We get it. You have a sitter arriving in an hour, the kids are already asking about dinner, and the safety conversation gets squeezed into thirty seconds at the front door. That is how most families do it, and it is completely understandable. But a proper babysitter safety checklist takes about ten minutes to put together once, and after that you simply hand it over and go. No scrambling, no second guessing yourself in the car on the way out.
This is the checklist we use as a starting point with Care Collective families across the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Northern NSW. Use the parts that fit your home, ignore the parts that do not, and keep a copy on the fridge.
Why a babysitter safety checklist beats a quick chat at the door
A verbal handover relies on two things going right at once: you remembering everything while you are rushing, and your sitter retaining it all while a toddler pulls at their leg. Neither is realistic.
A written checklist does three jobs a conversation cannot. It survives the evening, so your sitter can check it at 8pm when a rash appears. It removes guesswork, so nobody has to decide in the moment whether your child is allowed the leftover satay. And it gives your sitter permission to act, because they know exactly what you would want them to do.
Good sitters actively want this. In our experience the most experienced carers are the ones who ask the most questions before you leave.
Part one: what is already taken care of before your sitter arrives
Safety starts well before anyone walks through your door, and when you book with us it starts long before you even pick a date. Here is what is already done, so none of it lands on your list.
- Screened by us first. Every carer goes through our full screening process before they ever meet a family. Only around the top 20 per cent of applicants make it through, which is deliberately hard to get past.
- Current First Aid and CPR. Every carer holds current certification, including infant CPR where they are caring for babies, and we track the renewal dates ourselves.
- A valid Working with Children Check. In Queensland that is the Blue Card. We hold and monitor one for every carer on our team.
- References already checked. We speak with real families who have had that carer in their home, before we ever place them in yours.
- Insurance, training and accountability. Our carers are our employees rather than contractors, so we carry all three. There is no paperwork for you to chase and no grey area about who is responsible.
That is the whole point of booking through an agency like ours. By the time your sitter is standing at your front door, the credentials and the cover are settled, and your ten minutes can go entirely to the things only you can tell them: your home, your children and your routine. If you would like to see how thorough the process is, it is all on our screening process page, and you can read about the care we offer on our babysitting page.
Part two: the home safety tour
Walk your sitter through the house once. Five minutes, no more. Point at things rather than describing them.
Water
Pools are the single biggest risk in Queensland homes. Show your sitter the pool gate and point out that it self closes and self latches, then state your rule plainly: is the pool off limits entirely tonight, or supervised only? Say it out loud. Do the same for the bath, and be explicit that a child under five is never left alone in a bath, not even for a moment to grab a towel.
Kitchen and laundry
Show where cleaning products, medications and knives live, and whether anything is unlocked. Point out the oven, the kettle and any appliance a curious child could reach.
Sleep spaces
Show each bed or cot, the baby monitor and how to use it, the night lights, and where spare linen is kept. If your baby sleeps in a sleeping bag or a particular position, show rather than tell.
Exits and alarms
Front door lock, back door lock, any door that sticks, the smoke alarms, and where the key is if you use a deadlock. If you have a security system, either give the code or turn it off for the evening.
Part three: the information every sitter needs in writing
This is the part families most often skip, and the part that matters most in an emergency. Write it once and reuse it.
- Your full address, written out. In a panic nobody can recall a street number, and Triple Zero needs it immediately.
- Both parents’ mobile numbers plus one local backup contact who could physically arrive within fifteen minutes.
- Your GP and nearest hospital, with the after hours number.
- Allergies and medical conditions for each child, with severity. Write “anaphylactic to peanuts, EpiPen in the top kitchen drawer” rather than “allergic to nuts”.
- Any medication due that evening, with the dose, the time and where it is stored.
- Permission to seek treatment, a single signed line authorising your sitter to obtain medical care if they cannot reach you.
If you write only one thing down, make it your street address and your allergy details. Everything else can be worked out. Those two cannot.
Part four: the rules that actually get followed
Rules stick when they are specific and few. A list of twenty gets ignored. Pick the handful that genuinely matter to your family and state them clearly.
- Answering the door. Most families prefer nobody comes in. Say so.
- Visitors. No friends or partners of the sitter, ever. A professional carer will expect this rule.
- Driving. If your sitter is taking the children out, show them the car seats and tell them where you are happy for them to go. If you would rather they stayed home, simply say the car stays in the driveway.
- Screens and food. What is allowed, what is not, and what the bedtime is.
- Phones. Your sitter needs a charged phone within reach at all times, and it should not be entertaining them instead of your children.
Then agree how you want to be contacted. Our carers send a short update once the children are settled, which is usually all a parent needs to relax and enjoy the evening.
What good agency care adds to your checklist
The checklist above is about your home. Everything else, the screening, the insurance, the training and the accountability, sits with us, because every Care Collective carer is an employee rather than a contractor. That distinction matters more than most families realise, and we unpack it fully in employed carers versus contractors.
It also means that if your sitter cannot make it, finding a safe replacement is our problem, not yours. Casual babysitting starts from $56 an hour with a three hour minimum, GST included, and the full range of rates including overnight care sits on our pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
How much detail is too much for a babysitter?
You cannot really overdo the emergency information, but you can overdo the routine. Keep medical and safety details thorough, and trim the routine down to bedtime, food and the one or two quirks that make your child feel settled. A skilled sitter will fill in the rest.
Should I tell my sitter about behaviour challenges?
Yes, always. A sitter who knows your five year old bolts at bath time can plan for it. A sitter who finds out at 7pm cannot. Being honest about the hard parts is a kindness to everyone, and it keeps your child safer.
Do I need to be home for the first booking?
Not necessarily, but a short overlap helps enormously. Fifteen minutes of you being present while your child meets their sitter takes the edge off for everyone. Our post on preparing your home for a new sitter walks through how to set that first visit up well.
What happens if there is a real emergency?
Your sitter calls Triple Zero first, then you. That order is not negotiable and every one of our carers is trained in it. Care Collective families also have our support line available at any hour, so there is always a second adult to call.
Ready to book care you do not have to worry about
Your night out should feel like a night out, not a stretch of low level worry about whether the pool gate latched. A ten minute checklist for your own home, and a carer we have already vetted from top to bottom, are all it takes to get there.
If you would like to meet a sitter who arrives ready and already asking the right questions, you can book now or contact us for a chat about what your family needs. We would love to lighten your load.
