Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________ Partner: ______________
Directions: Part 1 is the seven rules. Part 2 is the safety walk: read the home, circle every hazard for a toddler, write the fix. Part 3 is the emergency card, filled from the family's information box. Part 4 is four "should you take this job" scenarios. The exit card is at the bottom. The home and the family are fictional. This is not medical training; the American Red Cross Babysitting Basics course is the next step.
Part 1: The seven rules
| # | Rule | Why | Picture |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Never leave a young child alone. Not for a minute, not to answer the door. Take them with you. | A minute is enough. | an eye on a child |
| 2 | Safe sleep: a baby sleeps on their back, in a crib or bassinet, on a firm flat mattress, with nothing else in it. No blanket, no pillow, no stuffed animal, no bumper. | Anything soft can block breathing. Back is the only safe position. | an empty crib, baby on back |
| 3 | Never shake a baby. Ever. If a baby will not stop crying: put them down safely on their back in the empty crib, step out for two minutes, breathe, check them, then call the parent. | A baby's neck and brain cannot take it. The damage is permanent. | a crossed-out shaking motion |
| 4 | Small objects and choking foods stay out of reach. Anything that fits through a toilet paper tube can choke a child under 3. A child under 4 eats sitting down with an adult watching. No whole grapes, hot dogs, hard candy, nuts, popcorn, or chunks of raw carrot or apple. | The airway is the size of a straw. | a tube with a coin next to it |
| 5 | Water and stairs: never look away. A child can drown in two inches of water. The bath is never left, not for a towel. Stairs get a gate or a hand. | Two inches. Two seconds. | a bathtub, a gate |
| 6 | In an emergency, call 911 first for anything you cannot handle. Know the address. Know the parent's number and a backup. Then call the parent. | The dispatcher needs the address first. | a phone with 911 |
| 7 | Know when to say no to a job. Short jobs, a child old enough to talk, a parent you know and can reach, a house you have seen, daylight or early evening, no infants overnight. | Ready is a real thing. | a thumbs up and a thumbs down |
The tube test at your table: put each object to the tube. Fits through = danger.
| Object | Fits through? |
|---|---|
| Large block | |
| Tennis ball | |
| Bottle cap | |
| Bead (grape size) | |
| Coin | |
| Marker cap |
Words in other languages [check with a native speaker before printing]:
| English | Turkish | Portuguese | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| safe sleep | güvenli uyku | sono seguro | sueño seguro |
| choking | boğulma (nefes yolu tıkanması) | engasgo | atragantamiento |
| water | su | água | agua |
| stairs | merdiven | escadas | escaleras |
| emergency | acil durum | emergência | emergencia |
| address | adres | endereço | dirección |
911 works in any language. Say "I need help" and stay on the line.
Part 2: The safety walk
You are babysitting a 2 year old named Eli at his home for the first time. Walk through it on paper. Circle every hazard for a toddler. Write the fix in the table. There are at least twelve.
The living room. A couch with a throw blanket. A coffee table with a glass bowl of hard candy, a TV remote, and a set of keys. A floor lamp with the cord running across the walkway to the outlet. A bookshelf with a heavy vase on the top shelf and no wall strap. Two uncovered outlets behind the couch. A basket of Eli's toys, including a set of large blocks and one small bouncy ball.
The kitchen. A stove with a pot on the front burner, handle turned out. A dishwasher, open, with knives pointing up in the basket. Under the sink, a bottle of spray cleaner and a box of dishwasher pods, the cabinet with no latch. A bowl of grapes on the counter at the edge. A plastic bag from the store on the floor. A dog's water bowl by the back door.
The bathroom. A bathtub with two inches of water still in it from the morning. A bottle of children's medicine on the counter, cap on. A hair dryer plugged in next to the sink. The toilet lid up. A bath mat.
The bedroom. A crib with a soft blanket, a pillow, and two stuffed animals in it. A window with a blind cord hanging down to crib height. A dresser with a lamp on top and drawers that slide out easily. A nightlight.
The back door and yard. A back door that does not latch. Three steps down to the yard with no railing. A bucket half full of rainwater by the fence. A small plastic slide. A gate to the street, open.
| # | Hazard | Room | The fix (something a babysitter can do now) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | |||
| 6 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | |||
| 9 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 11 | |||
| 12 | |||
| 13 | |||
| 14 |
Hazards found: ______ Water hazards found: ______ Stairs: ______ Choking: ______ Poison: ______
Part 3: The emergency card
Fill this out with the parent before they leave, every time.
The family's information (fictional): The Okafor family. 47 Maple Street, Apartment 2B, Brentwood, NY 11717. Cross street: Third Avenue. Parent: Dana Okafor, cell 631-555-0147. Backup: Uncle Ray Okafor, 631-555-0192. Child: Eli, age 2, no allergies, no medicine tonight. First aid kit: hall closet, top shelf. Parents will be at a restaurant on Main Street, back by 9:30 p.m.
| Line | Fill in |
|---|---|
| Address (street, apartment, town) | |
| Cross street | |
| Parent's name and cell | |
| Backup adult's name and number | |
| Child's name and age | |
| Allergies and medicines | |
| Where the first aid kit is | |
| Where the parents will be and when they are back | |
| Poison Control | 1-800-222-1222 |
| Emergency | 911 |
Stretch: what I would say to the parent before they leave to get every line filled: ________________________________________________
Stretch: the parent says the baby "always sleeps on her stomach, she likes it." What do you do? ________________________________________________
Part 4: Should you take this job?
For each, write yes, yes with conditions, or no, and the rule that decides it.
| Job | Yes / conditions / no | The rule that decides it |
|---|---|---|
| A. A neighbor's 6 year old for two hours on Saturday afternoon while the parent is next door. | ||
| B. A 4 month old baby overnight while the parents go out of town. | ||
| C. A 3 year old and a 5 year old for four hours on a Friday evening; the parent is at a work event and reachable by phone; you have been to the house twice. | ||
| D. A friend's cousin, ages unknown, at a house you have never been to; the friend says "just come, it is fine"; no parent's number given. |
Exit card: 3-2-1
3 of the seven rules: ______________ ______________ ______________
2 things that must be on the emergency card: ______________ ______________
1 job scenario I would say no to, and why: ______________________
Teacher key
Part 1 tube test: large block no; tennis ball no; bottle cap yes; bead yes; coin yes; marker cap yes.
Part 2 hazards. The written home holds twenty-three specific hazards, grouped here into the fourteen findings the table has rows for. A student who splits a grouped finding onto two rows is right, not wrong; a student who writes the group on one row is also right. Either way the table holds it, and the directions ask for at least twelve, so twelve rows filled with real fixes is the target.
| # | Finding (the specific hazards it covers) | Room | The fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Choking objects within reach: the bowl of hard candy, the keys and the TV remote (button battery), the small bouncy ball in the toy basket | living room | Move all of it up high or out of the room. The blocks can stay |
| 2 | Lamp cord running across the walkway | living room | Move the lamp or tape the cord along the wall |
| 3 | Furniture that tips: the heavy vase on an unstrapped bookshelf, and the dresser with a lamp on top and drawers that slide out | living room, bedroom | Move the vase down, keep Eli out of the bedroom unless you are in it, do not let him climb either one |
| 4 | Two uncovered outlets behind the couch | living room | Cover them, or block them with the couch and keep Eli away |
| 5 | Pot handle turned out on the front burner | kitchen | Turn the handle in. Keep Eli out of the kitchen while you cook |
| 6 | Knives pointing up in the open dishwasher | kitchen | Close and latch the dishwasher |
| 7 | Spray cleaner and dishwasher pods under a sink with no latch | kitchen | Move them up high. Poison Control goes on the emergency card |
| 8 | Children's medicine on the bathroom counter | bathroom | Put it up high. Never give medicine unless the parent told you to and wrote it down |
| 9 | Bowl of grapes at the edge of the counter | kitchen | Move it back. If Eli eats grapes, quarter them and sit with him |
| 10 | Plastic store bag on the floor | kitchen | Throw it out or put it up high |
| 11 | Standing water a toddler can reach: two inches in the bathtub, the dog's water bowl, the bucket of rainwater by the fence, and the toilet with the lid up | bathroom, kitchen, yard | Drain the tub, dump the bucket, close the lid, empty or gate off the dog bowl, and keep the bathroom door shut |
| 12 | Hair dryer plugged in next to the sink | bathroom | Unplug it and put it away |
| 13 | Unsafe sleep and strangulation in the crib: a soft blanket, a pillow, two stuffed animals, and a blind cord hanging to crib height | bedroom | Take everything out of the crib. Tie the cord up out of reach |
| 14 | Ways out of the house: a back door that does not latch, three steps with no railing, and the gate to the street standing open | back door, yard | Lock or block the door, hold his hand on every step, close and latch the gate. Stay between Eli and the door |
Bonus, not required, and worth naming out loud if a student catches it: the throw blanket on the couch (a toddler can pull it over their face), the bath mat (a slip), the nightlight (fine, and worth saying why: you can see the crib without turning on the big light), the large blocks and the tennis ball (both too big for the tube, so both are safe, which is the point of the tube test).
Twelve rows with a real fix is the target and eight with a real fix is the floor for "got it." Whatever the count, check for three: the bathtub, the bucket, and the open gate. Those three are the ones that kill toddlers, and a walk that misses all three gets a second look with the student. A fix that says "tell the parents to renovate" is not a babysitter's fix.
Part 3: the card is filled from the box. Stretch script: "Before you go, can I get the address with the apartment number, your cell, a backup number, where you will be, and when you are back? And is there anything Eli cannot eat or any medicine tonight?" The stomach-sleep answer: "Babies sleep on their backs; I learned that in class and the doctor says it too. I will put her on her back. If she rolls on her own, that is okay, but I put her down on her back." Say it kindly and do it.
Part 4: A: yes (short, a child who can talk, the parent next door). B: no (an infant, overnight; rule 7). C: yes with conditions (four hours is long for a first job; two children; the parent must be reachable and the house is known; a 14 year old could, a 12 year old should say the two-hour version or bring an adult's okay). D: no (unknown ages, unknown house, no parent's number; rule 6 and rule 7 both fail).
Exit card: every "3" line must include rule 2 (back to sleep, empty crib) or rule 3 (never shake a baby) or the card goes to "needs more."