Do you expect the babysitter to clean? It’s a good question. After all, it isn’t their primary role. Ensuring safety is the most important duty of any babysitter. However, cleaning does play a role in keeping kids safe and healthy. So, what should you do? Finding the balance comes down to setting reasonable expectations. We pulled together some tips to help do that:

• Reinforce proper handwashing habits. This may seem basic, but there are key times when handwashing is important for illness prevention and it helps to be on the same page. This includes before and after preparing food, after changing a diaper, and after touching a pet or their food.
• It’s reasonable to ask for the house to be about as clean as when you left. This can include cleaning any dishes from dinner and picking up after activities. Try to be specific about what you’d like done as opposed to simply saying “clean up” to avoid misunderstandings.
• Use the opportunity to enlist help with cleaning education. Cleaning tasks that the children do, like picking up their toys and washing their hands before eating can be encouraged with the help of the babysitter. Hearing the message and seeing the modeled behavior from another source can help instill good cleaning habits.
• Always ensure the safe use of cleaning products in your home, whether used by you or someone else. If a cleaning product will be used while you’re gone, ask that the directions on the label be followed and after use it is returned to a place up and out of reach of children. It is also a good practice to make sure the phone number for poison control is posted in a prominent place, just in case of emergency.

What cleaning expectations do you have for your babysitters? Let us know in the comments!