How many of you "tag" your kids with info in case they get lost?

[ppan77]

How many of you "tag" your kids with info in case they get lost? Just hadnt thought about doing this. We will have both kids in strollers. I was mainly thinking about my three yr old. He doesnt wander but you never know and he isnt a talker. Should I put a tag on him?

 

[nicki.momof3]

No - unless you have a serious runner or are totally out numbered adults to kids. You won't lose them.

 

[Trixie15]

I've seen it mentioned before but never actually done it. It's not a terrible idea, though. I might consider it for our next trip.

 

[mombare]

We did this the first 2 days of being at Disney, but stopped because we felt there was no need. We are SUPER vigilant about watching our kids - and we did have an equal adult/child ration...
We did see one little boy (3/4) talking with a security guard and he was obviously separated from his family - that was our first day. It was a great opportunity for us to talk with our children...let's just say it was not an issue!

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

We tag our kids, and they're 9 and 6- well 6 and 8 last time we were at Disney. We had dog tags ( as in military tags not collar tags like Fido wears! ) made. They actually wear them any time we're away for the day- habit I guess. They don't really need them anymore, both of them know all of their information, but they like wearing them and like I said- habit. The tags have their names, address, and dh and mine cell phone numbers. I also know people who write their phone numbers in sharpie on their child's leg. I have another friend who made bracelets with her cell phone number in beads on it. I don't think it's an issue of being vigilant in watching, it's the people who think it won't happen to them who lose their kids I think. I also think that children who know their information can easily panic and not be able to tell..better safe than sorry.

 

[nikkers]

We tag our kids, and they're 9 and 6- well 6 and 8 last time we were at Disney. We had dog tags ( as in military tags not collar tags like Fido wears! ) made. They actually wear them any time we're away for the day- habit I guess. They don't really need them anymore, both of them know all of their information, but they like wearing them and like I said- habit. The tags have their names, address, and dh and mine cell phone numbers. I also know people who write their phone numbers in sharpie on their child's leg. I have another friend who made bracelets with her cell phone number in beads on it. I don't think it's an issue of being vigilant in watching, it's the people who think it won't happen to them who lose their kids I think. I also think that children who know their information can easily panic and not be able to tell..better safe than sorry.

Very well said! We also do dog tags. DS (5) and DD (2 1/2).

 

[GPA1015]

We take a daily picture of them right before we walk out the hotel door. Last year we took my neice so that put us at 4 kids all under 6 years / 2 adults. We wrote our cel phone numbers in Sharpie on their tummies- it stayed all week. We also all wore the same shirts- easy to spot if we did get separated!

 

[mandynee22]

I didn't when we went.
FTR- when I was sitting outside the baby station nursing DS, I let DD (8 then) go to a cart across the way to get a soda. She got turned around on the way back (she's as good with directions as I am). When I saw that I could no longer see her I went up to a CM and told him what happened ... then I spotted her- I made her wear this aweful purple baseball cap with big gawdy flowers printed on it the whole trip- and got her back. She had gone back to the cart and bought a bag of cheetos incase she was lost for a long time and got hungry LMAO. That girl can't go ten seconds without thinking of food. It's a wonder she isn't overweight... but anyway...
It was only because of that hat that I spotted her (it is so ugly, it really is... but she likes it). The CM was great, too FWIW. He radio'd right over to the cart (which, again, I could SEE from where we were but there are a lot of people in the World)
I think tagging them is a great idea, especially with younger kids that may forget or get tongue tied and confused. When we go back, I will probably do it with DS. I would imagine that every parent who's lost a kid in a crowded place thinks it would never happen to them. Better safe than sorry.

 

[micheleq]

I used Who's Shoes? ID tags that are velcro straps that wrap around your kids' shoelaces/snakers. Very easy. And they are bright neon, so if a toddler got lost and couldn't articulate to an adult a phone number or information such as that, it would be impossible to miss these tags on their shoes.

WDW is a huge place, with tens of thousands of people during high season. Better safe than sorry. I saw a few frantic parents when they were "lost" from their kids.

I think the website is www.whoseshoes.com

There is also a website, safetytat.com, that makes custom tatoos -- you can get your cell # or if your child has allergies it can be placed on the tatoo! I might do that next time.

 

[kayc86]

We ordered tatoos for our little ones (2 and 3) to use on our last trip.we put it on there arms and they both liked them.
i ordered them on safetytat.

 

[Minniemouse07]

We opted for silicone bracelets w/ just the words "If lost call my mom ###" and "If lost call my dad ###."

The shoe ids and dog tags wouldn't work w/ crocs and sandals so we skipped them. The silicone bracelets were great for dd (6yo) and ds (2yo)...and ds wore his on his ankle so he wouldn't pull it off his wrist.

HTH

 

[sokrzy4u]

We don't, and our family is definitely out numbered, but I constantly do head checks. "1, 2, 3, 4 ok got them all." and we haven't lost a kid during any of our trips. We have a family that goes with us (they have 2 children) and their 9 year old got lost/left behind in adventure land last year. I don't know why it came up but that morning on our way to the bus I told the kids if they get lost find someone that works there, and that's exactly what he did. They brought him to the lost child area? is that first aid? i'm not sure, but all was well. Very scary, myself and the other mom were in tears.

 

[momofbcs]

I didnt tag mine. We did go over and over my cell number and what to do if they got separated. We saw one little girl get lost during the pre-parade hula hooping and another get separated at the dance party in playhouse disney. CMs were right on top of it.

 

[connie1042]

I just typed our cell phone numbers and names, cut and laminated it and pined it to the back of his shirt. He never know it was there. He was 2 1/2

 

[tribus121]

I put the info on a biasness card DDs( then 4 ) name My, DW And MILs name our Hotel and Our cell # I then laminated it using a self laminating luggage tag then attached it to a pin trading lanyard and hung that around DDs neck she thought it made her look important .

 

[mommy23qties]

I wrote all the adults' cell phone numbers on a paper and put that inside the backpack each of my kids were wearing. Yes, they could lose their backpack, but they love wearing them so much, there is little chance of that. They are old enough to know the numbers, but I worry that they will get confused and scared if they are separated and will forget the numbers.

I have girl triplets and I always dress them alike to help me keep an eye on them.

 

[disneycruiser2007]

We didn't but there were more adults than kids on our trip. In retrospect sounds like a good idea. Depending when you go the crowds could be massive and people are from all over the world and everywhere in the parks. Our kids have never been in such a big crowd, so we kept them very close at all times (there could be crowd control issues depending where you go and what time of the year and what time of the day, which could be hazardous for little kids) and we read on a tourist site that Orlando can be of the least safe for pedestrians and shouldn't be walked if there's a choice between driving or walking down the tourist streets (lots of tourists, big city, really busy, large streets/highway). One mom gave me a good tip while I was in the park at Disney - in the bathroom, she said after I helped my kid with potty, to have the kid when they are outside the door stick her feet under my door keep her shoe under my stall where I can see her foot to make sure I know they are right there outside the door at all times. That said it is probably one of the most if not the most beautiful places I've ever seen - so much care gets put into Disney World and it's wonderful for the children - just as parents it's not really care free like when we were the kids and our parents did all the worrying (plus it's much bigger now).

 

[DRS_Are_Best]

We DEFINITELY need to "tag" our kids -- dh bought dog tags after a quick websearch with their names and both mine and dh's cell numbers. And they have small luggage tags chains so we can put it on their belt loops on their pants/shorts which will be difficult for them to remove.

My kids (when we go) will be nearly 4, and 26 month old twins (who are currently barely "herdable"). With only 2 adults, it's likely that we'll get separated at some point -- we will do our best to prevent this from happening -- however, as careful as we will try to be, you never know and I don't want to be afraid of this during my vacation.....

 

[LoveMyDisneyCats]

No - unless you have a serious runner or are totally out numbered adults to kids. You won't lose them.

We don't have either of those situations and my DD4 did get lost this past December. I think cuz we go several times a year, we let her out of the stroller a little more freely this time and that just didn't work. I'd say she was gone for a total of 1-2 minutes, but it seemed longer. We had a long talk after that about who to find.

I actually read on here somewhere that someone told their kids to find "another mommy" (someone standing there with kids the same size) and tell them they're lost and can they help them find a cast member. I thought it was something to consider because really if you think about it all the cast members have different uniforms for the different rides so that would be hard for a littler kid to determine who to go to PLUS you can buy those disney name tags anywhere so someone looking to take a kid could play the part pretty easily.

Even now that we've talked and even though we obviously won't be getting quite so "comfortable" there this next time, we'll still give her a necklace or something with our cell phone #s.

 

[LoveMyDisneyCats]

One mom gave me a good tip while I was in the park at Disney - in the bathroom....

What I found works well for us is that I go in one stall, DD goes in the one right next to it (we'll even move aside and wait for two side by side if there's a line). DD has to stay in there until I say "Ok, I'm done." This way I know she's safe locked inside, plus I usually will talk to her too "how ya doing?" "need help?" or whatever. I'm usually always out before she's done so it works well. I started that with DD7 when she was 4 or 5. DD4 now got to do that a couple times this last trip when the restrooms weren't too busy or when we're at home here but out to eat or someplace like that. She's funny because I don't even have to say anything- she just says as we walk in "I know the rule."

I worry too much about leaving them outside my door even if I can see their feet cuz technically someone could grab them if that was truly the intention. I feel safer knowing their locked in somewhere, but that's just me. I guess the best thing would be to bring them all in with me, but that's just not really realistic anymore cuz their bigger and those stalls are small.