In '04 I went through 2 canes & the first one I had no power for 18 days and I had a 2 1/2 yr old & 4wk old preemie twins. Prepare these things now along with the rest in case you should get in a situation where you are without power:
Start pumping now & freeze as much milk as you can...if you don't need it, someone can give you a break with feeding the baby =) If you can't afford bottles w/the plastic disposable liners, set aside water for boiling your bottles also. I used a small (tabletop) charcoal grill to boil the water to sterilize bottles & pacifiers. Buy some of those freezer packs for coolers & buy a small insulated cooler to store your milk in. Freezing extra gallons of water also helps to keep the milk cold. The packs will maintain the milk temp for quite a while. Once the ice packs have thawed, use the gallon jugs. Remember, breast milk is good for eight hours at room temp. After that, bacteria starts growing. Make sure to keep yourself as hydrated as possible and stock up on power bars etc..to keep yourself nourished in case you are unable to use your frozen milk & need to do the job yourself.
Buy at least 2 CASES of diapers...little ones go through them quickly & you can run out fast.
Set aside extra water for washing your baby bibs.They go through them quickly. I used a big plastic storage container to wash & a rigged up clothes line to dry.
It will be very hot so leave the baby in his diaper only...
Buy a couple of tubes of diaper rash cream & baby lotion..with the heat they get rashes very easily.
Keep some pedialyte on hand...babies can get dehydrated easily. Or just have purified water set aside for babies use only.
For older babies & toddlers, much of the same applies, just remember to stock up on at least 2 wks of the basics: food, formula, snacks, etc.
Make sure you have the all basic baby meds. (Thermometer,Tylenol, cold medicine, Mylecon drops,etc)
Giving the baby a bath a few times a day helps keep his skin moist & keeps him cool.
Just a few tips I learned along the way & thought I would share for the new mommies who may need this advice. (I wish I hadn't learned this the hard way) Best of luck to you & I hope no one will ever have to use anything I said!!!
Thank you for the feedback and feel free to add your own tips and advice. I'm sure there are many more things forgotten and not mentioned.
Take Care!!
|
Updated: 4:58 AM GMT on September 08, 2008
|
Permalink |
A A A
|
