GPS tracking device for kids?

[PMGuernsey]

So I've been thinking of buying Tile, a Bluetooth tracking device for our stroller, for our next visit, and I got to thinking GPS tracking for our kids a 4 year old and 2 year old (who like to run off), would make me feel so much more at ease in large crowds. I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this, anyone have experience or suggestions?

 

[gtpoohbear]

DS (6 yrs old) has a Gizmo phone, through Verizon. It's a watch with built-in phone and GPS, set up so that kids who can't read can still work it. They can even send and receive emoji text messages. You can track them on a map with an app on your phone. Not sure if other cell carriers have it too, or maybe something similar. The phone itself was around $150, and then just $5/month for the service.

 

[arichau]

Hi,

I have not looked into any of these options but I say do whatever will put your mind more at ease!

I did want to share my experience this week finding 2 lost girls. I was waiting with three other adults for our kids to exit the Tarzan Treehouse in Adventure Land. Two girls walked right up to us right around the time a few of our kids re-joined the group - the girls looked about 4 and 2. The older one had a bubble gun and she started blowing bubbles for our kids. After a few moments they started to walk away and I started to look for their parents. I ran after them and asked them if they knew where their parents were and both girls lifted up their t-shirts to show me a cell phone number on their tummies (yay sharpies!!). I asked the girls to hang out with us while I texted their parents. Luckily about 30 seconds after I sent the text telling them where we were the parents showed up and the kids gave them a hug. They had slipped away while the parents were in line for Pirates.

I was so glad I chased after them! They weren't upset at all so it wasn't initially obvious they had gone rogue with the bubble wand

 

[Malcon10t]

So I've been thinking of buying Tile, a Bluetooth tracking device for our stroller, for our next visit, and I got to thinking GPS tracking for our kids a 4 year old and 2 year old (who like to run off), would make me feel so much more at ease in large crowds. I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this, anyone have experience or suggestions?

I use Tile for my keys. I don't think of it working for kids. (You need to be within 100 feet or so to find it) BUT we use our cell phones to track each other. I don't think GPS would work well for tracking a 2yo. GPS is usually 3-5 minutes behind their actual location. We've always done the marker on the arm (upper arm under shirt.) Lots of training on not running off, and pictures of them before you enter the park.

If you are going to go this route, the 2 best we have seen are TraxPlay and Pocket Finder. When you are looking at various ones, note if they use GPS or Bluetooth. Bluetooth is limited to 100'. Then you have to listen for the sound. Your child could be within 15feet but if you don't hear the sound, you can walk around a long time looking for them. Better to teach them to go to a CM. When they are found by a CM, the CM will stay with them (a lead will relieve them of their duties.) They will stay in the area and the child will be asked questions like What is your name? What is mommy or daddy's name? Where did you see mommy/daddy last? What ride did you ride last? Do you know your mommy/daddy's phone number? (Important to teach it WITH the area code.) They will stay in the general area for about 15 mins, and the area will be radioed that they have a lost child, are any parents reporting one? (This is where it is important you notify a CM your child is missing.) If they don't have a reconnect in 15 mins, they will then take them to Lost Parents where they will watch TV and videos while waiting for parents to find them. A hint for families who split up, make sure you verify who has which children. More children end up in Lost Parents for an extended time because mom and dad split up and both thought the other one had child c.... Happened to me, luckily, child never knew she was lost... I was in her view, but my daughter thought she went with me, I thought she was with my daughter. She also knows what to do in a lost situation. We have actually practiced it.

 

[SMD]

In a packed park you should be more proactive than a tracking device for kids who run off. A Tile is realistically good for about 30 without all of the interference of a packed park and relies on people running the app to locate items. It's also unlikely that you'd hear the alert tone in the parks. If you know that they like to run off, then hold their hands when out of a stroller and don't let go for any reason or use a leash and don't let go of it for any reason.

 

[PMGuernsey]

I couldn't agree more, just trying to think of one extra percaution... I believe in being more over prepared than not. So do everything you said plus have a tracker in case, but maybe that's a bit much .... Just thinking about things.

 

[Malcon10t]

I couldn't agree more, just trying to think of one extra percaution... I believe in being more over prepared than not. So do everything you said plus have a tracker in case, but maybe that's a bit much .... Just thinking about things.

It may be a bit much. The cost of the device is around $100-130, then you have to sign a 1 year contract for the GPS usage for $13 a month. And I don't think it will help all that much. I use Find Phone to track the teens we have, but even then, you often can't use it to catch up to them, just to see what area they are in. And I've been in DTD when it showed me in Critter Country. (It is only as accurate as the map.)

 

[lalasmama]

So, I have a runner. Well, she was a runner when she was younger. Now, she isn't, but she's also 13 now. For our first trip, she was a relatively oblivious, wandering child with ADHD... so, she would see something and walk away without ever realizing it. More than once she walked away with a stranger at places because she saw something, went after it, then saw someone about my build, and would grab their hand. So, my point is that I've been there with a runner. I've lost her at the local science center (thankfully only in the preschool area, so the doors are too heavy for the kids to open). I've lost her multiple times at the park when I've stopped to talk to someone.

So, heading to Disneyland with a wandering runner, I investigated and considered all kinds of things--sharpies on arms, removable tattoos, dog tags on shoes, alarms that go off when she was more than x feet away, GPS trackers, and so many other things! In the end, I went with a dog tag ($4.95 in Walmart, in a "make you own dog tag" machine at the front of the store). I put my name and phone number on it. When we got to the park, the first thing I did was point out the cast members and what their name tags look like, and reminded her many times that if she can't see me, she needs to find a person with a name tag, and show them the tag on her show. I believe someone on here said they were told by a CM that they can't move clothing or touch a child when looking for contact information, so you have to make sure that your child knows to lift up their sleeve/pant leg/back of the shirt/where ever to show the CM.

In our personal experience, it wasn't needed; but, it was also 1-on-1, so my attention was usually on her anyway. We're taking our oldest grandson next summer, when he will be a newly-7-year-old, and he's a bit of a "free spirit" as well, so I think we will probably use the dog tag on the shoe for him just to ease my mind.

In the case of littler kids, I'd totally recommend doing a leash--either a backpack one (my daughter loved her's when she was a toddler/preschooler, as she was proud she was carrying her own sippy cup in her "purse"), or a wrist one (it has one of those curly cords between the parent and child velcro bracelets). Not the best if you're fashion-conscious, but better than nothing!

 

[Malcon10t]

Yes, my #3 child was a wanderer. We joked we always needed a morning pic so when we lost him we knew what he was wearing. I used the wrist leash on him when he was little. Even when he was in the stroller. Once, I left him with his dad while I darted into the Adventureland bathrooms. He was 2. I took the adult end of the wrist leash off me, and handed it to dad. Said put it on, BRB.... Came back to see he had attached it to the stroller, looked in the stroller, and NO CHILD! He was located about 10 mins later by ROA. He could mess with the leash and take it off, but if you had your end on, you could feel him doing it. Dad didn't want to be seen wearing it, so instead, we lost the kid.

I do the sharpie on the upper arm because they can't lose their arms. We tried the dog tags, but too many times they inadvertently got left in the hotel room (but my daughter always has sharpies to get autographs with, so fast fix.)

 

[figment_jii]

I also wouldn't recommend using a Tile for the purpose of tracking children. They worked okay for stationary objects (e.g., keys), but was slow to update sometimes and not terribly user friendly to set-up. Also, we had considerable trouble getting ones that worked from the company (I've dealt with six Tiles and only two worked out of the box; the rest had to be sent back and exchanged multiple times). I wouldn't recommend Tile, but perhaps they've improved their technology (we bought ours about a year ago).

 

[Sergio S]

The Gizmo watches are usually the best bet for tracking children. Especially if you have the app, you can locate find them on a map almost real time.
I always play it safe and I make sure the watch works everyday by having my son call me. Also, when we go to the theme parks (DL or Knott's) I tell my son what to do in case he gets separated and to call me right away. Chances are, he'll forget cause hes excited being there but the Gizmo watch is a big relief that I can contact him.

 

[Malcon10t]

The Gizmo watches are usually the best bet for tracking children. Especially if you have the app, you can locate find them on a map almost real time.
I always play it safe and I make sure the watch works everyday by having my son call me. Also, when we go to the theme parks (DL or Knott's) I tell my son what to do in case he gets separated and to call me right away. Chances are, he'll forget cause hes excited being there but the Gizmo watch is a big relief that I can contact him.

How old is your son? I could see using this on my granddaughter who is 6, but can't imagine using it on my 2yo grandson, the like OP.

 

[Malcon10t]

So I've been thinking of buying Tile, a Bluetooth tracking device for our stroller, for our next visit, and I got to thinking GPS tracking for our kids a 4 year old and 2 year old (who like to run off), would make me feel so much more at ease in large crowds. I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this, anyone have experience or suggestions?

Going back to the OP, I'm not sure I would use a Tile on your stroller even. In the park the sound would be drowned out by background noise. I usually have to turn down the TV in the house to find my keys....

 

[Minniemouse07]

We used engraved silicone bracelets with our cell phone numbers. My kids were wearing Crocs and sandals a lot so shoe tags didn't work, and I didn't trust tattoos to stay on. The bracelets were great, waterproof, and stayed on from when we left home until we returned. The first year we used them ds (now 11yo) was 2yo and it went on his ankle.

In addition to the bracelets, we played the CM game multiple times every day. We practiced identifying CMs in different areas of the parks so the kids would know who they could go to for help.

Thankfully, we never needed to use the bracelets...but we have used them dozens of times since that first trip. Museums, the beach, carnivals, fairs, all kinds of places.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I have a non-verbal three year old with autism. He would never understand to go to a cast member (or even what a cast member is.) We have an Alert Me bracelet http://www.alertmebands.com/ with our phone numbers on it as well as "non-verbal autism" on there. We plan to use our stroller during heavy crowds. And we have a backpack with a tether.

As someone else said, a lot of those devices may not pinpoint exactly where the child is.

However, if my son is a 'runner' once he starts school, we will be investing in an Angelsense monitor. https://www.angelsense.com/

 

[Daniela Rose]

You could get one of these.

https://www.mybuddytag.com/

 

[sashasmommy]

We used TigTags, I put them on my backpack, too, just in case I left it somewhere. They are waterproof and tear-proof, though after 3 days you could barely read them. They come in a pack of 12, so I would cut it off and replace it if it becomes unreadable.

https://www.tigtagz.com/

I found that trying to tell my 3-year old to find a cast member was hard because they all wear different outfits and I didn't think she was at the point where she could spot a name tag. I tried to explain to her that she could go into a building and look for someone at a cash register, or go to a ride and find the person that was in charge of the line. And if she couldn't find either of those, I told her to find a mommy with a stroller.