by Amy Jo Browne

Created on: November 17, 2008

Every home with children needs to have a first aid kit, but it seems that those pre-made kits you buy in the department stores are not always sufficient when you have multiple children. I simply keep a shoebox with every thing I need and it eliminates panic to find everything in an emergency.

A shoebox is the perfect size to hold a wide assortment of bandages, a tube of Neosporin, gauze, tape, eye patches, scissors, ace bandages and well anything you may need like a bee sting kit. It is a great idea to keep the thermometer, and a bottle of pain reliever in there as well.

While the assortment of bandages is clear to most every one, reading this I realize that eye patches addition may not be clear. Having three very active children, I have found that eye patches have a wide variety of uses other than eye injuries.

I have taped an eye patch on a skinned knee that was bleeding quite a bit. The eye patch collected the blood, cushioned the area, and provided pressure to help control the bleeding as I took him to the emergency room. Just use bandage tape or an ace bandage to hold on the eye patch.

I have also placed them on infected areas to provide some cushioning, at nighttime. This also allowed the Neosporin to soak into the wound, rather than ooze out of the bandage and mess up the blankets.

Ace bandages are not only for sprains, they will hold on bigger bandages on awkward places. Children often skin a knee and an ace bandage will help hold on a big band aide. You can also use an ace bandage as a tourniquet if needed. Every household with a child in residence needs to include an ace bandage in the first aide box, as it is multifunctional.

Add in the bottle of peroxide to a zip lock bag incase the top is not set back on tightly after an emergency. Also, add a small zip lock bag for q-tips, tweezers, and small packages of little things you need. This way the little things will not get lost in the box.

There is no excuse for not having a well-stocked first aide kit when you have children. While you never know, when an emergency will occur when you have kids so always be prepared for those emergencies. A shoebox is perfect and it is cheaper than throwing it way.

I simply keep a shoebox with every thing I need and it eliminates panic to find everything in an emergency. You simply just grab it and go to the emergency or have another child bring it to you. In addition, since it is already packed it is easy to grab if you are evacuated from your home in the case of a natural disaster.

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