Just in Case

The author of a new book on family preparedness says grandparents should be ready to care for their grandchildren should disaster strike

by Kathy Harrison

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My husband, Bruce, and I began a family preparedness program when our children were young. The plan evolved as our kids grew, reflecting their changing needs and maturity. Now my children have children of their own, and our preparedness program has once again changed, to include provisions for our grandchildren should an emergency happen while we are caring for any (or all) of them.

If you already have made plans and have the supplies you need to be self-sufficient in a crisis, you're ahead of the game, and a few additions and modifications should be all you need to keep young children warm, fed, and comfortable during an unexpected event.

Food. Generally, children are far less flexible about what they will eat than adults are, so give careful thought to the kinds of food you store for them in your preparedness pantry. Children usually accept cold cereal, instant hot cereal, and reconstituted powdered milk. Canned fruits and fruit juices will round out breakfast. There are a variety of lunches that require only heating or the addition of boiling water, and canned meats such as tuna, ham, or chicken can be the foundation of dinner. Dehydrated potatoes and canned vegetables will round out that meal.

If you'll be caring for young kids, you can’t forget some fun foods such as gelatin or pudding. They will keep grandchildren going during a power outage. If there is an infant in the family, don’t forget to keep several cans of powdered formula and adequate supplies of bottled water on hand. If water for properly washing bottles will be in short supply, consider disposable bottles. I would also suggest storing some chewable vitamins, since the children's diet may be somewhat deficient without the fresh fruits and vegetables they are used to.

Warmth. Small children cannot regulate their body temperature as efficiently as adults, so extra care must be taken to keep them warm if there's no heat. One, or even two, zip-up fleece sleepers topped with a vest will keep a child warm but still allow for some freedom of movement. You should always add a wool cap and woolen socks. Children will be warmer at night if they share a bed with you or another child. Babies should be kept will swaddled, but be sure to allow plenty of breathing room.

Light. Many children are afraid of the dark, so a power outage can be particularly stressful for them. Candles are too dangerous for use around small children. Hurricane lamps provide fairly good light, but you should never leave any child alone in a room with one in use. Instead, every room should have a flashlight stashed in an accessible spot. I like the hand-cranked variety so I don’t have to worry about fresh batteries. Another thing to consider for children is a supply of light sticks. They provide a small amount of colored light when removed from their foil package and snapped to activate. They are very safe and kids may feel more comfortable with their own source of light to carry around.

Communication. This may the most important part of your program. Who is your family contact person? How will you reach family members in an emergency? You need to discuss this with your adult children before their kids are left in your care. If an emergency happens when grandchildren are at school, everyone should know which family member is authorized to retrieve children and bring them to a prearranged family meeting place. This must be spelled out in advance; the last thing you want to do in an emergency is to waste precious time trying to figure this out. Make sure you have a list of important numbers, on paper and not stored in your computer which might be useless in a power failure. You cannot make good decisions for anyone without accurate information about what's happening in your community, so one of your key preparedness purchases should be a hand-crank radio with a built-in cell-phone charger, emergency flasher, and siren.

Drills. Finally, practice your fire drills! Fire is the most common family emergency and the one you should be best prepared for.

When you are ready for anything that might happen in the future, you can better enjoy the present with your grandchildren.
 

For more information on disaster preparedness, visit the American Red Cross. Elsewhere on Grandparents.com, learn how to protect your grandchildren from drowning, find the emergency information parents must leave you before you babysit, discover how to convince parents you're ready to babysit, and read about which foods are safe to feed your grandchildren.