Thank you to CVS for sponsoring this post and hosting this giveaway. All opinions below are 100% mine.
The last time I posted, I was telling you about my son’s severe allergic reaction and visit to the ICU. I’ve been meaning to share my “Mama Medical Kit” with you all, and now is as good of a time as any.
Because it saved my son’s life.
I bring this medical kit everywhere, and use it frequently! Not always – obviously – for life-threatening situations. But still, this is has saved the day for our family – and our friends! – more times than I can count!
I keep mine hanging in our entry way and grab it anytime I’m headed out – in the car, the diaper bag, the pool bag, or in the stroller.
Here are the 10 items you shouldn’t leave home without:
- Antibiotic Ointment – I use this under bandages when a wound needs to be cleaned. The ointment is easy to spread on a specific area.
- Antibiotic Spray – I like the spray for larger scrapes and cuts. My youngest son ALWAYS asks for this for his various injuries. I think the cool spray actually feels good to the wound. You can also get an antibiotic spray with a pain-relieving ingredient for extra soothing.
- Ibuprofen – many various uses
- Cortisone Anti-Itch Cream (1% hydrocortisone) – Bug bites, skin rashes, contact with allergen, etc.
- Kids’ Dye-Free Oral Allergy Medicine – Allergy medicine is just helpful to have on hand for allergy situations that may arise, large or small. You never know when you might need it.
- Bandages – You knew this was going to be here, right? I love the CVS Avenger Series Bandages. I think a have a few boys who might fake an injury for one of these. 🙂 But seriously – there is no reason to not carry bandages with you. They take up no space, and there is no substitute!
- Any medicine your child has ever needed. Okay, maybe not “ever,” but if it’s something that could be needed again, include it. For my oldest, this is epinephrine and albuterol. My second child gets growing pains in his legs, and I have an essential oil roll-on that really helps him. When I was nursing, it was gas/colic drops. Think about YOUR CHILD. Is there a medicine your child has needed in the past? An allergy medicine? A medicine he/she takes daily? An injury or type of pain he/she gets sometimes? Throw it in.
- A change of clothes, or at least a t-shirt. When I need this, I am so thankful I have it. Especially if you have a child who has allergies – whether it’s seasonal outdoor, pet, or food – it is an essential to carry an extra change of clothes for when they get into something that is irritating them.
- Tissues – Running noses, scrapes, etc.
- A travel container of soap or small bar of soap. This might sound like an odd ingredient for a medical kit, but it’s a great idea. Aside from being a handy thing to have for clean-ups (and again, taking up barely any space) it is very helpful if there’s a messy injury or contact with an allergen.
You’ll notice that I’ve picked up the CVS-brand of many of these products. I’ve been a CVS shopper for years, and when there’s a CVS-comparable product, I always grab it. The CVS-brand products are typically much, much cheaper, and the exact same ingredients of name-brand health and safety products. Check the products for yourself and see!
I have always been very pleased with any of their products I’ve used. And there is no risk to try them, because if you aren’t perfectly satisfied, CVS offers a money-back guarantee of these products.
For storing my kit, I love using a soft, insulated lunch bag – I grabbed this one for a few dollars during back-to-school shopping. It’s super-light and molds to fit everything I need.
Do you carry a medical kit? If you don’t, or if you’d like to replenish your stash, you’re in luck. Today I’m partnering with CVS to share my medical kit with a reader. You don’t get the epi-pens (ha) but you’ll get all the items listed below, plus they’re throwing in a $25 gift card so you can grab anything else your family needs for your kit! If you have a kiddo with asthma or allergies -seasonal or otherwise – check out the Asthma & Allergy product line. I particularly thought the homeopathic blends were interesting!
If you’d like to enter to win your own little traveling Mama Medical kit, see below!
Thank you to CVS for sponsoring this post and hosting this giveaway. All opinions are 100% mine.
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I would add a sealed water bottle for washing wounds!
My medical kit isn’t quite as compact as your becauae I have a daughter with special medical issues so we have a backpack with all her extras, but this would be a good kit for the rest of the family!
We have an almost 6 and almost 3 year old and I can’t believe I don’t have an emergency kit like this! This would have saved us literally 100 times! PLUS, my son (2 yrs) was recently diagnosed with several food allergies (eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy) and a dog allergy, so more than ever I am in need of a kit like this! We’re learning!! Let me ask you, do you keep your epi-pens in those little containers they sell, or just keep them as-is? We’ve been carrying ours around in the box it came in and it’s quite bulky. Thanks so much for this advice, and what a great giveaway!!
Hi Brittany! I do NOT use the ones they come in. Since epi pens are very temperature-sensitive, I use an insulated carrier. I like this brand: http://amzn.to/1P3RuIA. We carry four – I also have one with an even larger insulated layer for really hot weather. I will try to find that link – I’m not having any luck doing a quick search. You can even find fun animal shaped carriers!
Great giveaway! I carry a lot of the same stuff you do – because of the allergies and asthma. But I also carry medical tape and non stick pads (for large scrapes and bruises) and one of those super compact space blankets.
I keep acetaminophen for the lo and bc for dh at all times!
I really need to do this…especially now that Cooper is basically running everywhere! Lots of inevitable (hopefully minor) little injuries in our future I’m afraid!
Thanks for the great tips and ideas! I so enjoy your blog posts.
I keep a capsule of yunnan baiyao in my kit. It’s a Chinese medical forums that stops bleeding. Break that open on a bleeding cut and it’s really helpful!
I am posting so I can register to win the CVS kit 🙂 Love your blog, Jess, So proud of you!!!
I have a first aid kit in our vehicle. I also carry a spray bottle of collodial silver and thieves oil spray and I make sure to have arnica in my purse.
I have a small one in our van. It’s got antibiotic ointment and bandages and some tylenol I think. We actually need to make new kits since we live in California now instead of North Carolina. They advise that for earthquakes and such.
I have a small pre made kit in our car but I need to update and personalize it for our family. Thanks for the great tips!
I carry one when we go on vacation. However I always have my son’s Epi pen and benadryl.
Like you, we carry dye-free benadryl and epi pens.
I always carry a kit. We have 4 kids (ages 14, 12, 8 & 4). The oldest 3 are all boys, so we’ve seen our fair share of injuries. My kit also has materials for making a small splint – thanks for a broken finger years ago. During the summer, we bring water everywhere we go too. While you can’t prepare for every situation, we can at least manage the small things.
We have a small kit that we got a target, it even has stickers 🙂
I love this! Great ideas.
I always have bandaids, but I like the idea for having a whole kit.
You would think with four kiddos that I would have one of these, but sadly I don’t!! Such a great idea and would be super beneficial with the three boys who seem to fall at every outing 😉
i carry an inhaler, Benadryl tabs and an epi pen as well. I carry a small pouch in my purse at all times, but what a great idea to have a bigger pouch with all of these other items in it to grab as I’m walking out the door!
I purchased one of those little “kits” from the dollar store with band-aids in it and keep that in the car and van. =)
Quick tip for those carrying pills: Get colored contacts cases to put them in. They take up less space then bottles, the distinct cases make them easy to identify, and the case also keeps the pills from being crushed (I once tried carrying pills loose in a bag and ended up with powder).
All of these items are good to have to ease the discomforts of life but the only life saving items mentioned were epinephrine and albuterol This kit needs something that can save your child’s life in the case of an accident something like quikclot, a tourniquet, sanitary pads and duct tape. The sanitary pads and duct tape can take the place of a combat dressing. My husband and I served in the military and we actually use our Marine Corps Martial arts Belts in our kits as tourniquets in case of a situation where arterial bleeding would occur, think a major traffic accident or natural disaster such as a tornado. Quick clot is the one item that is going to cost you a fortune and should not be used unless arterial bleeding can not be stopped but when it comes to saving the life of your child these items are the essentials. I keep this kit in my car wherever I go since it should hopefully never have to be used but I keep small band aids and ointment in my purse for the more common everyday annoyances. The best first aid kit you can ever have is knowledge so if you don’t know how to start the breathing, stop the bleeding, protect the wound and treat for shock you tube is full of information on how to do CPR, Apply a tourniquet and use quickclot and hemostats, and how to protect a gut wound or treat a sucking chest wound or treat for shock get on there. The more you know the better your chances of being able to save someone’s life in an emergency.
I keep a roller ball blend of essential oils for cuts/bug bites/excema and a spray bottle of hand sanitizer. Occasionally I will carry along a bottle of ibuprofen. For now, these things have been sufficient for our family. Oh, and snacks and water. Always have snacks on hand!
This is a great idea! Right now, I keep a smaller version in our diaper bag with essentials. Soon enough we will need something like this though, especially with boys!
This is a great idea and came along at just the right time as all four of my boys are starting tackle football for the first time! Was already getting together lists of things I needed to have with me at all times and plan to add this list to mine! Thanks!
I would add ice packs. You can easily carry the kind that you break the insides to activate. Can really come in handy if someone hits their head hard
Awesome idea! I really need to be carrying one of these around. I would probably add Arnica Gel. And an instant ice pack.
Don’t forget to check the expiration dates on any medications in your first aid kit. Setting a reminder “trigger” (like changing smoke detector batteries with Daylight Savings changes) would help keep the First Aid kit updated. 🙂
I only bandaids….