To ask what emergency supplies you send with your DC when they start uni?

[EmptyNesterSoon]

DD2 is off to uni in a fortnight.

When DD1 went I put together a small storage crate full of chemist items, first aid stuff, cough and cold remedies (lucky I did as she was really laid low with freshers' flu within a week of arrival). Emergency hangover kit - long life vegetable and fruit juices like V8, long life milk and breakfast bars so she could lie in bed and restore herself. Homesickness treats - fluffy socks and lots of chocolate and a cuddly toy.
And a few more serious items like drink spike test strips.

When DD's friend went to uni last year I did similar for her too as she has lost her Mum.

Now it is DD2's turn, so I made a start today in Boots with extra advice from a helpful chap on the pharmacy till.

Just wondering if others do this too and if so what items do you put in?

My work colleague did a pack of things for her DD including a laminated sheet of all the pharmacies and their contact numbers, local to where she’d be living that provided free emergency contraception, we all laughed about it but actually not a bad idea 😂

DD likes to choose her own stuff, so Ill take her shopping for essentials. We've nearly finished with the stuff on the packing list, and Ill take her to Sainsbury the day before she goes for some food essentials. She likes to cook, and is vegan, so will want some spices as well as basics like cooking oil, washing up liquid, tinned pulses, etc.
I hadnt thought about medical stuff, i'll ask what she needs.

Aside from all the obvious stuff, I'm packing DD off with:
A basic first aid kit
An Ashley personal alarm
An account set up with a reputable taxi company (for use only at night if she's alone etc)

Thank you EmptyNesterSoon for the thread, mine are heading off in a few weeks, some great ideas already.

But what are these "spike test strips" please? Where can I get some?

students cookery book basic spices for curry basmati rice & pasta baked beans tins of chickpeas & kidney beans good quality can opener & small knife & board & big towelling dressing grown small electric kettle storage boxes instant porridge
We actually went with them & invaded supermarket for essentials & anything we forgot - I use to use old washing powder box as a container to send odd things we thought might be useful/fun

ds is off in a couple of weeks.
He is in catered halls as he was appalled by the idea of having to cook for himself every day
So sending him with a couple of mugs, and pint glasses and tea and coffe.
hadn't thought of the first aid kit, so will do that.

I did suggest a door stop to ds after seeing it on here, and he laughed and said - you prop the door open with a bottle of vodka, that will also brings everyone in for a drink!

First aid kit and painkiller supplies, a months worth of food to keep them going whilst settling in, bath mat, all toiletries, a credit card in my name for emergencies (still unused) but I sent copious amounts of cash direct to the account, saucepans, crockery, cutlery, cleaning stiff &more...

Fuck I'm a control freak

@HermioneGrunger

First aid kit and painkiller supplies, a months worth of food to keep them going whilst settling in, bath mat, all toiletries, a credit card in my name for emergencies (still unused) but I sent copious amounts of cash direct to the account, saucepans, crockery, cutlery, cleaning stiff &more...

Fuck I'm a control freak

You're not alone!

I've had a string of babysitters off to Uni over the past few years and then to give them Command hooks, vodka, chocolate, chocolate biscuits and a £10 which I tell them to hide somewhere until they really need it... it could be in week one when they "need" more vodka, it could be in week 8 when they spent all of their money on fun and need food or it could be at any time when you're having an "oh sh**" moment and just need to get out of somewhere quickly and need a cab.
I also tell them that I always have my bed by my phone at night, it's always on and that, if they ever need it, to call me and I will help sort out whatever mess they're in including transferring more money to get them out of an "oh sh**" moment.

Eat plugs
Antibacterial wipes
San pro
Room diffuser
Fairy lights
Meal Kits like the spice Taylor ones
Extra charger and cables

The best thing I took was a sleeping bag instead of a duvet etc. Warmer and easier to wash and dry when needed.

Oh and systema microwave cooking vessels. Cup for soup, milk etc, porridge bowl, rice cooker..easy to cook in and clean up.

My Mum gave me a little hamper with all of my favourite snacks, a toastie maker, first aid kit similar to yours, a framed photo of me and her, sanitary towels, toothbrush, toothpaste. I can’t remember what else but that was definitely helpful. I would recommend rehydration sachets and also toilet roll because I never used to want to buy that when I was in first year, I’d rob it from restaurants instead (!!!). She also got me shot glasses and a couple of drinking games and they really helped to break the ice with my flat mates.

She took me to do my first big shop too.

She also took me to B&M the week before where we bought all of my bedding/pots/pans/plates/rug etc to make my room cosy. Lots of fairy lights!

This is a lovely idea. My mum did something similar and the first aid kit ended up being particularly handy. Everyone on my corridor ended up coming to me for plasters and antiseptic wipes in the middle of the night after drunken falls and scrapes!

Oh and I remember my uncle giving me a £50 Boots gift card which was actually a brilliant present because when you have to buy your own shampoo and toothpaste for the first time you suddenly realise how expensive it is!

Ha! Times have changed since 2006. When I left home to go to uni, my mother bought me a suitcase to pack

Tampons
Gift cards for subway, McDonald’s, kfc
Door wedge
Nice water bottle to take to uni

My mum bought me a sewing kit with 100 different colours of thread. It is now over 20 years later, and I still have half of them. Every time I have the perfect colour thread for something it makes me smile, remembering that time (though, clearly, I don't use it often).

None of that. And I wouldn't have appreciated it because I would have been capable of choosing my own as and when. But I do think that covid has changed things to an extent. I appreciated having things from home, but it was the personal stuff, not the practical side. I remember the practical side of things being quite fun to sort out.

Loving reading everyone's suggestions here. It's true, we do seem to send our young off with far more than previous generations. I love Jourdain11 getting a suitcase!
DD1 was doing statistics as part of her degree, so I gave her "How to Lie With Statistics" - an old classic that she flung in the corner. But then discovered it was on her reading list and used in her final dissertation so I definitely did well there.
DD2 doesn't know what a reading list is or where to find it.....

@CaptainMerica

My mum bought me a sewing kit with 100 different colours of thread. It is now over 20 years later, and I still have half of them. Every time I have the perfect colour thread for something it makes me smile, remembering that time (though, clearly, I don't use it often).

I remember being bought a needlework basket and all the sewing essentials from family friends, when I was in my final year of junior school. I still have the basket and lots of the items they bought - always smile when I use it! And I'm old!

@ASDmum2 Drink Spike Test strips are dip sticks to test your drink in case of concern. I'm not sure how useful they are in reality, but their existence in the emergency box serves as a reminder and conversation point with new flatmates I think so that's why I got them.
I can't remember where I got them last time but I've just ordered these from CYD.

www.checkyourdrink.co.uk/shop/

When Ds1 went DH gave him the biggest box of condoms I'd ever seen. And then, on the first night, him and his roommates blew half of them up and chucked them at each other. So that was money well spent...:D

When I went to uni, I took a big bag of clothes and some stuff to write with. I can't honestly remember my parents preparing a bag of emergency supplies 😬. Can you not get them to make their own bag of supplies for themselves before they go?