Creating Emergency Bags for Your Children
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The following is written by LifeasMOM contributor Lauren:
photo source: Nasa
My husband and I are preparedness-type people. It’s difficult for me to imagine being unable to feed my children in the event of a major disaster. So I want to be as prepared as can be.
While we have enough food and water for an unexpected event, I think our most valuable resources are our emergency bags.
Why stock an emergency bag?
It is very unlikely that we’ll ever use our emergency bags. In fact, I honestly hope that we never need to! But in the event that we must leave our house quickly, we have a loaded 3-day bag that will help make life more manageable. Whether it is a natural disaster such as a tornado or an event such as a fire or prolonged gas leak, my family can survive with their emergency bags.
I consider these bags to be insurance for us. While I hope to never use them, I want them available in case we do find ourselves in need.
What should you stock in your emergency bags?
When making emergency bags for your own children, the contents of each bag are going to vary greatly. My baby’s bag looks very different than my 6 year old’s bag, for example.
To decide what the bags should contain, it is best to sit down with pen and paper. Brainstorm about what your child needs over the course of a typical 3-day period. Which of those items do you consider essential? Make a list and then buy all of your items.
Here’s a detailed list of the contents of our emergency bags to kick-start your own ideas:
The Baby (9 months):
20 diapers, full container of baby wipes, Infant Motrin, small bottle of baby wash, burp cloths, baby blanket, 6 onesies, 3 pairs of long pants, 2 pairs of zip-up pajamas, 3 pairs of socks, sunscreen, baby food, bottles with formula (even though I exclusively breastfeed), 6 bottles of water, 2 small teething toys, infant cup/bowl/spoon, small flashlight, $20 in small bills
The Toddler (2 ½ years):
8 pairs of underwear, 3 night-time diapers, 3 pairs of shorts with shirts, 2 pairs of footed pajamas, 3 pairs of socks, shoes, 3 small hairbows, brush, toothbrush/paste, small container of liquid soap with washcloth, 9 bottles of water, food, sippy cup, sunscreen, Motrin, Benadryl, 2 small books, large Ziploc bag, small flashlight, $20 in small bills
4-year-old:
3 pairs of shorts and shirts, 3 pairs of underwear, 2 pairs of pajamas, 3 pairs of socks, shoes, 3 hairbows, brush, toothbrush/paste, liquid soap with washcloth, 9 bottles of water, food, sunscreen, Motrin, Benadryl, books, notepad with small pack of colored pencils (no crayons-they melt!), large Ziploc bag, small flashlight, $20 in small bills
6-year-old:
3 pairs of shorts and shirts, 3 pairs of underwear, 3 tshirts, 1 pair of pajama pants, 3 pairs of socks, shoes, baseball hat, toothbrush/paste, liquid soap and washcloth, 12 bottles of water, food, sunscreen, Motrin, Benadryl, maintenance asthma meds with spacer and Rescue inhaler, books, notepad with pencil, deck of cards, large Ziploc Bag, small flashlight, $20 in small bills
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How to Make Your Children’s Emergency Bags
Each individual in your family needs an emergency bag. It’s important that each person have their own bag since they are stocked based on age and specific needs. Follow these tips when building your bags:
Choose a different color bag for each child.
Assign your child a bag color and make sure they know which color is theirs, if they’re old enough. For example, my son’s bag is blue and he knows that he is responsible for it. If your Bags are different colors, you can quickly see at a glance if any are missing.
Brainstorm what the bags should contain.
When brainstorming necessary items, remember that the goal is not luxury here. One or 2 small toys could be helpful, but a whole art/crayon set is over the top. Think in very practical terms: What does my child need? (Food, medicine, clothes)
After buying your items, pack your bags carefully with your children.
Making emergency bags is an excellent teaching time for your little ones. Go over reasons you would need to leave your house in an emergency. For preschoolers, count each item to make sure there are enough available. For older kids, let them help you decide what actually goes in the bags. Make them as responsible for their own items as possible.
Store your emergency bags in an obvious place.
Make sure everyone in your family knows where your bags are located: your spouse and your older children. Store them in an area that is easy to get to in a hurry. Since they’ll contain food, your bags need to be stored inside in a relatively cool place.
Schedule dates to review your bags.
It is a must that you routinely review and inventory your emergency bags. Food expires, seasons change and children quickly grow out of clothes. Summer clothes are minimal help to your little ones if it’s 30 degrees outside.
For my toddler and baby, I review emergency bags once a month since they grow so quickly and their food issues change frequently. Once children reach the age of 4 or 5, I go through bags once every 3 months or so.
The most essential part of this step is writing your review time on the calendar to ensure you actually do it!
Does your family have emergency bags?
Have you ever needed to use them? What are your best tips for preparing and implementing emergency bags?
– Lauren Hill is the ‘Mama’ behind Mama’s Learning Corner, a site that features all kinds of educational ideas and tips as well as free printable worksheets. She is the mom of four young children and loves to learn alongside them.
Hi do you suggest any specific size backpack for the 6 yr olds? Would a 15″ bag fit all the items you recommend or should I get something larger?
Thanks
Do you have a few sizes at home that will work? Since it’s “hopefully” just going to sit and not be used, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on the bag. I bought them for a couple bucks at back to school clearance.
Actually I only have a few drawstring bags but they’re small so I think I need to purchase bags.
Don’t forget the pets. Bottled water, small bag of pet food (we usually keep several one meal servings in ziplock bags) leash, spare collar, current pic of pet, license and immunization info and any meds !
I’d like to add that in the emergency bag to add a paper with emergency phone numbers in case you get separated in an emergency. I also wrote my childrens blood type in case of extreme emergency where I wasn’t able to speak for them.
Also if they are allergic to anything a rescuer would need to know. I also laminated mine to prevent water damage
One tip I like for emergency bags for kids is to pack sweatpants. They are forgiving as far as too-big/too-small goes, and if it’s really really too hot, you can just cut the pants into shorts.
Also, bagging like items together (clothes, light, food, etc) makes checking and updating them quicker and easier.
For my son, when he was little, I bought some liquid baby formula to keep in his kit. It wasn’t ideal, but better than nothing in an emergency.
Just a thought…
Instead of liquid soap and a washcloth in their bags (and I’m talking ALL of them, even yours!!!), Johnson’s makes a wet and wash cloth. I saw them at my local CVS yesterday even!
They are made for babies but ANYONE can use them (I used them for washing after my c-section because they are so very soft and the soap is so mild!)! It doesn’t even matter if it isn’t rinsed off as well as it should be…it’s that mild.
Since the soap is on them, there wouldn’t be any additional liquid that might accidentally spill or leak, just tuck a couple in a ziplock!
Also, since they are disposable, there wouldn’t be a damp cloth to carry around in the pack after use (although they wash up nicely, even in the washer, and then you can use them as wipes for spills!).
I STILL carry several in my car at all times!
You just never know when someone will get SERIOUSLY messy…too messy for a mere wipe to handle!!!
As a mother of five small children I’ve come to realize that in an emergency my husband and I would be the ones carrying most or all of our emergency supplies plus our smallest children. Just the food and drink alone is a lot of weight to carry. So we’ve parred down our emergency supply list to just life-sustaining essentials. Items like coloring books and special toys are low priorities to us. We keep our kits in small rolling suitcases so the older children can “pull their own weight” as much as possible. In addition to food and water I also keep a pack of large sized disposable diapers, a sharpie pen (So I can write identifying information on my small children underneath their shirts in case our family got separated), and cash in small bills.
Oh yeah!
I thought about that one too! A 3 yo is not going to carry her own pack for long!!! :\
All of our backpacks, convert to rolling bags…..that way we can wear OR drag them!!!
I think MINE was the most expensive at $5 (a lovely Nike one!)!
It’s amazing what you can get at the thrift shops, right after school lets out!!! (I guess having the same backpack for your entire school career is taboo now, or something!)
I suggest making these to last at least 3-4 days. Try not to include food that has under a 1 year expiration date so you don’t have to rotate as often. Also avoid super salty stuff as it can dehydrate you faster and you will go through your water faster.
I keep 3 bottles of water in each bag and 2cases of water near them along with a water bottle that has a filter and water purification tabs in each bag. Keeps down on the weight in the bags and as long as you can find a source of water you can treat it yourself.
Add some waterproof strike anywhere matches and some firestarters. I keep 2 sterno cans in each of the kids bags and 3 in each adult bag totaling 10 which gives me heat for 3 days worth of meals. We keep an aluminum (light weight) pot attached to one of the bags. I pack food that does not require heating but would be much more enjoyable with heat! Consider adding a couple paint can alcohol heaters to your stash as well. Don’t forget extra alcohol!
Everyone should have a flashlight (crank or solar preferably) but if its a battery operated on do not keep the batteries in it tape them to the outside and include 3x extra batteries for it. Cheap solar yard stake lights make decent light sources. I also keep several glow sticks per kid bag (entertainment and light source)
A tent, the smallest and lightest weight your family can fit into, more than 1 if need be.
A Good multi tool and knife. I have a gerber gator jr in my bag and a leather man tool and each bag has a great pocket knife. Hubs has his own array of knives. I can use my gator to cut small limbs for firewood, clear brush and many many other things.
Duct tape and first aide kits should be mandatory 🙂 one small general on per bag and a more extensive one in each adult bag.
Sweat suit and a tee shirt are great for these bags and can usually be found in almost any size a thrift stores. If the weather is hot cut off the pants or roll them, the layers from the tee and sweatshirt will help keep you warmer. Extra socks and if you have any kid who has had even one accident in the past 2 years pack them a few pull ups just in case. Feminine supplies should be in these bags as well you never know and stress can trigger it.
Use neutral colored (but not military ish) bags so you don’t stand out as a “Prepper” and make your family a target. People suck and in any situation that requires these bags someone is bound to take advantage when they see an opportunity.
Sham wow towels a wash cloth with a bar of soap in a ziplock (liquid soap is more likely to ruin stuff) is a great way to keep clean but consider baby wipes for everyone and a roll of TP or two. Remove the cardboard and smash it flat, I used a half roll (grabbed it out of the bathroom half way thru) per bag. I do keep a small travel size bottle of liquid Castile soap double bagged in ziploc for cleaning other stuff like the pot and utensils and water bottles, I can use it on people too 🙂
With the food don’t forget utensils if needed. A space blanket is okay in a pinch but a light throw blanket will go a long way for moral. I pack both. A dust mask is good too there are many kinds, spring for a good one. In natural disasters many times there is a lot of crap polluting the air that is not safe to breathe in. Even a bandana over your mouth and nose is better than nothing. Oh can opener too!
I have each bag ready for 3 days minimum ours have more than what I have listed but this is a starting point. I also have a Baggie with ones and a roll of quarters each person. And a luggage tag inside the bag with a family photo and scaled down photo copy of that person’s photo ID, birth cert and SS card and medical ins card, and a contact card and a medical info card (blood type, allergies, medical conditions, medications etc)
I have a binder I use all the time with more of our important info but I keep back up copies and family ID sheets in my BOB including everyone’s fingerprints and a hair sample. (OCD maybe but not every disaster is the end of the world, sometimes its that your kid got snatched from a playground and its helpful for police if you have these!)
Have an out of state contact you can relay messages to sometimes a text will work but not a call and if you get separated you may not be able to contact each other because of the towers in your area but you may be able to contact someone out of state.
I have a duffel bag and wheeled suitcase that I keep extra supplies in so that if I know we will be gone longer and can travel by vehicle I have more supplies available.
One of these days I’m going to just do my own blog on preparedness maybe then my comments wouldn’t be so long winded 🙂
I have an emergency binder but the only time I get a bag together is when there is a tornado headed our way. I need to be more prepared. My binder has all social security cards birth certificates current photo of kids medical information and contact #s, even our monthly bills and bank info and an emergency credit card. Tornado season is around the corner so obey yet get on this. Thanks!
We actually make emergency bags for a living and are looking at starting these bags for infants! We have a 7month old and realized we don’t have anything packed for him. So this is great for a start! Check out our premade bags at http://www.blackwolfprep.com.
Another thought is to make sure that you have a current picture of each child in your bag, and a family picture in each child’s bag. Again, hoping you would never have to use it, but at least someone could identify you as the parents if you were not able to do so.
You might check this post, http://lifeasmom.com/2012/09/make-24-hour-go-bags-for-your-kids.html where I featured a printable emergency info page as well as talk about including photos, etc.