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Guides/Family

Leaving the house
with a baby

Everything about an emergency is harder with a baby, and everything about a baby is easier with a plan. Feeding without a kettle, keeping them warm, keeping your hands free, and what goes where on the way out of the door.

7 min readChecked against NHS infant feeding guidanceUpdated November 2026Print this guide
Feedingwithout power

Sterile until opened

  1. Ready-to-feed formula in cartons is sterile and needs no water, no kettle and no fridge until it is opened. Powdered formula is not sterile and must be made with water of at least 70 degrees, which you may not have. That is why the Cub carries cartons.
  2. Use a fresh sealed teat for each feed and throw it away. The one bottle is sterilised between feeds with a cold-water sterilising tablet in a bag of water: follow the tablet's instructions, and the NHS advice to leave equipment in solution for at least 30 minutes.
  3. An opened carton goes in the fridge if there is one and is used within 24 hours; with no fridge, finish it or bin it. Never keep a half-drunk feed for later.
  4. If you breastfeed, keep going; it is the safest feed there is. Drink the water in the Cub's olive pouch, eat, and rest when the baby does. The cartons are the backup you hope not to open.
Warmthand sleep

A baby cannot tell you they're cold

  1. Dress the baby in layers and a hat, and use the fleece blanket. The foil blanket goes over the fleece, never against the skin, and never over the face.
  2. Your body is the best heater: the wrap carrier keeps the baby warm against you and your hands free for the door, the pram and the other children.
  3. Check the back of the neck, not the hands, to tell if a baby is warm enough. Sweaty means too hot; cool means add a layer.
  4. Safe sleep rules do not change in an emergency: on their back, on a flat firm surface, no loose bedding over the head. The changing mat on the floor beats a sofa cushion.

Never

Never make up powdered formula with unboiled or cooled water in an emergency, and never water a feed down to make it last. A smaller sterile feed is safe; a diluted or unsterile one is not.

The doorand the walk

Who carries what

  1. Baby in the wrap on your front, Cub on your back, or Cub clipped onto the pram handle. If the other adult has an Operator, the Cub clips onto its front and you carry the baby only.
  2. The feeding-plan card in the Cub's document sleeve says how your baby takes a feed, how much and how often, for whoever is holding them when you are not.
  3. Nappies first, food second: a baby can miss a feed by an hour; a wet, cold baby can't wait. Change them before you leave, and again at the first stop.
  4. Tell the rest centre or the relative you are coming with a baby. Ask for a quiet corner, somewhere to lie the mat, and water.

Sources, checked November 2026