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Would you know what to do if you lost your child in a public place? - Page 7

post #121 of 170
3/20/08 at 10:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hanno View Post
Trusting or not trusting someone based on their gender could turn out to be very, very dangerous.

If you're willing to assess your own child's risk by this means, go ahead. I'm going to choose to distrust women and men equally with my son's life.
What are you going to teach your son to do if he is lost? Who should he go to? I did a google search and it says many children die because they are hiding from their rescuers. I doubt if you find that an acceptable alternative.

No matter how careful parents are, weird, unexpected stuff happens. You turn around and your child has wandered off. What then?
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post #122 of 170
3/20/08 at 10:56pm
Here are more:
http://www.mypreciouskid.com/medical-id-bracelet.html

We went to Disneyworld a couple weeks ago and I got one of these last mnute from a watch fix-it, engraving kiosk at the mall, the night before we left.

http://www.stickyj.com/medical-emerg...bracelets.html

On days he wore short sleeve, I put it on his wrist. When he was wearing a coat or longsleeve, I put it on his ankle (wore shorts everyday). i liked this style because he couldn't fiddle with it or take it off like a silcone bracelet or a velcro thing on his shoe or wrist.

Worked great. I put his name and my cell phone number. I also took a pic each morning of what he was wearing.

I gave my 8 year old a copy of my business card (has cell phone number on it) and put it in his fanny pack that he wore everyday. He knew to find a Disney Cast Member and pull out the card if we ever got separated.

Thankfully we didn't need any of it.
post #123 of 170
3/20/08 at 11:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mybabysmama View Post
What are you going to teach your son to do if he is lost? Who should he go to? I did a google search and it says many children die because they are hiding from their rescuers. I doubt if you find that an acceptable alternative.

No matter how careful parents are, weird, unexpected stuff happens. You turn around and your child has wandered off. What then?
I said this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by hanno View Post
I don't have all the answers and I am grateful for this thread getting me thinking about this topic as I have a child who is very insistent on walking, very social and will not hold my hand or sit in a stroller. I can microchip my pets and keep them on leashes and it's considered responsible. If I do that to my most precious love, I'm kinda considered an overbearing freak.
I just know I'm not going to tell my kid to stay away from all men. He IS a man for crying out loud! I'm not going to teach him to be a potential perpetrator by instilling in him the notion that that's just what men are.
post #124 of 170
3/20/08 at 11:50pm
You know another reason mothers are recomended as the go to person is not just b/c men = bad it is also b/c moms are more LIKELY to stay with the child until that child's mother is found. A man is more likely to bring the child to the security agent and leave feeling that he's taken care of the situation.

SO I don't tell my children to stay away from men I tell them go to a mom b/c mom knows what to do.
post #125 of 170
3/21/08 at 12:31am
I'm glad to have found this thread!!

My 4yo knows his full name, our full names, our address and phone #, my mom's full name (she watches the kids pretty frequently), and has an emergency procedure-- if he gets lost in public, his knows to find and ask for help:

1) a person with a name tag
2) a police officer/ security guard
3) another mommy

He's not the one who runs, though. DS is Mr. Social Butterfly and will tell everyone he meets his life story, but he tends to stick close by us. Our runner is DD, who doesn't know any of the above and who will not talk to anybody but immediate family members unless she's warmed up to them for at least 1/2 and hour. Last week, she ran away at both the children's museum AND the grocery store in the same afternoon. I was beside myself, and we had a looog talk with her about why she MUST always stay with us when we're out.

Off to look into ID bracelets...
post #126 of 170
3/21/08 at 8:12pm
Dd ran away from me when she was a toddler. We were in a huge store (Hobby Lobby) and in the back corner. By the time I got to the end of the aisle, she was gone. I had no idea if which way she had went, I was afraid to look too long in one direction thinking that she was going the opposite way. There were no staff around or anybody else. I knew not to call out to her, because she was in the phase where running away from mommy was a fun game. Luckily, I heard toddler footbeats running. I stood behind a display and grabbed her as she ran by. Of course she threw a giant fit, especially since I made her sit in the cart for the rest of our trip.

After that, we used a harness a lot. She actually liked it and asked to wear it. She loved the freedom of not having to hold my hand and to wander a bit. I liked that she was never more than 6ft away from me and I could feel her through the strap. Even now at 6.5 she knows to hold my hand or the stroller with ds in it and asks permission to let go. I know it sounds extreme, but I'd rather have her by me and safe. Ds is just getting to the point where he might want to walk around in public and I'm going to dig the harness out for him because he's far more adventurous and I know he will run and he's too little to do anything to help himself (he's only 19mo).
post #127 of 170
3/21/08 at 8:12pm
sorry double post
post #128 of 170
3/21/08 at 10:42pm
My mom always told me to stay where I was if I got separated from her, so that she could backtrack and find me. I think that's a pretty good strategy.

This is the site I ordered C's ID bracelet from: http://www.americanmedical-id.com/ I think I will let her wear it as an anklet every day. Cause I am just paranoid like that.
post #129 of 170
4/5/08 at 9:34am
I haven't read the whole thing but I'm bumping this because I think everyone should read it.
post #130 of 170
6/3/08 at 6:48pm
Bump for the mama asking about teaching safety to a 3 year old.
post #131 of 170
6/3/08 at 6:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmom80 View Post
My mom always told me to stay where I was if I got separated from her, so that she could backtrack and find me. I think that's a pretty good strategy.
My mom always told me this, too. Now I just wish DH's mum had taught him this....
post #132 of 170
6/4/08 at 7:40am
Wow. This is a good thread. I hadn't heard about James Bulgar before this thread. I was 11 when that happened....I'd never heard about it. OMG How? How can anyone do that? How can people like that exsist? Unbelievable. (website for anyone else who may have not heard about James Bulgar http://www.geocities.com/cagney555uk/SITEMAP.html ).


I only skimmed through pages. Excellent ideas from everyone. It's really important to have a set plan so you can take action if your dc wanders off.

Years ago I was at a store with a friend. I had my purse in the shopping cart (where the kids are supposed to sit). I had my back turned to the cart, I was deeply in thought over the products on the wall--comparing prices versus quantity, etc. I turned around and the entire shopping cart was gone. Just gone. Panick. And that was just a purse! The...uh...friend took the basket as a practical joke. Oh yes, it was funny afterwards...and it taught me a valuable lesson.

That could have been my kid in that shopping cart. If your back is turned away and you're looking at something someone could come up and wheel off with you kid and out the door they go. It would be very easy to do. Maybe someone already mentioned this aspect, I'm not sure. If repeated, I'm sorry.

I still sling my dd. But, I'm still guilty of turning my back from the shopping cart with my purse in it. I get lost in what I'm looking at/thinking about and my purse/cart is "open". I know I've seen other mama's in stores doing the same thing I do...but it's their kids in the cart, not just a purse. There's been numerous times my friend's practical joke has come to mind when I see an "open" shopping cart with a wee one in it. Just maybe an FYI for other mama's to pay closer attention to shopping carts if your kids ride in the cart. Or maybe mention it to the mama who's shopping cart/kid is vulnerable to being snatched--just a gentle reminder to her. ? I've never had the guts to say that to another mama....but maybe it's not a bad idea
post #133 of 170
6/4/08 at 9:38am
Since I am routinely out with 3 kids under the age of three, I am always cautious that one of them may try and wander off. I have found a few tricks that work though. I have taught them all to hold hands at all times, or a nylon strap that I I can try on the stroller or basket if they want to walk. This really helps as they have learned to stay within arm's reach. Second they know their names, as soon as they could say them we practiced them throughout the day as a game until they knew them well. Third if we are going out to a park or the aquarium, I always apply one of these to them , http://www.safetytat.com/. That way they are always able to be identified. Finally if one of them was ever out of my sight, which has happened one, I alerted the closest employee and the store was put in lockdown. Employees of the store or park should always be your first call.

The big amusement parks and attractions, such as Busch Gardens, has very, very strict protocol regarding missing children and even stuggling children. We alaways had to stop parents that were dragging screaming children from the park, and verify that was their child. It really ticked some people off, but they have never had a child leave with someone that was not supposed to be taking them.
post #134 of 170
6/4/08 at 12:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mean_jeannie View Post
My ds is a runner. He took off from my mom one time in a store - luckily it was to one of those play trucks you put quarters in and it shakes the kid around. Whew.
DS took off on me at the zoo, I saw him go in an enclosed slide, didn't see him come out, somehow he'd teleported 100 feet away to one of those type of machines. I still don't know what to do, will read this thread now.
post #135 of 170
6/4/08 at 4:05pm

Temporary Tattoos With Cell Number!!!

Safety Tats

I know this was posted just two posts above, but just to make sure more people are aware of them....
post #136 of 170
6/4/08 at 5:14pm
I just went to Animal Kingdom with my 2yo dd and I made this cuff that I put an engraved tag on. It has her name, birthdate and mine and my dh's cell phone. I can also attatch an elastic band to it when needed. Which I had to do when she didn't want to stand in line and yet didn't want to be held. It helped when she kept trying to run off.
post #137 of 170
6/4/08 at 7:37pm
I just tried for the upteenth time to have a conversation with my 5-yo about what she would do if we got separated in a crowded or public place. She just can't talk about it. Her eyes fill up w/ tears, she says she doesn't want to talk about it, and buries her head into my chest.

Nothing has ever happened to her that should cause such an emotional response! She has never been lost from me. (Well, once, for maybe 30 seconds in a grocery store, when she RAN away from me and I didn't find her immediately... she started to cry, then I found her. This was 3 years ago.)

UGH! This is frustrating. She clearly is very uncomfortable about the subject, but she NEEDS TO KNOW. I don't present the info in any kind of scary way, but for some reason it freaks her out every time.
post #138 of 170
6/24/08 at 9:55pm


A fellow MDC mama had a scary day! http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=920064

Hope it's okay to cross post that.
post #139 of 170
6/24/08 at 10:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thechuzzle View Post

The big amusement parks and attractions, such as Busch Gardens, has very, very strict protocol regarding missing children and even stuggling children. We alaways had to stop parents that were dragging screaming children from the park, and verify that was their child. It really ticked some people off, but they have never had a child leave with someone that was not supposed to be taking them.
That is AWESOME. I know that my DS would struggle and scream if a stranger was taking him, but I full well know that could look perfectly normal, too.
post #140 of 170
6/24/08 at 10:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by snitker79 View Post
I just went to Animal Kingdom with my 2yo dd and I made this cuff that I put an engraved tag on. It has her name, birthdate and mine and my dh's cell phone. I can also attatch an elastic band to it when needed. Which I had to do when she didn't want to stand in line and yet didn't want to be held. It helped when she kept trying to run off.

Wondering where you got this band at and where I can get one? And what about the thing that attaches to it?
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