Last year we wrote about why Franklin County’s emergency planning has to include babies. This is the family side of that: what to have ready before anything happens.
Most emergencies are small. A house fire, a job loss, a power cut, a car that breaks down with a cooler of milk in the back. They do not make the news, but they separate a baby from a feeding plan just as surely as a hurricane does.
Everything in one place
The SAFE Infant Feeding Team keeps a free resource page for families and caregivers at safeinfantfeeding.org/families. Start with these:
- Let’s build a family emergency kit (en español): a one-page checklist, including what your baby needs to eat safely for at least four days
- How to prepare formula and clean bottles when there is no power or clean water
- Short videos on hand expression, keeping a baby warm, and carrying a baby
- Free emergency child care from the National Emergency Child Care Network for any family in a disaster or a personal crisis
Pick a family code word, make sure your child’s caregivers know your plan, and pack the kit on a quiet week. If you need feeding help in Franklin County, start at our lactation resources page.
The SAFE Infant Feeding Team is the emergency arm of Breastfeeding Family Friendly Communities, the organization behind Breastfeed Franklin. Franklin County agencies and home visitors interested in a training on safe infant feeding in small emergencies can reach us here.