Every home should have a first aid kit. You never know when you might find use for it, and it is always better to be safe than sorry. When you have kids at home, it is even more imperative that you have a first aid kit handy. While the basic contents of first aid kits are more or less the same, you have to pay special attention to your first aid kit if you have children. One reason is that you are more likely to have need for it. Another is that children get into scrapes that adults might not normally get into.
Make sure you have these 9 things in your children’s first aid kits. You won’t be sorry you took the time to put them in there.
1. Antiseptic
Definitely a staple in any kind of first aid kid! Antiseptic comes in many forms – spray, cream, liquid, and even wipes! You may take your pick, but I suggest getting one that has a mild numbing effect so that your kid will not feel the pain as much. The wipes can also double as cotton for cleaning wounds. More so, kids hate their scrapes being touched for treatment, so perhaps spray antiseptic is a good idea.
2. Bandages
There are all sorts of bandages and I suggest that you get a handful of adhesive bandages – the Band-Aid kind. These are the ones that you will use most of the time. For kids, choose the kind with various designs and sizes. The former is simply to help distract your child from the pain. As for the different sizes, you might need them depending on the size of the wound.
You’ll also need other kinds of bandages such as gauze bandages. These are handy for burns or the more serious kinds of scrapes, as well as for cleaning out wounds. If you get gauze, make sure you get adhesive tape to hold it in place as well.
Other bandages that you will want to include in your first aid kit are those that are used for sprains.
3. Medicine
Of course, you have to have medicine in your first aid kit. The question is what kinds of medicine should you store? The idea is to get over-the-counter medicine that will get you through common emergencies. The first aid kid is not really where you should store your prescription medication anyway. Here are some of the most useful kinds of medicine you should include in your first aid kit. Oh, and remember that the medicine should be age-appropriate.
- Painkillers. Aspirin, paracetamol, ibuprofen, and the like. These will also help with fever.
- Antihistamine. In case of an allergy attack.
- Calamine lotion. In case of rashes due to allergies or some other reason.
- Rehydration fluids.
- Anti-diarrhea
- Cough medicine
4. Splints
Practically every family has had one child break his or her bone. Who is to say that your children will not need first aid for this as well? While you would never want that to happen, the best thing to do is keep splints in your first aid kit. You need large enough splints for the arms – you can get these at any pharmacy. I also suggest storing a couple of tongue depressors – these serve as very good splints for fingers.
5. Scissors
Scissors will come in handy even if you can’t think of any particular reason right now. You might need to cut plaster, tape, or bandages to a more appropriate size. You might need to cut through clothing. Just make sure you get a small pair.
6. Tweezers
Children always get splinters. That’s when tweezers will come in very handy.
7. Ice packs
Ice packs can be used for a variety of problems – from sprains to pulled muscles to a knot in the head. If you do not have an ice pack, you can store sealable plastic bags in your first aid kit instead. When you need an ice pack, just get one of the bags, fill with ice, seal, and you’ve got an instant ice pack.
8. Thermometers
There are many kinds of thermometers – from the old fashioned ones to the digital kind. Choose whichever is most convenient for you and is most comfortable for your children.
9. First aid manual
You may need this in case you forget what to do for certain injuries or emergencies. Sometimes, it helps just knowing that you can check something up if you are not sure as to what to do. Be sure to get a manual that deals with kids especially.
You can add to your first aid kit as much as you want, but these items should be in there are the very least. Other things that you can add to your first aid kit may be insect repellant, saline solutions, eye patch, and so on. Another thing that you ought to remember is to regularly check your first aid kit. Check if all the items are there, and more importantly, check that all the medicine is not yet expired.