Storms, floods, earthquakes – these are all things that we might not want to think about, but they do happen and the best way to give yourself peace of mind is to be prepared. The government recommends we be prepared to sustain our family for 72 hours in the event of an emergency. Do you have an emergency kit? If so, have you looked at it recently? It is worth revisiting your emergency kit to ensure you have adequate supplies to meet the demands of your growing family.

Besides the general recommendations, consider the nutritional needs of your children. Are they formula fed? Do you have adequate formula set aside for the event of an emergency? If you use powdered formula, do you have adequate water set aside not only to meet the needs of your other family members, but also to prepare bottles for two babies for 72 hours? How would you sterilize this water? How would you sterilize the bottles? It might be useful to have some of the expensive (but convenient) ready to use formula on hand. Would you need to pump milk for your babies? If you use an electric pump, does it take batteries and do you have enough of the correct size in your kit? Are your babies on solids? If you find yourself running to the store to buy more baby food when you get down to the last jar, it might be worth adding some jars of baby food to your emergency kit. It is also a good idea to keep in mind any medications your children may need and to ensure that you always have enough on hand to last you through an emergency. With all of these perishables, make sure you give yourself lots of time against the individual indicated expiry dates, and make a habit of checking these items – perhaps every six months, to make sure they are still fit for consumption.

Less essential, but still of consideration are some of the conveniences that get you through your day. If the power goes out for 24 hours, would you still want to use your baby monitor? If so, check to ensure that your monitor takes batteries and if it does, that you have an adequate supply on hand. Similarly, you may want to take a quick inventory of some of the other luxuries around your house (bottle warmers, etc.) and prepare them.