Emergency supply kit--formula question

[SpringCrane]

So, I'm not a doomsdayer or anything, but we live in an area that has potential for a variety of natural disasters, so my husband and I have been talking about getting a family emergency supply kit together. FEMA recommends having a 3-day supply of food/water/emergency stuffs for each person in the family.

I'm a little stuck when I think about having things on hand for a baby. I breastfed my son and I plan to do the same this time, but should something happen to me (God forbid), I'd want some formula on hand. We never did bottles at all with my son, so I'm completely clueless about formula and bottle feeding. I've seen people mention ready made kits--something that maybe comes with a bottle and nipple? Something that doesn't require water is ideal. Can someone explain what sort of options there are? Do formula needs vary considerably from a newborn to an older infant (not amount but type of formula)? How long are expiration dates, usually? How many ounces would you get for 3 days? I figure formula would be definitely necessary for an emergency that happens in the first 6 months of the baby's life, but after that the baby could likely manage a few days with water and baby food. Would it be smarter to just have some bottles, powder formula, and extra water? Does the water need to be anything specific? (Imagine an emergency situation where water isn't available/clean/we have no gas to boil/etc.) Does formula need to be kept cool? Could we keep an emergency supply in our garage (temps can get 100+ easily on hot days)?

I hope I don't sound crazy asking these questions!

 

[Countrygirl13]

I think it's great that you are asking these questions! In my less sane days post birth I would wonder about surviving a zombie apocalypse with a baby. Especially when you realise how dependent you are on regular clean water and formula, eeek!

In the UK there seem to be several ways of doing it. Formula can be bought as premade liquid and stored at room temperature until opened at which point it needs to be kept in the fridge. I used to use these on trips out- one per feed for a 3 month old. We used 5-6 per day.
You can buy disposable pre-sterilised bottles for single use or buy these tiny little glass bottles with pre-made formula in with a sterile teat already attached. These would be ok for a very young baby due to the small volumes they contain. There is a guide on the back of formula tins and bottles as to the recommended amount a baby might take. Mine were always drinking more though.
A baby any older than a few weeks and I'd want powdered milk due to the sheer volume of milk you'd hope they would take in. I'd make it up with bottled water. Bottled water is not something UK mums are encouraged to use but in other countries it is apparently fine.
You want to get stage one formula- marked breast milk replacement. This is totally fine until 1 yr old.

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

^^ Walking Dead is the first thing I thought of - Judith survived off of scavenged formula since her mother died during the birth. It's a good idea!

We used the "ready to serve" formula bottles from Enfamil for the first week, since that is what the hospital gave us and sent us home with. So easy and convenient, but a bit pricier compared to powdered formula. Just pop it open, take out the nipple and screw it on, and serve. The type we used was suitable for the first 3 months, but I'm sure in an emergency it would be fine for another 3 months.

Enfamil ready bottles

We use regular bottled water here in the States and never had a problem with it. I think we were told to avoid the fortified types where extra stuff was added to it, or filtered a certain way.

You probably wouldn't want to keep formula in such a hot temperature - I think the packages say to keep stored in room temperature unless it's the kind that you refrigerate. Maybe stick them in a cabinet or pantry inside the house somewhere?

I don't recall expiration time since we always went through the containers pretty quickly, but if this is something you really want to do you can buy a month or two supply, and then sell it on a Facebook baby page or something and then by another month or two just to keep a fresh supply.

I don't know how the companies are in other countries, but the ones here in the States love to give away samples, and the pediatrician gave us samples as well, so you might be able to stock up some formula for free that way as well.

 

[SpringCrane]

Thank you so much, ladies! I think I'll figure out the type that I want and put a reminder on my calendar to get some right before baby comes... that should help minimize expiration date concerns, since I'll really only need to be sure I have some on hand for approx 6 months.

And thanks for helping me feel not too crazy by considering all of this, ha!

 

[treeroot]

I'm going to do this as well! It's been on my to-do list for weeks now. I just want something ready for the winter. Worse-case scenario being a really large snow or ice storm - totally in the realm of possibility. Those types of events sure do take on new significance when you have children.

 

[BunnyN]

We have emergency bags but they are not up to date with baby stuff. I felt a small earthquake thismorning which reminded me. I think its common sense to make some kind of basic plans when you live in a potential disaster area.

 

[MindUtopia]

I would get the cartons of ready-made liquid formula, but probably not the ones in the pre-made bottles. The pre-made bottles are usually really small and wouldn't be enough for anything but a very new baby (you'd end up using several at a time). They're also usually in clear see through bottles, which means they'll be exposed to sunlight, which I'm guessing means they have a shorter shelf-life or more preservatives added to them. I would get the ready-made cartons (usually in like tetrapak cartons or opaque bottles). I wouldn't worry about bottles or sterilising equipment or any of that. You won't be able to sterilise them anyway if it's a true emergency (no clean water or electricity) and babies can drink from cups from birth just fine with some help. So I would just plan to use the cartons as a cup. There's no difference in type of formula babies need, but the amounts can vary widely. For a new baby (couple weeks), it could be 2-3oz 6-10 times a day. For a 6 month old, 6-9 oz maybe 5-8 times a day, depending on the baby. Honestly though, in most cases, you could get away with UHT milk if you had to for 3 days. Formula has different balances of salt and sugar and is fortified, but if it was truly an emergency, and if UHT milk was easier to come by and with a longer shelf life, you absolutely could be fine using that in an emergency situation if it was short-term.