Finding Temporary Elderly Care When Your Caregiver Goes Home for New Year: Planning a Replacement and a Safe Handover

Finding temporary elderly care while your regular caregiver or housekeeper goes home for New Year should start the moment you know the leave dates. Don't wait until the last week, because many families are looking for help at the same time during the holidays. A plan that lowers the risk has three parts: choose a replacement that matches your parent's level of care, have the new caregiver overlap with the regular one for at least one day if possible, and prepare a one-page handover summary (with the latest medicine list and doctor's instructions attached) covering medicines and timings, food and swallowing, toileting, turning, tubes and equipment, your parent's habits, and emergency numbers. If you choose a KIN HomeCare daily caregiver, the minimum booking is 3 days and service usually starts within 2–3 days; over the holidays, contact us further ahead than that.

Here is a situation that happens every year end. The regular caregiver who has looked after your mother all year asks for 10 days to visit family upcountry. The siblings agreed early in the month, but nobody actually started looking. With a few days left, someone makes rushed calls. The new caregiver arrives in the morning, the regular one leaves on a bus by late morning, and nobody knows whether the small white pill goes before or after food. Your mother doesn't recognise the new face and refuses her bath. This guide helps the changeover go smoothly, whether you employ a regular caregiver, a housekeeper who also looks after your parent, or you care for your parent yourself and need to travel over New Year 2027.

Quick answer

• Confirm both the departure and return dates, then start looking for a replacement immediately, because few caregivers are free over the holidays.
• Match the replacement to your parent's care level. If they can do quite a lot for themselves, relatives taking turns or Day Care may work. If they are bedbound, have tubes or have dementia, they need a trained caregiver at home.
• Have the new caregiver overlap with the regular one for at least a day, seeing the real routine from morning to evening.
• Write a one-page handover and keep it where everyone can see it. Medicines must match the labels and the latest doctor's instructions.
• A replacement must never adjust medicines or work beyond what they are trained for. Specially trained tasks such as suctioning need a caregiver trained for that task, under the supervision of our registered-nurse team; nursing procedures such as changing tubes need a registered nurse.
• Have a backup plan in case the replacement falls ill or the regular caregiver returns late, and check medicines will last through the holidays.

1. Why a change of caregiver is riskier than an ordinary day

Much of what your regular caregiver knows lives in their memory and has never been written down, so it can slip through when the caregiver changes. The World Health Organization notes that medication discrepancies are very common when patients move between care settings. A change of caregiver at home isn't the same situation, but it carries the same risk of incomplete handover.

Common slips during a changeover:

• Missed or doubled medicines: the regular caregiver already set out the pills, the new one doesn't know and gives them again, or an every-other-day medicine is forgotten.
• The wrong food texture: a parent with swallowing problems needs food and drinks at the texture level their medical team has assessed and specified for them, and the new caregiver serves ordinary food or adjusts the thickness themselves.
• Tubes and equipment: a feeding tube or urinary catheter is tugged out of place, or an oxygen concentrator isn't set to the doctor's prescribed setting.
• Falls: the new caregiver doesn't know how well your parent can get out of bed, which side to support, or that they like to get up for the toilet at 3 a.m.
• Your parent doesn't know the new person: especially with dementia. The Alzheimer's Association notes that a person with dementia may find it difficult to adjust to a new environment, so some refuse to eat, refuse to bathe, or become restless on the first day.
• The new caregiver doesn't know your parent's personal warning signs: for example, that your father is normally talkative, or never usually drowsy in the afternoon, so a change goes unnoticed.

2. A timeline counting back from the leave date

Start from the day the regular caregiver leaves the house and count backwards. Everything must be done before that day. The earlier you start, the more options you have.

As soon as you know about the leave

• Confirm the departure and return dates, and ask whether there's any chance of returning late.
• Decide what cover you need: daytime only, nights too, or 24 hours.
• Agree with siblings who covers which period, who pays, and who coordinates the replacement.
• Contact the providers you're considering, ask to see profiles, ask about experience with what your parent needs (tubes, equipment or dementia) and which nurse supervises, and check their booking terms.
• No number of days can promise you'll find someone. If the leave is close and no replacement is confirmed, start a backup plan with relatives straight away rather than waiting until the last day.

Once you have a replacement

• Confirm the start date, shift and number of days in writing.
• Pay according to the terms (KIN HomeCare daily caregivers are paid at least 1 day before the start).
• Ask the regular caregiver to start writing the handover in section 3, and check it yourself.
• Make sure medicines and supplies such as adult diapers, tube-feeding formula and gloves will last the whole leave, plus several extra days.

The handover day: both caregivers working together (if possible)

• The new caregiver starts one day before the regular one leaves, and sees the real routine from morning to evening.
• The regular caregiver demonstrates the hard tasks, such as moving your parent into the wheelchair or giving tube feeds, and they read through the handover together line by line.

During the leave and on return

• Call the replacement every day to ask how your parent is and how things are going.
• When the regular caregiver returns, the replacement hands back with notes on the period: changed medicines, symptoms noticed, rescheduled appointments.

3. A one-page handover summary plus a folder: every home should have one

Split it into two parts: a one-page summary of what must be known straight away, quick to read, and a folder with the details, such as the latest medicine list, doctor's instructions, the food and swallowing plan, equipment manuals and the care log. The more medicines, tubes, a tracheostomy or oxygen your parent has, the more complete the folder must be, and it never replaces a hands-on demonstration on the handover day. The UK's NHS advises carers to write notes about the kind of care the person needs and leave them in a prominent place, with details of medicines and any key instructions.

What the summary and folder must include

1. Basics: the name your parent likes to be called, health conditions, and any drug or food allergies.
2. Medicines: name as on the label, time, before or after food, who sets them out, any "as needed" medicines, and in large letters "Never change any medicine yourself; if unsure, call." For a system that prevents mistakes, see setting up a medication system at home.
3. Food and swallowing: what texture, how to position your parent, and for tube feeding the amount and timings the hospital taught.
4. Toileting: toilet, commode chair or diapers, and how often they normally open their bowels.
5. Turning and skin: how often, and which areas to watch.
6. Tubes and equipment: which tubes, what never to do with them, and device settings as prescribed by the doctor.
7. Mobility: can they walk alone, do they use a cane or walker, which side to support, are they allowed on the stairs alone.
8. Sleep and routine: wake-up time, preferred bath time, how often they wake at night.
9. Habits and comforts: topics they enjoy, favourite music, subjects to avoid, things that upset them.
10. Signs to report straight away: fever, refusing food all day, more drowsy than usual, a fall, and the emergencies where you call 1669 immediately.
11. Phone numbers in order: first child, second child, the neighbour with a key, the usual hospital, and 1669.
12. Where important things are: ID card, health entitlement card, appointment book, spare keys, cash for transport.

Tip: let the regular caregiver write it, because they know details you don't, then check the medicines yourself against the labels and the latest prescription. If anything doesn't match, ask the hospital before the leave starts.

4. Replacement options: match them to your parent's level of care

No single option suits every family. Look at how much care your parent needs and how many hours a day someone must be there, then choose from these options or combine them.

Relatives taking turns

• Suits a parent who can do some things for themselves and has no tubes or complex equipment.
• The upside is familiarity. The risk is that with several relatives rotating, information slips even more easily, so everyone must use the same handover and the same log book.
• Agree a clear rota: who is there which day, which hours, and who is the backup.

A daily caregiver at home

• Suits a parent who needs help with daily routines all day, or is bedbound.
• At KIN HomeCare, a 12-hour shift, day 08:00–20:00 or night 20:00–08:00, is 1,800 baht per day; a 24-hour live-in caregiver (one person) is 2,500 baht per day. The live-in caregiver rests when your parent rests; if someone must be awake all night, you need two caregivers on 12-hour shifts.
• Daily bookings have a 3-day minimum and a 2,000-baht deposit (non-refundable on cancellation, as it covers recruitment). For a week or more, weekly rates are 12,000 baht (12-hour shift) and 16,000 baht (24-hour).
• For shift types and how to choose, see hiring a daily elderly caregiver: choosing a shift.

A registered nurse when procedures are needed

If your parent needs nursing procedures during the leave, such as changing a feeding tube or urinary catheter, injections other than insulin, or deep or complex wounds, this must be a registered nurse. You can book a 12-hour shift at 3,500 baht per day, or book visits only on the days a procedure is needed.

Day Care at a KIN centre during the day

For a parent who can still travel and comes home to sleep each night, Day Care at a KIN centre runs 09:00–17:00, at 1,800 baht per day for an activity-focused day or 3,000 baht per day for multidisciplinary rehabilitation. There's no minimum and you can try a single day. The family still needs someone for the evening and night, so this usually pairs with a relative at home overnight.

How to choose

• Your parent manages almost everything alone: relatives taking turns, or daytime Day Care plus a relative at night.
• Needs help all day but sleeps well: one 24-hour live-in caregiver, who lives in but does not work continuously for 24 hours and rests when your parent rests. If your parent starts waking often at night, switch to two caregivers on 12-hour shifts.
• Bedbound, wakes often, or has dementia with night-time wandering: two caregivers on 12-hour shifts, so someone is always awake.
• Has tubes or wounds needing procedures: add a registered nurse by visit or by shift.

5. The new caregiver's first day: helping your parent accept them

Let the first day focus on building familiarity. Keep the usual routine as far as it is safe and consistent with the latest doctor's instructions, and have someone your parent knows there at the start.

• You or the regular caregiver introduce the newcomer personally, using their name so your parent remembers it.
• Keep the same times, the same food and the same seat. Keep the home as it is, and avoid moving things or changing the schedule during this period.
• Start with easy tasks such as chatting or a short walk. Personal care such as bathing can be done by the regular caregiver on the handover day while teaching the newcomer.
• A parent with dementia may need several days to get used to someone new. Don't rush. If they refuse, pause and try again later; don't force it.
• On the first evening, spend 5 minutes on the phone with the new caregiver. Ask what was difficult and update the handover.

If your parent is generally reluctant to accept new people, see how to talk and start small in when parents won't accept a caregiver.

6. During the leave: daily calls and a backup plan

Fewer people are reachable over a long holiday, so decide in advance who will make decisions if something happens and who can get to the house.

• Call at the same time every day by phone or video with the replacement and your parent: eating, sleeping, toileting, medicines and mood.
• Use one log book that the replacement fills in daily, so the handback is complete.
• A backup if the replacement falls ill or has an emergency: agree which relative can come and how quickly, and how to reach the provider over the holiday.
• If the replacement doesn't turn up or has to leave a shift suddenly: don't leave a parent who can't manage alone by themselves. Call the provider immediately, then call the backup people in the order on the summary. If your parent has an emergency in the meantime, call 1669.
• A plan if the regular caregiver returns late: ask the replacement in advance whether they could work one or more extra days, and on what terms.
• Medicines and appointments: check medicines will last through the holidays with extra to spare. If there's a check-up during that period, decide in advance whether to reschedule or who will take your parent.
• Emergencies: the replacement must know which signs mean calling 1669 straight away without phoning you first, such as unconsciousness, severe breathlessness, chest pain, weakness on one side, or slurred speech.

7. Talk to your regular caregiver before they leave: let them go with peace of mind, and come back

Finding cover is not finding a replacement for good. Tell your regular caregiver plainly that the cover is only for the leave, and ask for their help with the handover, because they know your parent best.

• Agree the return date in writing, and how to reach them during the leave (for example, only for important questions, not every day).
• Thank them for writing the handover. Some families pay a little extra for this, which is a matter for each family to agree.
• If your household doesn't yet have a clear agreement about days off, leave and notice periods, New Year is a good moment to make one. See what to include in a home caregiver agreement checklist.

Common mistakes families make

1. Waiting until close to the leave date. Few options remain and you get someone who doesn't fit. Instead, start as soon as you know the dates.
2. Regular caregiver leaves in the morning, new one arrives later. Nobody hands over. Instead, overlap by at least a day, or at minimum half a day.
3. Explaining medicines verbally. Easy to misremember. Instead, write it down, check against the labels, and never let the replacement change any medicine.
4. Choosing on price alone. A parent who needs someone awake all night, covered by one 24-hour caregiver, leaves that caregiver with no rest. Instead, choose by your parent's care level first.
5. No backup plan. If the replacement falls ill or the regular caregiver is late back, the house is left uncovered. Instead, agree a backup person and contact routes in advance.
6. Changing several things during the leave, such as moving rooms or beds. Your parent gets more confused and resistant. Instead, keep everything the same and change only the caregiver.

When to bring in a professional team

It's worth bringing in a professional team when no relative can cover every day, when your parent is bedbound or needs specially trained care such as tube feeding or suctioning, or when they have dementia and need someone present at all times.

• KIN HomeCare daily caregivers: 1,800 baht per day (12-hour shift) or 2,500 baht per day (24-hour), 3-day minimum, 2,000-baht deposit non-refundable on cancellation, paid at least 1 day before the start. You can see profiles first and choose the caregiver's gender. See our elderly home care service.
• Caregivers (nursing assistants) help with daily care such as bathing, sponge baths, feeding and giving medicines, tube feeding, turning, checking vital signs, walking and changing diapers. Specially trained care tasks, such as suctioning, tracheostomy care and insulin injections, are done by caregivers trained for that task, under the supervision of our registered-nurse team.
• Registered nurses: 12-hour shift at 3,500 baht per day for parents who need nursing procedures.
• If your parent has to stay in hospital over the holiday, our hospital sitting service costs the same as home care, and you can book nights only. See our hospital escort and sitting service.
• Service usually starts within 2–3 days; over the holidays, contact us further ahead. The team will tell you honestly whether a suitable caregiver is available for the dates you need. We can issue receipts and a medical certificate for insurance claims, subject to the terms of your policy.

Frequently asked questions

How far ahead should I book temporary elderly care for New Year?

Contact us as soon as you know the leave dates. KIN HomeCare caregivers usually start within 2–3 days, but over the holidays many families are booking at once, so contact us further ahead than that. It gives you time to see profiles and arrange a handover day. No number of days can promise a caregiver; if the leave is close and you still have no replacement, start a backup plan with relatives straight away.

What is the minimum booking for a daily caregiver?

KIN HomeCare daily caregivers have a 3-day minimum: 1,800 baht per day for a 12-hour shift or 2,500 baht per day for 24 hours. There's a 2,000-baht deposit that is non-refundable on cancellation, and payment is due at least 1 day before the start.

Our housekeeper is going home for New Year. Who will look after Mum?

Choose by her care level. If she manages a lot herself, relatives taking turns or daytime Day Care may be enough. If she needs help all day, is bedbound or has dementia, hire a trained caregiver at home and overlap with the housekeeper for at least a day.

Can I find a hospital sitter over the long holiday?

Yes. KIN HomeCare's hospital sitting service costs the same as home care: caregivers at 1,800 or 2,500 baht per day and registered nurses at 3,500 baht per day. Nights only is possible, subject to each hospital's rules. Over the holidays, book ahead.

What should a caregiver handover summary include?

At minimum: medicines and timings, food and swallowing, toileting, turning, tubes and equipment, mobility, your parent's habits, signs to report, and phone numbers in order including 1669 and the usual hospital. Keep the summary short and quick to read, with the latest medicine list, doctor's instructions and equipment manuals in the same folder.

What can a temporary caregiver do?

Caregivers handle daily care such as bathing, feeding and giving medicines, tube feeding, turning and walking. Specially trained tasks such as suctioning are done by caregivers trained for them, under our nursing team's supervision. Procedures such as changing a feeding tube need a registered nurse, and nobody should change medicines without asking the doctor.

Talk to the KIN HomeCare team

Once you know your regular caregiver's leave dates, call us with the dates you need and tell us about your parent's care. We'll help you choose the right shift and tell you honestly whether a suitable caregiver is available for that period.

• Home care, hospital sitting and hospital escort: 061-881-9399 (+66 61 881 9399)
• LINE @KINHOMECARE: send the leave dates and care details in advance
• Free consultation. Our team helps you choose the right service. Caregivers are available nationwide; travel costs depend on the area and are confirmed before booking.

This information is for general family knowledge and does not replace advice from your parent's doctor.

Written by Orrathai Boontuang, RN (licence 5311192883) · Medically reviewed by Dr. Kamolchat Choktanomsup (licence 40854) · Prices as of October 2026; please confirm with our staff before booking.