Having things on hand

Hi! We do not have children of our own either, and we are newborn-12, either gender, and sib groups too! So what we have done is ask everyone that has kids to donate their old clothes if any and have tried to be prepared for 24 hours for any child that we could get. (ie, have a change of underclothes, one set of clothes, a jacket, and a set of pj's) Since e ery child is different we will go shopping within the 24 hours they get to our house, but if its the middle of the night, at least they have a clean change of clothes for the next day. I have done this with diapers too, we have lots of friends that have small kids so we have just asked if they would donate 2-3 diapers in whatever size they have or if they have extras. We also check every clearance rack in EVERY store we go to. Even if its out of season you will need it eventually! Check grocery store clearance to for diapers, weird I know but I find them really cheap! Then of course we bought wipes, soaps, towels, washclothes, toothbrush, hairbrush, combs, hair accessories. Garage sales are a great place too. I just got 3 sets of cute pjs and 10 pairs of good socks for $5! Hope this helps a little!

At first I tried to have something in every size, but it became overwhelming to store everything. So now, I have some extra jammies in some sizes - but not every possible size. I keep extra t-shirts - again in some sizes but not necessarily every size. Every kid can go to sleep in jammies or a t-shirt that is a little (or a lot) too big and I can wash whatever clothes they came in. If the kid(s) are staying for more than one night - I know where all the second hand stores are and also know how old my friends' children are. If I get a placement, I just call my friends with kids about the same size and ask for hand me downs. Here are the things I do keep stocked: for the teens I keep a shoebox of sample size toiletries including body wash, deoderant, shampoo, hair gel, combs, toothbrushes & toothpaste. That way I can just give the kids a package to take and use until they get settled in their next placement. THis is not absolutely neccessary, but they do appreciate it and it takes the edge off of being placed. The only absolute necessities (IMHO) are really for the littler kids: I always have children's tylenol and benadryll. I always have macaroni and cheese, applesauce and frozen juice. I usually also have a lice kit on hand. This gets me through 99% of placements (haven't needed to lice kit yet in four years, but wouldn't want to be without it if necessary). For the rare one that needs something else: there's nothing that a midnight run to the 24 hour Walgreens/Target/Grocery store can't handle. One thing to keep in mind, these kids have been through hell. What they need most is a hug and a cuddle, a warm bath, some decent food and a comfortable bed. Not much to stock up on there. Welcome to fostering. Good luck.

I like this idea, I will have to steal it!

I had the same question when I got licensed. I was also in the same situation with age range and emergency placement. I've had two emergency placements so far. The one was with a 12 year old boy who only had a change of clothes for that night. The big thing there was kid-friendly food. I always keep mac and cheese on hand, along with pizza, and fruit. My second placement was for a 2 week old girl. She came with some stuff but not much. I asked the caseworker when she called if I needed to go to the store before they got there. She had a few bottles and formula and diapers. So I was able to get by until my sister got off work. I found the most important things to have for her was a swing to put her in when I had to be doing something, a bassinet, and more bottles and lotion. I had bought a car seat and other stuff for babies. I think more important than getting a lot of stuff is having a plan for someone to get it for you after you get the call. I had a list of people who said they could leave work to go shopping for me. That was great since I only had an hour's notice for both placements. I do have toothbrushes, soap, toothpaste, washclothes and towels, combs, shampoo, and pads (for teenage girls) on hand. Like you, I didn't have any kids so I had to start with nothing. Toys are something I would recommend to get, too. You do have to go shopping after you get the placement, but I tried to cut down on what I would have to buy just because the whole situation is so overwhelming for them and for me that I wanted us both to have time to adjust at home first. That's why my sister is the designated shopper for those times. Good luck! This is an exciting adventure.