rewritten from scratch every time, so they degrade to the ninety-second doorway version by the third date night. The durable approach is one living master document, updated when things change (a new allergy protocol, a new pediatrician, a new bedtime), and printed fresh when a sitter comes.

This is exactly the shape of thing a shared household contact system does well. In KeeperCircle, the people on the sheet (sitters, backup adults, the pediatrician, the neighbor) are already household contacts with current numbers, a babysitter list template shows you what a complete handoff includes, and paid households can print a clean sheet each time instead of resurrecting a Word doc from 2023. Whatever tool you use, the principle holds. Maintain once, print many.

Two-way street: your sitter is a contact too

While you're at it, keep good records on the caregiver side, including the sitter's number, their parents' number for younger sitters, rates, availability patterns, and your own private notes ("great with the baby, keep the dog crated"). Future-you, booking a Friday at 4pm, will be grateful.

Make it tonight

Draft the seven sections above. It takes about twenty minutes, most of it on Sections 4 and 5. Walk the sitter through it for two minutes when they arrive, leave it on the counter, and go enjoy your dinner.