What should you leave for a babysitter at a wedding or hotel?

Your room or venue location and how to reach you when you may not hear a phone, the child's routine in an unfamiliar room, and who else may knock on the door.

How is this different from babysitting at home?

The room is unfamiliar, the parent is close by but hard to reach, and the sitter may be someone the family met that day. The routine matters less than being reachable and saying who is allowed in.

What if you cannot hear your phone?

Name a second person who will definitely have theirs, and say where you will be in the building. A sitter who cannot reach anyone waits far longer than a parent would want.

Free guide and printable

What to tell a wedding or hotel babysitter

This is the hardest handover there is: a sitter you have not met, a room your child does not know, and a ten-minute conversation in a corridor before you go downstairs. Everything you would normally explain has to be written. Here is what belongs on the sheet.

Why this is not an ordinary babysitting night

You have not met them, and you are about to leaveAn agency sitter arrives vetted and capable but knows nothing about your child. The handover happens in a corridor, in good clothes, ten minutes late. Written notes do the work your two-minute chat cannot.
The room is unfamiliar to your childEverything that normally settles them is somewhere else. Say what you have brought, where it is, and what the sleeping arrangement actually is — travel cot, bed with a guard, sofa bed.
You will be hard to reachLoud room, phone in a jacket, hands full. Give a second number that will definitely be answered — a partner, a family member at the same event, or someone at home. Say which number is the reliable one.
The sitter cannot leave to find youWrite the venue detail they would otherwise have to work out: room number, floor, which building, the function name, and how to reach you inside it. If the venue has a duty manager or reception extension, put it on the sheet.
Bedtime will be late and out of orderSay what to hold to and what can flex. If the routine is going to slip anyway, saying which parts matter is more useful than a timetable nobody can keep.
Nobody else takes the child. Ever.At a wedding, delighted relatives appear. Write plainly that the child goes to nobody but you and a named person, and that anyone else — however well known — waits until you come back.

Printable event sheet

Where everyone is

Room number and floorWhere the parents are — function name, room, buildingParent name and numberSecond contact who will definitely answerVenue reception or duty managerStart and end time agreed with the agency

For each child

Name and ageAllergies — what to avoid and what to do on contact (write “none” if none)Medicine — what, when, where it is keptWhat they have already eaten todayComfort object, and what it is called

Sleeping here

Travel cot, bed, or bed with a guardLight and door as they like itWhat to do about noise from the eventWhat must be kept to; what can slip

Rules for tonight

Nobody but the named parent or contact takes the child — anyone else waitsWhether to open the door, and to whomWhen to ring rather than wait

In an emergency

Ring the parent first, then the second contact; in an emergency ring your local emergency number

This is a blank template: once you fill it in, keeping it accurate is on you, and a printed sheet is believed long after it stops being true. Care Handover generates the same thing from a plan you have approved, so it cannot silently go out of date — and your carer sees what is happening now rather than what was true when you printed it.

Before you go downstairs

Walk the sitter round the room: cot, bathroom, light switches, where the bag is.
Test that your phone is on loud and that the second contact knows they are on duty.
Show the comfort object and say what it is called.
Agree one check-in time so nobody is guessing.
Tell the sitter the noise from the event is expected, and what to do if it is keeping your child awake.

Written once, ready for the next one

Most families who book an event sitter book another one. Care Handover keeps the routines, allergies and contacts you have already written, so the next wedding is a few edits rather than a new sheet at midnight. Your sitter opens one private link on their phone — no app, no account — and you can revoke it the moment the night ends.

See a live example Create your handover

Common questions

What should you leave for a babysitter at a wedding or hotel?: Your room or venue location and how to reach you when you may not hear a phone, the child's routine in an unfamiliar room, and who else may knock on the door.
How is this different from babysitting at home?: The room is unfamiliar, the parent is close by but hard to reach, and the sitter may be someone the family met that day. The routine matters less than being reachable and saying who is allowed in.
What if you cannot hear your phone?: Name a second person who will definitely have theirs, and say where you will be in the building. A sitter who cannot reach anyone waits far longer than a parent would want.

What to write in your babysitter notesThe note you leave on the counter — what to put in it, in the order a sitter reads it.
An emergency contact card for your childOne card a carer can read in seconds, or hand to someone else — and what not to put on it.
Allergy and medication information for a carerHow to write down what your doctor told you so a sitter can follow it exactly.
Leaving your child with a sitter for the first timeWhat to cover before the first time, and what is worth saying out loud at the door.
Babysitter information sheetEverything a sitter needs in one sheet, with a free printable template.
Leaving your child with grandparents overnightWhat to say before the first overnight, including what to do at 2am.
Babysitting siblings with different routinesBriefing a sitter for two or more children whose evenings collide.
Questions to ask a babysitter before you hire themWhat to ask before you leave your child with someone, and what the answers tell you.

This guide helps you organise your own instructions; it is not medical or safeguarding advice, and Care Handover does not place, vet, employ or insure carers. In an emergency, ring your local emergency number — 112 or 999 in Ireland, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US.