The Holistic Mom's Guide to College First-Aid Kit Essentials
The problem with being a ‘holistic mom’ is that we want to send our big, grown-up kids out into the world with the biggest tackle box first-aid kit we can find, right? Stuffed with everything they need to survive the apocalypse with a pristine immune system? Well, most of us have to give up that fantasy lol. I’ve found it to be the exception, not the rule, that a kid leaving home wants a large and complex health kit.
I propose that the best college first aid kit (or for camping, etc) will reasonably address the most common small stuff in a general way, will moderate symptoms for comfort, help resolve illnesses before they can become full-blown, and contain familiar, easy-to-use items. If it’s a serious or lengthy illness, they will be consulting with someone or going to the infirmary anyway.
The more you have encouraged your children’s participation and then ownership, of their own health as they’ve grown, the less wobbly they’ll be when they head out on their own. If both you and your child are not feeling confident in this area, even if they are already a young adult and leaving home shortly, start where they are and build from there. If you’d like to do some planning in this area, I cover the list of skills I hoped my high school graduates had in my blogpost, 50 Things I Hope You Know.
As you personalize your kit, make adjustments depending on these factors:
To what degree does your young adult have experience with what is needed to stay well, and in treating their own illness?
Do they know how to use natural remedies? A holistic kit is very effective, but only if the contents are familiar. Mix in drugstore stuff too if you need to.
What are their wishes? One of my sons was adamant that he didn’t want to ‘lug around’ a first-aid kit. His relationship to discomfort is vastly different from mine - he’s a strong and vital athlete who heals quickly, I’m a particular and sensitive over-60 lady! We ended up compromising with a very small and and scaled back kit we shaped together; he’s still using it four years later, and although we’ve restocked parts of it, he’s rarely needed to supplement it elsewhere.
What are their most common symptoms? You’ll have different priorities depending on whether their illnesses most often present with fevers, sore throats, coughs or puking, for instance. My sons perform with swords and fire, so although they are by trade fantastic safety experts, their kits always are stocked for burns, bruises, and cuts just in case. And extra ace bandages, instant ice packs, and ibuprofen for performing through an injury. (I wince too, believe me.)
How willing are they to be proactive and prevention-minded? No point in sending a box of supplements if they can’t wait to get away from the daily capsules and nutrients you’ve been stuffing in them for years. (Ask me how I know!) I have more than once had unopened bottles of supplements sheepishly handed over when they moved back for the summer. I strongly try to talk them into a daily multi-vitamin for the basics.
Do your kids know about balanced life-style as a wellness tool? This one is important; take note mothers of young children! While college students are by definition out to push boundaries and experiment, they’ll stay healthier if they have already experienced sleep and hydration as some of their most potent preventative and healing tools. My boys also intuitively love to go barefoot outside, which is another lifestyle immune booster.
Build this kit for their personality, not yours. This one may be hard. Holistic mamas have a tendency to know and worry an awful lot about anything that could assault one’s health, and be devoted to many fussy and detailed things we can do about it. We may need to do a whole blogpost on how to parent through ‘letting go’ of our adult kids. (Hugs.) Trust me, you’ve done a better job than most getting them mineralized, outdoors, and bone broth’ed up (I promise); they have to go try some things out now. In the meantime, keep the components of this kit simple and practical, and your attitude upbeat and confident.
After one son’s second year of college, I asked him what elements of his first-aid kit he found the most helpful. This was his response.
Band-Aids “These are SOOO helpful, and for my roommate and friends too. No one has a car to go places to get any, we use the band-aids from my kit all the time.”
Green Salve “I can’t believe how much I use this – on chapped lips; itchy spots after the shower; dry skin; scrapes. It works on everything.”
Tweezers “Not the bigger ones for eyebrows, but the fine-tipped ones. I’m surprised that I use them so often.”
Pain killers “Even though I rarely use them, it’s nice to have something to offer when friends are over, and ask if I have something for their headache or cramps. I liked being able to offer two options.
Here’s a good range of possible components to choose from, and it’s fine to just start out with your top five or 10. You may have your own family preferences as well. The bold blue items in the list could be considered foundational items for most kits; the extra items are if you need to personalize the kit with a greater emphasis in that area; this is not a comprehensive kit by any means.
“30c” is the suggested potency of the homeopathic listed. Some suggested sources are at the bottom of the page.
Immunity - Especially in these times, maintaining their immune system in a new setting is a priority, along with their ability to respond promptly to any symptoms.
Prevention: Vitamins C, D, A, or at least a good multi-vitamin with iodine/selenium/zinc/DHEA.*
Respond: Elderberry syrup, echinacea tincture, or one of the immune herbal blends blends from Wish Garden Herbs. Also consider Hyland’s EarAche tabs, essential oils such as YLO Melrose (or equivalent, for infection, especially effective with ears and throat) and/or YLO Thieves (or equivalent, an immune-boost all, use on soles of feet, or on toothbrush).
Fevers: Aconitum 30c, Belladonna 30c.
Digestion - They will be eating different food, and sometimes the anxiety or tension of a new environment will leave the stomach and digestion unsettled.
Prevention: Digestive enzymes, chewable papaya enzymes
Respond: Food poisoning - Activated charcoal tabs, high potency plus digestive enzymes. Small, labeled bags are plenty, enough for one or two times.
In case of extreme puking or diarrhea, extreme sweating or any electrolyte balance issue - Bio Plasm Tissue Salt combo (Hylands). It’s a tiny, lightweight bottle that does not go stale; FAR more useful in my experience than Gatorade or Pedialyte, because it can help someone stabilize their electrolytes who is still unable to rehydrate. (Ie. It dissolves in the mouth.)
Minor injuries - Cuts - Green salve, silver gel to prevent infection, New Skin liquid band aid, hydrogen peroxide for some kids, Silver Shield Rescue (a silver gel), EO Lavender (burns, wounds, nearly anything
Burns - Aloe vera burn gel, Cantharis 30c (minor Burns)
Bruises - Homeopathic Arnica 30c, Ledum Palustre 30c (black eyes, puncture wounds)
Bee Stings - Apis Mellifica 30c (bee sting, stings, edema)
Respiratory illnesses - Tend to be rampant at colleges in the Fall.
Prevention: Talking them into Vitamin D supplementation would go a long way.
Respond: Coughing - Spongia Tosta 30c (dry cough), Natrum Muriatricum 30c (sneezing), Antimonium Tart 30c (Loose Cough), Bryonia Alba 30c (Worse with Motion), Spongia Tosta 30c (dry cough), Hepar sulphuris calcareum 30c (Golden or green snot) , or maybe a general homeopathic cough remedy or syrup?
Flu - Hyland’s Complete Flu Care or Boiron’s Oscillococcinum
College Life - Whether we like it or not, some extremes often happen.
Too cranked up on caffeine or thinking to sleep? - Magnesium powder (CALMS will also help their bowels keep moving with all those college carbs or cheap ramen), Coffea 30c
Performance anxiety (presentations, new dorm life etc) - Gelsemium 30c
Exhaustion - Carbo Vegetabillis 30c
Hangover (and also nausea of illness) - Nux Vomica 30c
Ibuprofen & Motrin - While many of us ‘naturally-minded’ moms often had other approaches over NSAID’s with our kids, there can may be a time and place where this will help them through. And as mentioned above, help them be supportive of their friends. Better for you to supply it than for them to go looking among their dorm mates!
Emotional support - College students can get fairly worked up emotionally, and certain personalities more so. Include at least one remedy for emotional moments; anxiety; homesickness, or the sadness of a break-up.
Rescue Remedy pastilles, liquid or spray
Ignatia (broken heart)
Focus - To help attention span Citrus, peppermint or Brain Power essential oils (smell or wear diluted); focus herbal blends from Wish Garden Herbs.
And then add in the basics as appropriate:
Thermometer, make sure they know how to use it! This is first thing they’ll be asked when calling the school’s clinic, “Do you have a fever?”
Tweezers, fine point to do the job.
Bandaids, a wide variety of sizes and plenty of them.
Chapstick, even if it’s a spare.
Ace bandage? Better if they are experienced in evaluation and how to wrap it.
Sunscreen, bug spray, lotion?
I tucked in some money and a note deep in the case, for encouragement and frankly, positive association with the kit. I REALLY wanted my kids to use these healthy approaches to sickness as much as possible, and knew that the they would be surrounded by ‘everyone’ who mostly would offer bright red syrup from the drugstore.
Small or sampler bottles are handy in most cases, since one dose might do it, or at least get them through until they can get something more specific for their symptoms. This is not an ‘off-the-grid’ collection (has nothing for snake bites, tourniquets or water purification!); it’s college-town oriented.
See my Get Well Soon class for ALLL the natural approaches to everyday family illnesses in one place, along with extensive community-style training and down-load resource book. If you have an interested child, they could take a digital copy of the resource manual with them.
Good sources range from your local health food store, your own cupboard, and your favorite on-line source. Here is a link to Wish Garden Herbs, who have wonderful herbal blends (NOT an affiliate.) And here’s a link to my Fullscript account (YES is an affiliate) for a curated collection of many of the items we discussed here. Fullscript is an on-line natural pharmacy for holistic practitioners; your one-time email registration creates a private account with me for browsing, a 15% discount on everything, and free shipping over $50. I always urge supporting your local shop. If you don’t have one of those, I appreciate you helping to support the professional time and investment necessary to provide this information by shopping with me.