Leaving your kids with their grandparents for a weekend or a longer trip can be exciting — but preparing for it often turns into a last-minute scramble.
One text has the school pickup time. Another has the pediatrician's number. Medication instructions are somewhere in your messages. Grandma remembers the bedtime routine... mostly. And just as you're heading out the door, you remember three more things you meant to mention.
A little preparation can make the handoff much easier for everyone.
Here are the most important things to organize before leaving your children with grandparents or another trusted caregiver.
1. Emergency contact information
Start with the information they would need if they couldn't reach you immediately.
Include:
- Both parents' phone numbers
- Another trusted emergency contact
- Pediatrician or primary-care provider
- Preferred urgent care or hospital
- Health insurance information, when appropriate
- Important medical or allergy information
Make sure grandparents know who to call first and what to do if you aren't immediately available.
2. Your child's daily schedule
Kids often do better when their regular routine continues while their parents are away.
Write down approximate times for:
- Wake-up
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- School or daycare
- Activities and lessons
- Homework
- Bath time
- Bedtime
You don't need to schedule every minute. The goal is simply to give the caregiver a reliable reference instead of expecting them to remember everything from a conversation.
3. School and activity details
If your trip overlaps with school days, include the practical information grandparents may need.
For example:
- School name
- Start and dismissal times
- Pickup/drop-off instructions
- Bus information
- Teacher or school contact details, if needed
- After-school activities
- Practice or lesson locations
- Anything your child needs to bring
This is especially helpful when grandparents don't normally handle school pickup or extracurricular activities.
4. Medical information and medications
Clearly document any important health information.
Include:
- Allergies
- Current medications
- Medication schedule
- Relevant medical conditions
- Doctor information
- Special instructions
For medications, keep the original packaging and written directions available whenever possible.
If your child has specific medical needs, discuss them directly with the caregiver before leaving.
5. Meals, snacks and food preferences
Grandparents probably know many of your child's favorites already, but a quick reference can still help.
Consider noting:
- Normal meal times
- Favorite easy meals
- Snacks that are okay
- Food allergies or restrictions
- Foods to avoid
- Any special eating routines
This doesn't need to become a detailed meal plan unless that's useful for your family.
6. Bedtime and daily routines
A familiar routine can make things much easier when parents aren't home.
Include things such as:
- Normal bedtime
- Bath or shower routine
- Favorite book
- Night-light preferences
- Comfort item or stuffed animal
- Screen-time rules
- What usually helps if your child has trouble falling asleep
Small details can prevent a lot of unnecessary guesswork.
7. Household information
If grandparents are staying in your home, give them the basics they may need.
That could include:
- Alarm instructions
- Wi-Fi information
- Where important supplies are kept
- Pet-care instructions
- Trash/recycling day
- Spare-key information
- Any household quirks worth knowing
You don't need to document your entire house — only the things likely to matter while you're away.
8. Rules and expectations
Grandparents and parents don't always have exactly the same rules — and that's okay.
But if something is particularly important to you, write it down.
Examples might include:
- Screen-time limits
- Homework expectations
- Whether friends can come over
- Foods or activities that are off-limits
- Driving permissions
- Bedtime expectations
Keep this section simple. The goal is clarity, not giving grandparents a 20-page rule book.
9. Your travel information
Give the caregiver enough information to understand where you'll be and how to reach you.
Consider including:
- Destination
- Travel dates
- Hotel or lodging information
- Flight details, when useful
- Your expected return time
- Best way to reach you while traveling
This can be particularly useful if you're traveling internationally or may have limited phone access.
The easiest approach: keep everything in one place
The biggest problem usually isn't forgetting the information.
It's that the information is scattered everywhere.
A schedule is on the refrigerator. Emergency contacts are on someone's phone. Medication instructions are in a text. School information is in an email.
Instead, create one caregiver handoff document that can be updated whenever you travel.
That's exactly why we created the Parents Away Care Kit — a fillable digital kit designed to keep schedules, routines, medical information, emergency contacts and caregiver instructions organized in one place.
You can fill it out, save it, print it, or share it with the person caring for your kids.
Get the Parents Away Care Kit →
Before you leave: a quick checklist
Before heading out, confirm that your caregiver has:
- Emergency contacts
- Medical and allergy information
- Medication instructions
- Daily schedules
- School/activity information
- Meals and routines
- Household information
- Important rules
- Your travel/contact details
Then walk through anything especially important together.
A well-organized handoff gives grandparents the information they need — and lets you spend less of your trip answering texts about pickup times, medication instructions, and bedtime routines.