PrepBaby emergency kit checklist
What to have ready for a baby or toddler if the power or water goes off, or you have to leave. Pick how you feed your baby, tick off what you have, and print the list. Nothing leaves this browser.
How do you feed your baby?
Your baby and toddler kit
This list doesn't scale with the household: you may not need everything on it. Untick what doesn't apply above.
Check it again every month.
Breastfeeding
Expressing
Formula
Food for older babies and toddlers
Nappies and clothes
Getting around and sleeping
Health and comfort
From preppantry.app. Checked 2 November 2026. Independent tool, not official advice.
How it works
The list follows the Breastfeeding Network's emergency checklist for families with a young baby (version 2.0, October 2026), with baby items from the government's Be Ready checklist and the British Red Cross. The Breastfeeding Network says you may not need everything on it, so take what suits your family. We've reworded it. This isn't their tool.
Why feeding comes first: babies under 6 months get all their nutrition from breast or formula milk. Breastfeeding needs no clean water, energy or supply chain, so keep going if you can. If you use formula, keep some ready-to-feed in the cupboard: it needs no boiling water or mixing. You'll still need a sterile bottle or a new single-use cup.
If you can't boil water: the Breastfeeding Network suggests ready-to-feed formula first, or boiling water at a nearby friend or relative's home and carrying it in a flask that keeps it above 70°C. If you can't wash and sterilise bottles, use a new single-use cup for each feed.
Families with children aged five or under can join the Priority Services Register for free, for extra help in a power cut or water outage. See our Priority Services Register checker.
Check the kit monthly. Nappy sizes, clothes and formula stages change fast, and ready-to-feed formula has a date on it.
Common questions
What should I pack for a baby in an emergency?
Food first: breastfeeding support and a hand pump, or ready-to-feed formula with bottles or cups. Then nappies, wipes, layers, blankets, a sling, a safe place to sleep, a first aid kit and any prescribed medicines.
What is the safest formula in a power cut?
Be Ready says ready-made or ready-to-feed formula is the safest option, because you may not be able to boil water or sterilise bottles.
Can I use bottled water for baby formula?
It isn't usually recommended. The NHS says it isn't sterile and may contain too much sodium or sulphate. Be Ready says that in rare cases, such as when drinking water is unavailable or contaminated, you can use still bottled water with no more than 200 mg/L of sodium and 250 mg/L of sulphate, boiled and cooled for no more than 30 minutes.
How do I sterilise bottles without power?
Cold-water sterilising tablets work with no power, so keep some with a container. You'll need water to wash bottles first and to rinse them afterwards. If you can't wash and sterilise, the Breastfeeding Network says to use new single-use cups, each one once.
What about expressed milk in a power cut?
The Breastfeeding Network says freshly expressed milk is safe at room temperature for up to 6 hours. Once a baby has drunk from it, leftover milk can only be kept for another hour.
Sources
- Breastfeeding Network: emergency checklist for families with a young baby (version 2.0, October 2026)
- Be Ready checklist
- Be Ready: water supply interruptions or outages (formula and bottled water)
- NHS: how to make up a bottle feed
- Breastfeeding Network: feeding your baby in an emergency
- British Red Cross: prepare an emergency kit
- Priority Services Register
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Checked on 2 November 2026. This is an independent tool and not official advice. See sources and method.