First Aid Kit Essentials for Hiking with Children – What to Pack for the Trails

The perfect first aid kit set up for hiking and cycling with children

I didn’t know where to start when I put together my first First Aid Kit for our hiking adventures with children. We’d got a small supply of first aid bits at home that we’d accumulated for everyday use, but my mind was a total blank on what we’d need ‘out in the field’ – I didn’t want to carry too much, but I also didn’t want to be out in the wilderness wishing I had just taken everything with me!

Start with the basics

To begin with, I decided to buy a ready made kit aimed at children. This not only ensured I had a good base kit, but it also came in a convenient little bag too, perfect for keeping everything together and safe in my backpack. My first ever kit was this little number from Boots!

This kit contained:

• Self Adhesive Wound Dressing 8cm x 6cm
• 3 x Sterile Wound Cleansing Wipes
• Cohesive Bandage 5cm x 4m
• 20 x Fabric Plasters (19mm x 72mm)
• 20 x Washproof Plasters (19mm x 72mm)
• Microporous Tape 2.5cm x 10m
• Eye Bandage/Small Bandage
• 2 x Eyewash 20ml
• 1 Pair Nitrile Gloves
• Low Adherent Wound Dressing 5cm x 5cm
• Tweezers
• Instant Ice Pack – Small
• Children’s First Aid Guide
• Also includes a sheet of bravery stickers

I thought the instant ice pack was brilliant – up until I purchased this kit, I had no idea they existed. For children, of course, the bravery stickers are an absolute winner! Until recently, I’d not had to use any plasters, but a few days ago I had to get one out for my eldest after slicing and grazing his knee climbing the Wrekin, and just look how cute these plasters are for children!

Additions to your basic first aid kit

This kit was a brilliant start for me. I have limited first aid experience so I will admit I was a little overwhelmed when trying to get my head around what I’d need to put into my own kit, so buying this pre-made solution saved me a headache. As good as this kit was however, there were still a few things I wanted to add that I felt were missing, and these included:

• Calpol pouches (takes less space than a whole bottle)
• Calpol spoon (sometimes it’s easier to decant pouches into a spoon than drink directly from the pouch)
• Anthisan Bite and Sting cream (mostly for nettles or horse fly bites)
• Savlon antiseptic cream (honestly, I felt like this shouldve been in the kit!)
• Hand sanitiser (I was a regular carrier of this before Covid made it cool! I don’t keep mine in my First Aid Kit, but keep it hung on my bag for easy access at all times – it means we can all grab it when we need it, and when you are out and about in the countryside, it’s a STAPLE!)

My only issue with the boots kit was how tight everything was in the bag, so once I’d added the above to it, it was really bulging. We then did have a fairly serious biking injury with the youngest, and when it came to digging out what I needed, I found it incredibly difficult to get to what I needed and as I rushed to get to what I needed, other things in the kit were just falling out onto the roadside! It was after this incident that I went on the search for a bigger bag, which would allow me to separate items as well as access them without everything falling out of the bag! I went for this bag from Amazon, and it’s not only spacious but opens up nicely, ensuring everything’s easily accessible and doesn’t spill out all over the ground! It’s not too big, and it’s not too small, fitting nicely into my backpack. They do a red one too, but I went for green as at the time it was on offer, and I’m all for a bargain! 🙃

Specialist items

The above kit has been a brilliant set up for us for the most part. We have everything we need for the most common injuries, but of course there are some more specialist items you might want to add. Here are some more things I’ve added over the past year or two…

• Steri strips (the biking accident saw a particularly nasty wound that needed steri strips. I didn’t have them at the time, but I sure carry them now!)
• Scissors (I was gifted some strong scissors from an ambulance medic. They don’t get sterilised and recycled once used, they get binned (utterly shameful in my view!) so I was offered these after they were used. Apparently they can snip through most things, like seat belts and motorcycle leathers!)
• Emergency blanket (I keep one in the first aid kit, but have also popped one in everyone’s bags incase we’re ever separated, so I know everyone can stay warm in an emergency)
• Sick bag (My youngest has occasionally been sick in the car. This is here more for when we’re travelling too and from our walks)
• Nappy sacks (When there are injuries to attend to, there is often rubbish to dispose of. From plaster backings to sterilising wipe packs to empty eye wash containers, a nappy sack is a convenient place to store it all hygienically until you can get to a bin! There’s no littering on my watch!!)
• Sunscreen (We were kindly gifted some sun cream sachets from a neighbour which I thought were amazing and so space saving. I’ve personally not found any suitable replacements for these from any reputable brands, but fortunately these days you can usually grab your favourite brands in travel sized bottles or tubes that are small enough to carry. We like the little tubes you can get from Aldi, 50SPF for children.)
• Thermometer (After having children, having a thermometer nearby at all times is a staple!)

First Aid Kit Maintenance

So hopefully this post has given you some good ideas on what you need to put together your first aid kit when walking or cycling with your family. But having the kit all in one place isn’t the end of it! There are a couple of important things to remember:

Replenish when used. If you use anything don’t forget to make a mental note of what was used so you can purchase more when you’re back home again. Recently we used some eye wash to clean a wound after discovering our anti-bac wipes were a little on the dry side, so I jumped on to Amazon and bought a pack of eye washes and wipes as soon as we were home to top up our kit. I bought from a reputable first aid brand and made sure I checked the eye wash dates and also checked that the wipes were nice and moist when they arrived, so I know they’ll be reliable in the event I need to use them again. I tend to buy replacement bits in bigger packs that I keep at home and top up the first aid kit with what I need.

Do First Aid Kits Expire?

They sure do! Most items have a shelf life of around 3-5 years, so when you get your new items, be sure to check the dates so you know how much life they have left. Almost everything has an expiration date these days, and first aid kit items are no exception – from plasters to creams! So check regularly, perhaps once or twice a year, to make sure everything is in date. Anything that’s expired should be disposed of and replaced. Things such as calpol and eye wash are particularly important, but also check things like your sting cream and plasters, which can become ineffective past their use by dates.

I hope this helps you put together your first First Aid Kit and you can start enjoying some active time outdoors with your children! If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to pop them below!