The Emergency Kit Part 1- Stuff you will actually use

I need to put together an emergency box.

I know, I know, I live in earthquake country and I have two small children.  I will, I promise.

But I do have an, emergency box of sorts in my car that gets a regular workout.  We’re not talking flares and matches, but this is the emergency kids supply bag.  I started this box in my car when I was out with my then infant son and he had a complete blowout and I realized I had never restocked his change of clothes in my bag, didn’t have enough wipes and had no blanket or anything else.  I cleaned him (kind of) with a crumpled napkin, put him back in his carseat, draped a burp cloth over his naked body and drove home in tears.

Now I keep a box in the back of my car with “just incase” supplies and I use items from this box ALL. THE. TIME.

• Diapers: If you have an infant, remember to change the size of the diapers in your emergency box when they grow out of a size. You don’t want to have a diaper emergency with your 18 month old and realize you only have newborn diapers.
• Potty Chair:  We are still newly potty trained in our house and knowing there is a potty in the back of our car just takes a little of the stress off our outings.  No frantic running to find a public bathroom or getting stuck at the park with no bathroom.  We know we can always go back to the car, or try before we go somewhere.
• Wipes: A full sealable container- these wipes get used for a lot more than diaper changes, chocolaty hands, sandy feet and goopy car seats.
• Changing Pad: I use a large waterproof ‘lap’ pad, or the pad that came with your diaper bag
• Ziplock bags and a few plastic grocery bags: Bags seem to come in handy to contain all sorts of things; diapers, dirty clothes, beach collections…
• Change of clothes: A full change of clothes for each kid and at least a tshirt for you (you’ll be thankful for it when you yank your vomiting child out of his car seat on the side of the road 20 minutes into a 4 hour car ride).  I also keep a pair of my preschoolers pjs in car for those times dinner at the in-laws runs a little late and we can just have him ready for bed before we even get home.
• A travel roll of Paper towels
• Wash clothes, burp clothes, bibs
• An extra blanket: I have 2 of the hospital flannel receiving blankets.  They fold up small and again can be used as anything from a changing station, to cover a wet carseat, as a towel after an unexpected splash-fest, or of course as an actual blanket.
• Emergency Feeding Items: Think of things that you know your kids like in case you are stuck in Tahoe traffic past dinner time, or decide to stay out longer than you planned; think Stable snack items: such as applesauce ‘crushers’, trail mix, jar of baby food, crackers etc, juice box, a few bottles of water, self contained powdered or premixed formula (if you’re using).
• A bottle, a sippy cup, a few disposable bowls (for doling out unexpected snacks)
• Warm hats and sun hats
• Bubble soap, a sand toy shovel or a plastic truck: Just in case

Ok, earthquake kit next….