The first couple weeks of football practice, Speedracer got a nose-bleed. He’s prone to them in hot weather. So the team opened up their brand new, 400+ piece, first-aid kit and got out…nothing. There were no tissues. No wet wipes without alcohol. No gauze pads, only a sterilized gauze roll (which they were about to open but I stopped them) and “non-stick wound pads.” Basically nothing we needed. So I got our family first aid kit out of our truck in the parking lot because I did have what we needed. Tissues.
When your daily mileage includes 3 kiddos, 3 dogs, and unpredictable farm adventures with no vehicle storage space to speak of, you have to find ways to be prepared. For anything. At any time. And some times the bare minimum just won’t cut it, but you still need to minimize, because weatherproof storage is at a premium. So I haven’t had much luck with pre-packaged first aid kits or the bulky, hard-sided tackle box DIY kits. I find I have to add too much stuff to make it worth it for the store-packaged ones. They don’t usually include normal stuff we need like chewable meds for kids, bug spray and sunblock, or even tissues and wet wipes. The hard-case DIY options can be great for an organized house kit, but they’re much too big to fit under or behind the seat in a truck. So over the years we’ve developed our own.
There’s a FREE Printable Checklist at the end of the post.
We call it the family “medicine bag,” and it stays under the seat in the truck all the time. It’s fairly compact but covers a wide range of needs. We use a soft-sided, waterproof bag so it’s malleable for compact spaces. And it’s easy to grab if we change vehicles for a trip, need to run across the football field, or even throw in a backpack for an unplanned hike (although it’s not lightweight!). Whatever the primary family transport is, that’s where we want it. (And believe me, it aggravates me greatly when we switch vehicles and don’t have it when I need it!)
What We’re Preparing For
- Running Errands
- Farm Adventures (like hunting a Christmas tree and misletoe or work fence on the far side of the farm)
- Camping and Hiking
- Sports Practice
- Road Trips/Travel and Vacations
- Visiting Family and Friends (often they won’t have things like Children’s liquid Tylenol or chewable Benedryl in their cabinets regularly)
- Random Family Days Out
- Friends that Need Help
We’ve modified it a few times over the years, but I think we’ve gotten it down to the point where there’s nothing unused in it. I break everything into basic categories and bag it in ziploc bags by category so I don’t have a mess on my hands every time I need the bug spray.
Pain, Fever, and Minor Wounds
For pain, headaches, fevers, and minor wound care I keep a good supply of ibuprofen and some acetaminophen. If I have travel size, I use them, otherwise I repackage from large bottles into pill pouches. (You can use these pre-printed pocket pharmacy stickers to label the pill pouches!) We used to carry both regular dosage pills and liquid or chewable children’s dosages but now all my kiddos can swallow pills so I don’t always have the liquids with me.
- Triple Antibiotic cream (Neosporin)
- Several bandaids (The standard medium-size work for 90% of problems, so we usually only have those.)
- Ibuprofen (Advil)
- Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
Itch, Allergy, Bite, and Sting
My kiddos have sensitive skin and are prone to rashes if they get to scratching minor things like bug bites, as well as having one munchkin allergic to things like regular sunblock, lotions, swimming pool water, etc. So I always have itch and allergy treatments with me!
- Hydrocortisone (we love, love, love the roll-on or stick!)
- Chewable Children’s Allergy tabs (I keep a 12 hr and a standard 4 hr chewable with me. I have found chewables are more fast acting than pills/tabs for our kids. Allegra and Benadryl)
- Regular Phenylephrine sinus/nasal decongestant tabs (Sudafed)
- Regular Diphenhydramine Antihistamine tabs (Benadryl, not shown)
Skin Care
Our kiddos are prone to skin rashes and irritations, so this is a very important part of our kit. I keep exactly what we need with me because there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to find the right type or brand somewhere else. But the great think about a DIY kit is that you can make it as exact or basic as you want!
- Sunblock Spray
- Sunblock Stick (we stash travel sticks everywhere now)
- Sunscreen Lotion (I’ve got one child that literally can’t use ANYTHING except this one. CeraVe)
- Bug Spray/Wipes (We’re switching to Bug WIPES as soon as this bottle is done. I love the wipes!)
- Body Lotion (We only use CeraVe or Eucerin because of allergies here, so I feel pretty confident they are safe for everyone except the most dire sensitivities.)
- Eczema itch lotion (Not shown because I’m out, but we keep Cortizon 10 Eczema lotion with us all the time!)
Feminine and Personal Hygiene
This used to be where we kept the Pull-Ups and baby wipes…oh how far we’ve come! {sigh} And this section brings up an interesting point…this is meant to be a backup supply for “emergencies.” It does not necessarily carry everything we would prefer to have for every situation. These are meant to cover the most basic needs in unexpected situations.
Interestingly enough, it has been people outside of our household that have benefited the most from this little section of the kit to this point.
However, the Ladybug has requested that I find a different bag for these items so that they can be more discreetly handed off or carried into a restroom in a travel situation. That seems reasonable. A little makeup pouch (like we each carry in our own purse) would still fit in the overall kit. And considering how it functions independently, I’ll be throwing in a couple of antibacterial wet wipes as well.
- Panty Liners
- Regular Pads
- Tween/Teen or Sport Pads (Smaller size for more petite users)
- Cleansing wipes
- Anti-itch wipes (not shown)
- Witch-Hazel wipes (not shown)
Bandages and Wraps
This came up last year when Speedracer broke his arm. We had to wrap his cast in foam before football practice and before games and be ready to re-wrap it if it got messed up or too wet. Otherwise he had to sit out. We’ve also had a couple of foot sprains now and I’ve added finger wraps (I had no idea these existed!) for jammed fingers (hello volleyball!).
Just so you know when you look at our picture, I buy bandage and gauze in bulk from livestock supply folks. It’s the same product, but much less expensive than the local pharmacy version for people.
- Rolled gauze (use independently or under sports wraps)
- Gauze pads (just plain gauze!! not that non-stick stuff!)
- Reusable cotton bandage wrap (gentler on skin than self-stick.)
- Self-stick sports wrap (Just FYI, we use vet wrap. You can buy it in bulk and it comes individually wrapped. Or get it from Tractor supply in the horse section.)
- Waterproof First Aid tape (can also be used as a regular bandaid in a pinch!)
- Scissors (we have since switched to these inexpensive medical shears–they work better on the farm and don’t poke holes in my bags. But whatever you have is better than nothing.)
- Pocket tool (with scissors, tweezers, and nail clippers)
- Finger wraps/sleeves
Hands and Noses
Just for the record, this is the stuff that’s always needed and no one has! {smile} I find the Dollar Store is the best place to pick up this stuff. Although we love the Kleenex Wet Wipes (have I mentioned yet that my kids have super-sensitive skin?) and Amazon has the best price on the individually wrapped ones.
- Hand sanitizer
- Tissues
- Wet Wipes
Random Stuff We’ve Needed More Than Once
These are things we’ve ended up needing and more than once I didn’t have them or couldn’t find them, so we added them.
- Stomach Relief Chewables (Pepto)
- Imodium
- Nasal Spray (Plain saline)
- Eye drops (I keep a plain allergy relief drop with us. It works for any eye irritation.)
- Earache drops (These Hyland’s homeopathic ones can be used for both pain and just for after-swim prevention.)
- Cough drops (I use a small ziploc container for these otherwise they get all smushed and melted in the weather changes in the truck.)
- Vaseline
- Muscle cream (I really like the new roll-on applicators, but they can dry out quickly in the vehicle.)
- Body powder (Chaffing…that’s all I’m gonna say…)
A Soft-Sided Waterproof Bag
I use sandwich-size or quart-size ziploc bags for each category and then throw it all into a soft-sided, waterproof bag. Camping gear is the easiest place to find one. We use just used one like these.
I won’t recommend brands for you on the ziplocs, but I do recommend that you go with heavier freezer bags over simple storage bags. If some things breaks or busts open, you don’t want it leaking everywhere. Bug spray has been our biggest issue, which is why we’re switching over to wipes in our medicine bag. I also throw a couple of extra quart and gallon-sized bags in loose. Perfect for wet clothes (or dirty diapers!).
It packs up nice and neat and there’s even room to throw a flashlight and a couple extra winter hats on the top for emergencies. Then I just squish it under the back seat of the truck.
Ready to put together your own Family Vehicle First Aid kit?
Do you find yourself needing something I missed? It certainly evolves for us as we go through different stages with the kids. I’d love to hear what you think!
