Nanny Binder: Keep Your Kids Safe!

Hi everyone!

I’m back with my next video that focuses on nanny binders. Wait, what is a nanny binder?

A nanny binder is a collection of all important information that your nanny or sitter might need to ensure your kids are safe including topics such as:

– Food allergies

– Your emergency contact info and what to do if there is an emergency

– How to close and lock that sticky door or window

As well as other tidbits of information like your home’s wi-fi password, how to operate the heating/cooling system, and that little Johnny can’t get to sleep without his favorite blanket 🙂

Nanny binders are especially important (and helpful) if you have a new sitter watch your kids or routinely cycle through different care providers.

Pro Tip: Make sure that you leave the nanny binder on the kitchen counter, dining room table or another highly visible location. You don’t want your provider to be scrambling searching for the binder in case there is an emergency.

In today’s video, I focus on what a nanny binder is, why they are important and what to include. I hope you find it useful!

Click Here To Watch!

A transcript of the video can be found below: 

Hi everyone, Laura from Nanny Parent Connection here.

Today I’m going to talk about nanny binders. Don’t know what a nanny binder is? Don’t worry, I will cover that below.

A nanny binder is one of the most important things that you should have if you work with a nanny or any child care provider for that matter.

So, what is a nanny binder?

Well, it’s a collection of all of the important information that you should have on hand for your nanny or sitter to reference quickly.

This can be especially helpful if your nanny is newer, and they’re still getting acclimated to the schedule, the children’s personalities, and the family and the home in general.

It can be really helpful if you’re utilizing backup care because your regular nanny or sitter is out, or if it’s just a sitter for a date night that you have over who probably won’t be extremely familiar with your home, or your children anyway. Nannies always find this really helpful when you have this around.

What should you include in the nanny binder?

Make sure to include your emergency contact information.

This should include names and phone numbers not only for you but also for close neighbors, friends, or family members that the nanny should reach out to in the event of an emergency. Make sure you also have your care provider’s emergency contact information as well in the event that you need to get in touch with someone close to them. List out any emergency protocols, such as who should be contacted in the event that the parents can’t be reached.

Also, make sure you have the street address of your home listed so that the nanny can find the information quickly in the event they need to call 911. I like to have this printed on the cover of the binder or on the very first page.

You can also include helpful numbers such as the poison control hotline in the event it needs to be referenced very quickly, or contact information for your child’s pediatrician’s office.

Next, I like to include information about each child.

This could be likes, dislikes, a little bit about their personality, maybe their favorite foods, or that special “lovey” that they cannot go to nap time without. All of my kids have special blankets or stuffed animals, so I always make sure to include that important piece. It can also be helpful to give general suggestions for foods that are easy for meals such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, or maybe even snacks. And, this is a great place also to include any allergy information for your child or children.

Make sure to have a section for schedule information.

This is where you will write out any particular schedules. For example, a child’s eating, play, and sleep time, maybe this includes nap times, or when you generally have lunch. This would also include school or activity schedules.

Make sure to also include the school’s calendar information for the entire school year, so that your nanny is aware of any upcoming breaks, or days off school. Also, make sure to include the address of any schools or activities that your nanny may be transporting your children to.

And speaking of schools, this is also a great time to remind you families out there, make sure that your nanny’s information is down on the list of approved adults who can pick up your child at their school. I know this step can get missed sometimes with our busy family lives, but it’s a really important piece that you need to include in your child’s school information.

And speaking of schedules and calendars, you may even want to include a family calendar so that your nanny is aware of any upcoming family travel. Some nannies and families have one of these shared calendars online that both can contribute to, and view at any time, that’s also a helpful alternative. My family uses a shared Google calendar with providers.

Include a section about house information.

This will include where any emergency gas or water shut-offs are located and where the circuit breaker is located. This could also include instructions for operating the heating and cooling systems for the home, or it could include any quirks about the house. Such as maybe you have a door that blows open easily, or you have a really sensitive plumbing system.

It might also be a good idea to just note down where the toilet plunger is located. I’m just saying nannies do not want to come to you to ask where the toilet plunger is located 🙂 You will want to note down the wi-fi password for the network that your nanny is welcome to use during the day as well.

And don’t forget to include those house rules that you wish for your nanny to follow. This could include things like shutting lights off when you’re out of a room, this could also include taking shoes off before entering the home, or no eating goldfish on the white couch!

You will want to have a section as well that includes the medical release. A medical release is great to include in your binder, so that in the event of an emergency, and your nanny needs to seek medical care for your child or children, they can grab the binder they have that release handy in the event they need it. In addition to keeping this information in the binder, you will also probably want to have your nanny carry a digital copy on their phone, maybe you even keep an additional copy of this medical release attached to each child’s car seat, or perhaps even in the diaper bag. Keeping this on hand in several different locations can be a great way to ensure that your child will be able to access medical care in the event that your nanny is with them when they go to seek that care.

You may also want to include space for a communication log within your nanny binder.

You can add some lined pages for the nanny to jot down diaper change information, and feeding or bottle information. This could also include little thoughts or things they noticed, maybe some learning stories throughout the day.

Many families and nannies like to use digital communication logs, and there are some great apps for that. Popular apps for this include “Baby Connect”, “Daily Connect”, and “Daily Nanny” for example.

And lastly, you will want to include a copy of the contract, signed by all parties within the nanny binder.

Including a copy of your contract within the nanny binder will ensure that all parties have access to the information right when they need it. You don’t need to go around searching for it if you have a question, it’s right there, you can answer your question easily by referencing the contract.

Alright, and here’s a pro tip, if having a physical binder sitting around your home taking up space seems outdated, feel free to compile all of this information and then send it to your nanny in an email that they can tag or pin, so that they can reference and locate that information very quickly. You could also create an electronic version of the nanny binder and upload it to Google Drive or Dropbox. You can then grant access to any child care providers that need it.

Alright everyone, that’s it for today. I hope this helps walk you better understand what a nanny binder is and what to include in it!

I hope you found this information helpful, I know your nanny will when you have put this all together. Please click the like button, subscribe, and ring the bell so that you can be alerted when more of these helpful videos come out next time.

Thank you everyone, bye!