BABYSITTER BOX

I'm due to start back at work really soon and I know that sometimes Jamie's and my work schedule are probably going to clash...

 Not only that, but we also need a date night every now and then (check out my year of dates!) and sometimes I just need some time out to myself and to see my friends. So today I've been creating a 'BABYSITTER BOX'.

The last time one of our parents looked after Evie, it was really last minute and there was barely anytime between our reservation and explaining to them EVERYTHING that we needed to. Your child grows so quickly and what was her routine one week can change pretty drastically the next. Not only do you need to explain what your child needs, but you need to let them know how the TV works, where everything is that they might need for your child like nappies and wipes and all the information they might need in case of an emergency.

I've decided to create the 'BABYSITTER BOX' so that anyone who looks after Evie, no matter how short notice, will have all of the information they could possibly need! 

This is SO quick and easy to pull together. Here is the list of what WILL BE in our box;

PRINTABLES: EMERGENCY INFORMATION, EVIE'S ROUTINE

BABY ESSENTIALS: NAPPIES, WIPES, MEDICINE ETC

FOOD AND DRINK FOR THE BABYSITTER

A GUIDE TO OUR HOUSE: HOW TO WORK THE TV ETC

PRINTABLES

Obviously I haven't actually included our REAL information, but this is the 'printable' that I have created with our Emergency Information on. On our actual one, and not the one shown here, I have filled in all the information but left the _ _ _ _ _ _ parts blank. This is because this information will change every time we need a babysitter and we can fill those parts in by hand. I will be printing off several of these and leaving them out so Jamie and I can fill them in at a moments notice and add them to the box.

I felt that it was important to include Evie's information and our address incase Evie falls ill. She's been really poorly recently and we've had to contact the 'Out Of Hours' Doctor a couple of times. When you ring them they need information like the address you're at, your child's date of birth and which surgery they are registered with. Even though it is likely that family will be looking after Evie, they might not know this information off the top of their head and sometimes in unexpected situations it is sometimes helpful to have things written and to hand if anything happens.

Your child's routine can change from month to month. This will be another printable that we will print several blank copies of for quick use. Although things like Evie's bedtime routine is always the same, her food is different everyday and she can sometimes decide to change when she is waking up altogether! I created this routine planner to cover EVERY detail more to give myself peace of mind as well as to really help the babysitter. With Evie, she has two toys and a favourite book that immediately soothes her. I will be including this information to help if she cries and to give the babysitter a bit more information of what she loves to play with. 

BABY ESSENTIALS

The box will also have nappies, wipes, nappy sacks, calpol, a bib and muslin square in it. These are all the essential things we need every day and it is easier to get them ready and altogether so that they babysitter doesn't need to go in search for all of them. I don't know about the rest of you, but in our house all of our things are in different and specific places. Sometimes I even have to leave things out for Jamie because he STILL asks which drawer things are in. Perhaps I should make a 'DADDY'S BOX' for when he's home. 

FOOD & DRINK

The last time my Mum and Paps came to look after Evie, one of them ended up popping out for snacks. We had completely forgotten to tell them where our snack drawer was and that they could help themselves to anything! How rude of us! I also know from previous baby-sitting experience how awkward it is when somebody tells you to help yourself to food and you feel really strange rummaging through their cupboards. So I've decided to include some snacks in the box. If I have time I'll probably cater this to whoever is baby-sitting by including their favourite biscuits or chocolate etc. We'll also print this out and put it on top of the snacks so that they know that they're all for them!

A GUIDE TO OUR HOUSE

I don't know about you, but our TV can be pretty complicated. Some houses have one remote, some have several. In our house our TV, Computer and everything else is connected up to the same sound output and remote control. But we have a lot of settings that we have to go through if we want to watch a film on the computer rather than the TV. To save explaining it to the babysitter, because sometimes it can take a while and sometimes people don't understand things first time around, I'm including a 'print out' guide to our TV. We'll probably leave it at that, but if somebody is coming over for longer than just the evening, we'll probably have to leave more information on how and where to sterilise bottles and how other appliances work.

Jamie thinks I am very sad to have done all of this! I think I am being super organised and prepared. I'm sure he won't be saying that if we both get caught at work one day and somebody needs to quickly take Evie! But I genuinely think that this box will be REALLY HELPFUL! Especially if we need a last minute baby-sitter who has NEVER looked after Evie before.

If you like this, be sure to check out our EMERGENCY CAR BREAKDOWN KIT! 


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