A babysitter needs exactly enough medical information to keep your child safe for a few hours — allergies, current medications, the pediatrician's number, and what to do if something goes wrong. They do not need your child's full medical history.
Keep it short and actionable. A sitter who's holding a crying toddler at 9 PM needs a single sheet — not a binder.
Food allergies, medication allergies, environmental triggers. Include what the reaction looks like ("hives on the face," "trouble breathing") and what to do ("give Benadryl," "use the EpiPen and call 911"). If your child has an EpiPen, show the sitter where it is and how to use it before you leave.
Name, dose, and timing for every medication your child takes regularly. If a dose is due during the visit, write it clearly: "Amoxicillin — 1 teaspoon at 7 PM with food." Leave the medication out, labeled, with a measuring tool.
Your phone number, your partner's phone number, a nearby backup adult (neighbor, grandparent), and the pediatrician's after-hours line. Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222.
Asthma, seizure disorder, diabetes, or anything that could require action during the visit. Keep it to what the sitter might actually need to respond to — not the full history.
More information is not always safer. A sitter does not need:
The rule: share what helps the sitter act in the moment. Keep everything else private.
Paper notes get lost. Texts get buried. The fridge sheet from three sitters ago has the wrong medication dose.
With Family Stork, you start a record for your child. Every person gets their own private Family Stork email address — give it to each doctor, and the record builds itself. When it's time for the sitter, you send one invitation. The sitter sees a caregiver card on their phone: meals, med times, quirks, who to call. The emergency card is always there — allergies, medications, conditions, doctor's number. No app to download. No login to remember.
When the sitting is done, you can revoke access. The sitter never owned the record, never managed it. The information stays with your family.
Either works — what matters is that the information is current and accessible. Paper on the fridge is fine for a one-time sitter. For a regular sitter or nanny, a digital caregiver card that updates when medications change is safer than a printout from six months ago.
Walk the sitter through the allergy action plan before you leave. Show them where the EpiPen is, demonstrate how to use it, and make sure they know to call 911 immediately after administering it. Leave a written action plan next to the EpiPen. Ask your child's doctor about creating an allergy action plan if you don't have one.
In a true emergency, hospitals will treat a child regardless of who brings them. For non-emergency medical visits, a signed medical consent form helps — especially if you're unreachable by phone. Talk to your pediatrician about what form to use for your situation.
Keep one master set of information that you update whenever a medication or allergy changes. With Family Stork, each sitter gets their own invitation — they all see the same current caregiver card, and you control who has access at any time.
Start your child's record. Share a caregiver card with the sitter — allergies, medications, the emergency card — and nothing more.
$99/year — or about $10 a month.
Start their record — free