Author: By Elizabeth Jarrett, Division of Communications, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Having a new baby brings out the planner in a lot of new parents. Before my daughter was born, I tried to plan for everything that could help make my little girl happy, safe and healthy. One of the most important plans that I made was to prepare for a disaster or emergency. There are a lot of things that you can do now to help keep your baby safe if disaster strikes.

• Make a Plan and Get an Emergency Kit: Making a family disaster plan and an emergency supplies kit might seem a little daunting, but CDC and the American Red Cross have teamed up to create resources that can help you make an effective emergency kit and family plan. If your family already has a kit and a plan, that’s great. Take a few minutes now to update both in anticipation of your bundle of joy. For checklists to help you plan, check out CDC’s Emergency Preparedness and You. If you’re planning to have a baby shower, you might want to include items for your preparedness kit in your registry. And if you end up with duplicates or a few items that you would like to politely put aside after the shower (say, if you are a Mets fan and your friend thought it would be hilarious to give your little girl a Yankees t-shirt) – just put them in your emergency kit. Clean clothes are critical in an emergency – accurate reflection of your child’s budding sports affiliation, not so much. Your emergency kit is also a great place for functional hand me downs. I got a lot of gently used items from friends and family that went straight into our kit.
• Put Your Emergency Kit on a Schedule: Kids grow fast – and they grow out of their clothes and diapers really quickly! Your child will go through four or five wardrobes in his or her first year. And they change in so many other ways – like starting solids or learning to play with more complicated toys. As your baby changes, make sure that your emergency kit is keeping pace. Plan to review your kit at least once every three months so that you are sure the items that are in there fit your baby’s changing needs. I do it this way – whenever my daughter moves up a size, I change out the clothes in her dresser and update her items in the emergency kit at the same time.
• Consider Breastfeeding: You’ve probably heard about a wide range of health benefits that come from breastfeeding – but did you know that it could help you keep your baby safe during a disaster? Breastfeeding reliably protects infants from exposure to contaminated water and other unsanitary conditions, both of which are leading causes of infant death in emergencies. It has all the nutrition your baby needs to stay healthy and can help protect against respiratory illnesses and diarrhea. It’s at the right temperature and it requires no additional supplies. Interested in learning more about the benefits of breastfeeding? Both the HHS Office of Women’s Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics have resources that can teach you about the benefits of making breastfeeding part of your family’s emergency plan. To learn more about other benefits of breastfeeding and how to overcome some common challenges, check out It’s Only Natural. If you’ve decided that breastfeeding isn’t right for your family, if you are unable to breastfeed, or if you can’t breastfeed exclusively, be sure that you’ve got extra formula and clean water on hand to handle your infant’s needs. Even if you do choose to breastfeed, have some formula on hand just in case mom and baby are separated.
• Learn to Recognize Signs of Stress and How to Help your Baby Cope: Your child may not understand everything that is going on during an emergency – but he or she likely knows when something is wrong and that you are upset. Remember that the most important thing that you can do is to make sure your child feels connected, cared about, and loved. For more information on how to help your kids cope and for resources you can reach out to in a disaster, check out SAMHSA's Tips for Talking with and Helping Children and Youth Cope after a Disaster or Traumatic Event.

By planning and preparing now, you can have the peace of mind of knowing that you’ve taken the steps to help keep everybody safe and healthy during an emergency. New parents and parents to be can also get tips on keeping everybody safe and healthy all the time by signing up for free text messages via Text4Baby.org. Text4Baby provides information on safe sleeping habits, immunizations, safety, developmental milestones and more.

Do you have other thoughts on helping families with infants prepare for disasters? If so, share your thoughts by commenting on this blog post.