Good ways to keep track of kids

[Stltaxgirl]

I am planning to go to DW September with my husband and 4 kids (9,7,4 and 20 mo). The 9 and 7 year old are good as far as staying with us, knowing our phone number just in case. The 4 year old currently runs at the first chance. I'm hoping that will change in the next 9 months but between him and his baby brother who will be walking pretty good by then, I'm curious of any advice on the best ways to keep track of them and prevent any runaway children.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I am planning to go to DW September with my husband and 4 kids (9,7,4 and 20 mo). The 9 and 7 year old are good as far as staying with us, knowing our phone number just in case. The 4 year old currently runs at the first chance. I'm hoping that will change in the next 9 months but between him and his baby brother who will be walking pretty good by then, I'm curious of any advice on the best ways to keep track of them and prevent any runaway children.

not so much for keeping track but make sure to have a picture each day of what kids are wearing in case you do have one escape. in the moment of lost you do not have to rely on your memory of what he was wearing. I use the example of a mother at the small park I work at, mother was sure child had a certain color of shirt on 15 minutes later dad arrived with phone which showed child had a different color shirt on. security had their child the whole time but because mother was sure he had the different color shirt security did not take her to him until they were sure they had right parent. mom was really mad when she found out that security had him the whole time but didn't take her there even when her shirt color didn't match

 

[TammyLynn33]

Either a stroller or a child leash.. seriously I wouldn’t care what anyone thinks.
I’d also look at the little Id tags for kids shoes if you aren’t willing to do either of the above ..
I also take a pic of all my kids every morning before we hit the parks.. so I know who was wearing what in case god forbid I have recent pics and a description of what they were wearing

 

[marcyleecorgan]

If you don't trust a good strong grip on them, then definitely strollers or leashes.

 

[unrequited23]

Definitely bring a stroller the younger two can ride in for the super crowded times/when you need to travel quickly. We got magic band decals from etsy that had "if lost please call xxx-xxx-xxxx" that were great for peace of mind. We only have two kids but when we are with other families, I'm counting the kids at least every 5 minutes. Other than that we did a lot of practice with staying with the group/holding on to the stroller when in busier places. Sometimes the main goal of our outings were to practice. We tell them the expectation and the consequences, we will normally give two reminders/warnings and then follow through.

 

[omniscientmommy]

We pay for the Verizon Gizmo pal watches. They can call 4 programmed numbers and you can use a GPS locating app on your phone if you get separated. Those 4 numbers can also call the watch and you can have it set to answer after X number of rings. I actually had to use this once while we were camping and the kids ran off to the other end without telling me. My boys are 4 & 7. Watches were $80/each and with debit auto pay it costs $24/mo to have them. (My husband is overly paranoid about them getting lost which is why we pay for these watches - serious helicopter parent!)

And for you Disney junkies they are selling a limited edition watch right now! https://www.verizonwireless.com/con...ouse-90th-anniversary-edition/?sku=sku3270005

 

[MooseBucks]

Stoller. Comfortable double stroller hands down. In a crowd you have them get in and no worries! Otherwise, between rides etc, a good hand hold usually does the job. A baby carrier is handy too.

 

[Stltaxgirl]

I'm not necessarily against a leash but for the 4 year old for sure, he would just remove it. This is our kid who regularly gets out of his car seat and any other constraint we put him in. He's also fearless, so getting lost in a crowd, no big deal for him. So far, our baby/soon to be toddler seems to be more afraid of going too far from us, so I think he'll be pretty contained by a stroller. We were thinking of just bringing a single stroller, but maybe we should look into bringing our double??? I'm guessing this also begs the question if I may need the stroller for the 4 year old just for transportation purposes. We are staying at BLT, if that helps?

Also I'm thinking for the 9 and 7 year old, it might be nice to have a way to contact them/for them to contact me in case we get disconnected, or even if they go off to ride something alone.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Stroller for sure for the youngest. That kids is not gonna be walking all day long at the parks.

Stroller or leash for the older one.

My thought to the him just taking it off is that if that's the case then you need to change his behavior between now and then or you may need to skip the vacation.
Children need to learn boundaries.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I'm not necessarily against a leash but for the 4 year old for sure, he would just remove it. This is our kid who regularly gets out of his car seat and any other constraint we put him in. He's also fearless, so getting lost in a crowd, no big deal for him. So far, our baby/soon to be toddler seems to be more afraid of going too far from us, so I think he'll be pretty contained by a stroller. We were thinking of just bringing a single stroller, but maybe we should look into bringing our double??? I'm guessing this also begs the question if I may need the stroller for the 4 year old just for transportation purposes. We are staying at BLT, if that helps?

Also I'm thinking for the 9 and 7 year old, it might be nice to have a way to contact them/for them to contact me in case we get disconnected, or even if they go off to ride something alone.

A 9 and 7 year old are not allowed to go off to ride something alone.

 

[Stltaxgirl]

Stroller for sure for the youngest. That kids is not gonna be walking all day long at the parks.

Stroller or leash for the older one.

My thought to the him just taking it off is that if that's the case then you need to change his behavior between now and then or you may need to skip the vacation.
Children need to learn boundaries.

This may not even be an issue come September. He's already improved leaps and bounds since he was younger. We never had this issue with the older two. Our #3 is just a curious adventurous and fearless little boy. He is learning, but I also want to take some precautions on my end, too. We will have lots of opportunities to "practice" over the summer and if need be, we will be putting him in a stroller for more than he would like.

A 9 and 7 year old are not allowed to go off to ride something alone.

I was misinformed. Somewhere else I read that kids 7 and up did not need a parent to ride alone. I wouldn't be sending them off to a park by themselves, I just meant on a specific ride where I would be waiting once they get off.

 

[KMarston]

I'm not necessarily against a leash but for the 4 year old for sure, he would just remove it. This is our kid who regularly gets out of his car seat and any other constraint we put him in. He's also fearless, so getting lost in a crowd, no big deal for him. So far, our baby/soon to be toddler seems to be more afraid of going too far from us, so I think he'll be pretty contained by a stroller. We were thinking of just bringing a single stroller, but maybe we should look into bringing our double??? I'm guessing this also begs the question if I may need the stroller for the 4 year old just for transportation purposes. We are staying at BLT, if that helps?

Also I'm thinking for the 9 and 7 year old, it might be nice to have a way to contact them/for them to contact me in case we get disconnected, or even if they go off to ride something alone.

I had one of those! I could never take my eyes off him! Very few people could even be trusted to watch him! Only those that knew he might bolt. My brother in law who has six of his own lost him to the woman's restroom! Had to get someone to bring him out. The good news is he survived and is a functioning member of society! And we were able eventually to take the nails out of every window in our home! Good luck.

 

[MooseBucks]

Double stroller if you have it. So hard carrying an exhausted 4yo from the back of the park to the hotel at night Plus at four they are still learning so much and can have “all over” emotions so the stroller gives them a nice place to relax and take a break while you keep moving.

Our oldest is a runner too, even at 5, and Disney makes it that much harder with all the excitement to keep them
Focused on staying with you but the stroller is a catch all for her, our stuff and the younger one.

 

[siren0119]

We had a runner, and used a child leash on him until he was almost 5. It allowed him SOME freedom of movement with plenty of peace of mind for me that he wasn't going to zip off somewhere I couldn't chase him.

That said, if you've never used one with him before, don't make Disney the first time. Use it anytime you are out and about for a while before your trip. It takes a bit for them to get used to being on a tether (there were a few times at first when mine would take off and then end up on his butt because he reached the end of the tether with some momentum) and as a parent it takes some adapting to figure out how long to leave the tether for different situations. Start now, and by Sept you'll both be pros - OR he'll be so used to not being able to take off running that you won't even need it!

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

This may not even be an issue come September. He's already improved leaps and bounds since he was younger. We never had this issue with the older two. Our #3 is just a curious adventurous and fearless little boy. He is learning, but I also want to take some precautions on my end, too. We will have lots of opportunities to "practice" over the summer and if need be, we will be putting him in a stroller for more than he would like.



I was misinformed. Somewhere else I read that kids 7 and up did not need a parent to ride alone. I wouldn't be sending them off to a park by themselves, I just meant on a specific ride where I would be waiting once they get off.

Your wording made it seem like you were going to have them walk the park without an adult.
7+ is allowed to be on a ride without an adult but not walk around the park.

 

[Stltaxgirl]

Your wording made it seem like you were going to have them walk the park without an adult.
7+ is allowed to be on a ride without an adult but not walk around the park.

Sorry for the confusion. DEFINITELY not going to just let them walk the park. But with 2 younger ones, there might be times when I'm good with them just going in and riding something without me being right there. As much as I talk about my almost 4 year old being a runner, the older two are very responsible and good, so I would definitely trust them. Then again, with me and my husband, it's probably more likely that one of us would go with them.

 

[pahoben]

We have twin girls with high activity levels and both runners (one professional level and the other a gifted amateur). Somehow they agreed when very young they would always run in 180 degree opposite directions (never failed). At Disney the pro tended to run to closed doors or gates to backstage areas and try to open. At ages 2 and 4 at WDW we used double strollers and bracelets with cell numbers. We were just there at age 6 and the running has subsided but still each had a bracelet for my peace of mind. I am a paranoid father as someone described above and so hyper vigilant at WDW.

 

[Nancyg56]

We pay for the Verizon Gizmo pal watches. They can call 4 programmed numbers and you can use a GPS locating app on your phone if you get separated. Those 4 numbers can also call the watch and you can have it set to answer after X number of rings. I actually had to use this once while we were camping and the kids ran off to the other end without telling me. My boys are 4 & 7. Watches were $80/each and with debit auto pay it costs $24/mo to have them. (My husband is overly paranoid about them getting lost which is why we pay for these watches - serious helicopter parent!)

And for you Disney junkies they are selling a limited edition watch right now! https://www.verizonwireless.com/con...ouse-90th-anniversary-edition/?sku=sku3270005

My friend has the Gizmo watches for her girls and they are awesome.

Stroller for sure for the youngest. That kids is not gonna be walking all day long at the parks.

Stroller or leash for the older one.

My thought to the him just taking it off is that if that's the case then you need to change his behavior between now and then or you may need to skip the vacation.
Children need to learn boundaries.

I would use a stroller for the kids. WE used to just rent from Disney because none if us wanted to lug one on and off of the buses, etc, and we really only wanted it occasionally in the parks, but it really was a lifesaver when we were going form one spot to another in crowded parks.

My DD took a leash thing for DGD however we never used it. DGD either was in the stroller or carried if there was too many people to ensure she did not get swept from our grip. This occurred to me and my DD when she was a tadpole and that expereince made a lifelong impression on me, so I get the nerves parents have when taking little ones to WDW or any other crowded place.

I agree that working on the behavior will be a good idea as well. I would practice walking together, and reinforcing the importance of staying together. WE did this when we took our friends girls with us, WE spent months taking them to dinner and practice our "best Disney manners." Every kid is a work in progress, so it is never too soon to begin working on one behavior or another in order to avoid the realization that Disney is not the place to begin but the place to enjoy the results.

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

I can’t speak for the wandering away part, but I went to petco and had a pink heart-shaped tag engraved with “dad” followed by his cell# on one side, and then “mom” followed by my cell on the other side. These were attached to dd’s sandals securely. I was told Disney cms are trained to look for tags, tattoos with #s, etc.

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

Also, I know it will be hot, but consider a light portable baby carrier for you 20 month old. I used mine up until my dd was 2.5 with regularity, including the in tropics on a Disney Cruise when she was 18 mos in the dead heat and humidity of summer. I love my solar connecta (now sold under the brand of integra). It’s as light as a feather and folds into nothing.