First aid for babies and small children is different in several ways from that used for adults. The British Red Cross website has videos and info for several emergency situations for babies and small children including choking, poisoning, burns, broken bones, asthma, febrile and epileptic seizures, nosebleeds, head injuries and more. They are definitely worth a few minutes to watch.
Create a first aid kit for your home or buy one from local pharmacies. It should have the following:
- Sterilized bandages
- Hydrocortisone cream
- Asthma inhalers (such as Ventolin) if your child has asthma
- Alcohol wipes
- Panadol and ibuprofen for babies and children
- Allergic reaction medicine (ask your pediatrician. We use Fenistil)
- Tweezers
- Thermometer
- Burn cream or gel (ask your pediatrician for recommendations, Mebo is popular here but my kids don’t like it)
- Non latex gloves
- Antibiotic ointment to treat cuts, scrapes, etc.
- Bandages and bandage tape
- A list of your child's allergies or regularly taken medications. If you have to make an emergency trip to the hospital, you can immediately find this list.
Another thing I find hard to remember is the Kuwait emergency number - 112. The US emergency number is something we learn as kids and its drilled into our heads and is so much a part of our popular culture that it becomes a sort of automatic response. Something happens and you dial 911.
But in an emergency every second counts so all moms in Kuwait - remind yourself of the Kuwait emergency number and maybe even practicing using it a few times to build in the response. For emergencies in Kuwait dial 112.