Helpers · Nannies · Camp

What to give the nanny, the sitter, and the camp nurse (and what never to hand over)

Every person gets one health story, and one private Family Stork email address every clinic already knows how to use. Tired of managing health records for yourself and everyone you love? Family Stork organizes them for you automatically.

In short: A helper needs three things: known allergies and current medications, emergency contacts and your pediatrician's number, and a plan for what to do if something goes wrong. They do not need your child's full medical history, insurance card photos, or diagnosis details. Family Stork lets you send one invitation that shows the helper only what you choose — and the emergency card is always there.

You've found someone you trust — a nanny who starts Monday, a teenage sitter for Saturday night, or a camp nurse reviewing a stack of health forms. They all need some medical information about your child. But how much? The line between "enough to keep my child safe" and "more than anyone outside the family should see" is blurry, and most parents either over-share (handing over an entire medical folder) or under-share (leaving nothing but a phone number on the fridge).

Here's the checklist, what stays private, and how to stop doing it on paper.

What medical information does every helper actually need?

Whether someone is watching your child for three hours or three weeks, the core list is the same:

Known allergies — food, medication, insect stings, environmental. Include the reaction type (hives vs. anaphylaxis) and where the EpiPen is if there is one.
Current medications — name, dose, and timing. If the helper will administer a medication, they need written authorization from you (and some states require a doctor's signature for camp or school settings — check your state's rules).
Emergency contacts — you, the other parent or guardian, and one backup who can make decisions if you're both unreachable.
Pediatrician or primary doctor — name, phone number, clinic address.
Conditions the helper should recognize — asthma action plans, seizure protocols, diabetes management basics. Your child's doctor provides these as written plans; hand the helper the plan, not your interpretation of it.
Preferred hospital or urgent care — if you have a preference, say so. In an emergency, the helper will go to the nearest one regardless, but for non-emergencies this saves a phone call.

That's it. Six items. If you can fit them on one page, you've done it right.

What should you never hand over?

This is where parents over-share, usually out of good intentions:

Full medical history — a helper doesn't need every visit note, lab result, or growth chart. That's between you, your child, and the doctor.
Insurance card details — if the helper takes your child to urgent care, they can give the front desk your phone number. You handle insurance.
Diagnosis specifics the child hasn't consented to share — mental health records, developmental assessments, or sensitive diagnoses belong to the child. Share what affects the helper's ability to keep the child safe, and nothing more.
Social Security numbers or birth certificates — no helper needs these, ever. If a camp form asks for an SSN, call the camp and ask why.
Login credentials to patient portals — if you share your MyChart login with the babysitter, you've shared your entire family's medical data. Don't.

The nanny, the sitter, and the camp nurse need different amounts — right?

Less than you'd think. The core six items above apply to all three. What changes is the format and the duration:

Babysitter (a few hours): A single page on the counter or a shared note on their phone. Keep it simple — allergies, meds, contacts, "call me first, 911 second."
Nanny (ongoing): The same core list, plus medication authorization if the nanny gives daily meds, and a standing agreement about when they can take the child to urgent care without calling you first. Update it when anything changes — allergies get diagnosed, medications rotate, you switch pediatricians. The emergency card for the nanny covers this in detail.
Camp nurse (one form, one season): Camps and schools have their own health forms. Fill them out completely — the camp nurse is bound by the form, not by what you casually mention at drop-off. Immunization records are almost always required. What the camp nurse needs walks through the typical requirements state by state.

How do you stop writing it on paper every time?

The refrigerator-magnet method works until you change pediatricians, until the allergy list grows, until the babysitter loses the paper, or until you realize the camp nurse has last year's form with the old medication dose.

Family Stork solves this with one invitation. You keep your child's health record in Family Stork — built automatically from the private Family Stork email address shown on the person's record, the one every clinic already knows how to send to. When you invite a helper, you choose exactly what they see:

The emergency card — always visible, always current
Allergies and medications — updated every time a clinic sends a new record
Nothing else, unless you choose to share more

The helper never owns the record. They never manage it. When you revoke the invitation, access ends. No paper to shred, no portal password to change. Learn how helper invitations work →

What about grandparents, foster caregivers, and home aides?

The same principle applies with a wider lens. Grandparents caring for grandchildren often need standing medical consent forms, especially if they're the primary daytime caregiver. Foster and kinship caregivers face a harder version of this problem — the child's records arrive in pieces from multiple placements, and the caregiver needs enough to keep the child safe while the agency sorts out the rest.

In every case: share what keeps the person safe. Keep what belongs to the family.

FAQ

Should I give the babysitter a copy of my child's insurance card?

No. If the sitter needs to take your child to urgent care, the front desk can bill you later or you can provide insurance details by phone. A photo of your insurance card in the wrong hands is an identity-theft risk.

What if the camp requires immunization records and I can't find them?

Contact your child's pediatrician — they keep vaccination records on file. Your state's immunization registry (every state has one) is a backup. Family Stork stores immunization records in your child's timeline automatically when clinics send them to the private Family Stork address. Back-to-school forms hub →

Can a nanny take my child to the doctor without me?

It depends on your state and the provider's policy. Many pediatricians accept a signed authorization letter from the parent. For emergencies, any adult can bring a child to the ER — no paperwork required. Ask your pediatrician what they need on file.

How does Family Stork's helper invitation work?

You send one invitation from your child's record. The helper sees only what you choose — the emergency card, allergies, medications. They can't see the full medical history, and they can't change anything. Revoke the invitation anytime. $99/year covers every person in your family. See how it works →

What's the difference between a nanny's emergency card and a camp health form?

The emergency card is a single page with the information someone needs in the first five minutes of a problem — allergies, medications, conditions, contacts. A camp health form is a longer document that satisfies the camp's or school's compliance requirements, including immunization proof and physician signatures. Both start from the same record; the camp form is the formal version.

⚠️ In an emergency, call 911.

Nothing on this page is medical advice. Always consult your child's doctor about medication, allergy management, and emergency action plans.