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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

228 replies

EmptyNesterSoon · 30/08/2021 18:55

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?

To ask what emergency supplies you send with your DC when they start uni?
OP posts:
waterrat · 30/08/2021 21:45

This may be unhealthy but I arrived at uni with a large bottle of vodka. It definitely helped me make friends.

Original poster
EmptyNesterSoon · 30/08/2021 21:47

I've also been looking at these Xantus wristbands which seem a very good idea but they are quite expensive and from Germany I think so I'm a bit wary of postal problems post Brexit having had a bad experience with parcels to Spain.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-47973372

To ask what emergency supplies you send with your DC when they start uni?
OP posts:
DrMadelineMaxwell · 30/08/2021 21:52

Cold hard cash.
Which was immediately valuable as dds bank card stopped working the first week she was in uni. When ordering another the bank would only send it to her home address not her student address. So the money tided her over until the card came through here and we posted it on to her .

daisypond · 30/08/2021 21:53

I had no idea this was a thing. I didn’t do anything at all regarding emergency supplies. She would have thought that was a bit demeaning and infantilising. We did buy pans and plates and a duvet cover, etc. But she picked what she wanted. That was about it. I didn’t send care packages either.

katedan · 30/08/2021 21:58

Bookmarking as this is a really useful post. Send DS off next month, he is the eldest and my first to leave and I feel sick with nerves but trying to keep upbeat and positive in front of him.

Boredhimtodeath · 30/08/2021 21:58

She would have thought that was a bit demeaning and infantilising

What a shame she can’t appreciate kindness.

GrandmasCat · 30/08/2021 21:59

Just a note, don’t bother with rice cookers, airfriers or sandwich/popcorn makers for their first year… The vast majority of electrical appliances are banned in university halls unless they are supplied as part of the rent so that leaves pretty much the telephone and laptop chargers and any hairstyling equipment.

NerrSnerr · 30/08/2021 22:00

@AngelicaElizaAndPeggy

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?
I was the youngest of three to go to university in 2000 and my parents were blasé about the whole thing. I have always been very independent but would have loved one of these care packages. It's just a way of showing you're loved and someone has thought about you isn't it?
gogohm · 30/08/2021 22:21

Ibroprofen, vicks vapour rub, antiseptic wipes, plasters, throat lozenges (singers so essential), sudocreme. Dd1 has prescription meds (paid for certificate and it's mail order these days) plus takes vitamins on medical advice so a terms worth of them, dd2 takes antacids because alas she takes after me and has reflux

steppemum · 30/08/2021 22:30

I am laughing at the difference between girls and boys.

I would have loved the fairy lights and room difuser type things. In fatc I did take pictures, posters, cushions and a comfy blanket for the bed.

Ds is off in a couple of weeks, he would be horrified at any of that. He is confused as to why I said I'd take him out to buy bedding and duvet/pillows.

But he will appreciate the medical kit and a basic box like T-bags and coffee.

His prefered option would definitely be cash and a bottle of vodka.

Hawkins001 · 30/08/2021 22:40

Excellent ideas, i would add an emergency first aid kit, some portable battery packs for charging phones tablets ect, supply of pasta or selection of pot noodles, Dale Carnegie book on how to win friends and influence people, and also the book called the 48 laws of power

Original poster
EmptyNesterSoon · 30/08/2021 22:40

@steppemum DD1 was at uni the opposite end of the country to us so coming home for supplies wasn't going to happen. We took her up there via IKEA, and found it was full of parents like us buying the same stuff. I did enjoy people watching especially an American Mum with a slightly surly son, back to front baseball cap, trailing in her wake. She spent a long time debating a medium or a large clothes airer and trying to elicit some interest in it from him.
She bought the large in the end. I bet it never came out of it's wrapping and he was home with a bag of washing whenever he ran out of clothes.

OP posts:
daisypond · 30/08/2021 22:45

@Boredhimtodeath

She would have thought that was a bit demeaning and infantilising

What a shame she can’t appreciate kindness.

She can appreciate kindness. But she is also a grown-up young adult who doesn’t need or want anyone to come up with a set of emergency supplies for her.
user1471447863 · 30/08/2021 22:51

Are drink spike test strips not sort of counter productive? Surely if you feel there is a need to test a drink then it's probably not a good idea to drink it even if your test didn't pick up anything? Do they pick up everything that could spike a drink? I doubt it.
If you feel you need to test then you'd be safer dumping and getting the hell out of there to a safe place.

BalthazarImpresario · 30/08/2021 22:57

Da has packed most of his stuff sheet but with the usual toiletries I’m sending freshers flu supplies because I know he’ll appreciate it.
He has an en-suite so got all bathroom bits like toilet brush/bin/shower mat (it’s like a wet room and he’s very clumsy).

I’m lucky that he’s coming home a couple of weeks after starting for some events for a few days so he can bring back anything that seems redundant/pick up anything he needs.

I like the idea of the supermarket card, think I’ll look into for him.

SeoultoSeoul · 30/08/2021 23:03

The best quality mattress protector and a rug to cover any stains on the carpet Shock
We have 3 DC who have moved through 4 unis and none allow door stops!
I made a useful box for them with batteries, scissors, sticky tape, needle, thread, pens, tweezers, screwdriver, pencil and sharpener and they said their flatmates were always asking to borrow it.
For the kitchen, baking paper is a godsend as they (or their flatmates) never wash the baking trays.
Also a sharpie pen for writing the date on opened pots of houmous etc.
In their first aid kit, I just put acyclovir, suncream, paracetamol, ibuprofen, plasters, vitamins....anything more advanced than that, they can go to the medical centre!

Original poster
EmptyNesterSoon · 30/08/2021 23:19

Your logic is sound @user1471447863 I think my reasoning is that their presence serves as a reminder/warning and a conversation point with new flatmates. I think the wristbands look good as they might serve as a warning to ill intentioned types, but they are expensive.

OP posts:
Mylittlepotofjoy · 30/08/2021 23:24

Sent all of mine off with so much I think I feed washed clothes most of their halls of residences !!! Yep 4 times we did this I don’t learn Grin made them all happy though !!!! Gift cards for coffee shops and Asda/tesco ect are always helpful and we paid the phone contracts so they could always contact us . Just stopped paying for our youngest one this month as he’s 24 and finished uni 2+ years ago Hmm

Letsrunabath · 30/08/2021 23:27

Home mixed spices for his favourite foods. Really simple to rub onto chicken but not needing to have lots of different ingredients.

Mylittlepotofjoy · 30/08/2021 23:30

And yes I have a people carrier that was packed to the roof I had bought so many things … every time . They have a lot of the stuff electrical kitchen bits ect in their homes now . So I wasn’t totally mad Grin

SicParvisMagna · 30/08/2021 23:30

My daughter doesn't go to uni until next September but I'm already starting to get bits together for her. Will definitely have to bookmark this thread!

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 31/08/2021 00:16

One of my favourite things (and I still have it now) was a biscuit tin. I didn't know, but mum had filled it with individually wrapped biscuits/cereal bars/chocolate bars.

Kite22 · 31/08/2021 00:38

She would have thought that was a bit demeaning and infantilising

What a shame she can’t appreciate kindness.

She can appreciate kindness. But she is also a grown-up young adult who doesn’t need or want anyone to come up with a set of emergency supplies for her.

How sad, that she can't accept the fact that someone might want to show they care for her.
All my dc are strong, independent young people. All qualified first aiders who all had worked before heading off to University as well as being away from home on activities and holidays etc. All very capable people that I've been told are confident and mature, but all of them have let me know they appreciated little personal things I did to help them have a link with home when they were away. Yes, including an emergency box. Of course they are able to go out and buy some plaster, but it isn't going to be a priority for them in Freshers' week, is it? Of course they could get some cold medicine when they need it, but how much nicer is it to reach out to pick up something already in your room than to have to walk out in the rain to the shops to get some when you need it? The fact, when you are feeling low, you are reminded that your parents love you can only be a positive in most people's eyes.

Kite22 · 31/08/2021 00:40

Home mixed spices for his favourite foods. Really simple to rub onto chicken but not needing to have lots of different ingredients.

Brilliant idea @Letsrunabath Not only from the practical and cost point of view of not having to buy several jars, but what a comfort to have a meal that tastes like the one at home {smile]

stripedbananas · 31/08/2021 00:53

What a lovely idea. I'll definitely try and remember to do this when mine go to Uni in a couple of years time.