grrr!

[kelleyrn2000]

Some of you may remember me posting a while back about dd. I was worried about her taking off on us during our trip. She is too big for a stroller, and we weren't sure she would follow the rules before the park. Now we are here, and on the very first park trip, she took off!!

We were at Typhoon Lagoon, and dh lost track of her in the lazy river. He got off the river to catch up with her but she wasn't there. She had gotten off the river and we have no idea where she was. It took an hour to find her, even with all the CM's notified she was missing.

She did fine at MK on Monday, holding my hand most the time. Tuesday at Ak she did pretty well, except for during the parade whe she decided to sit with another family (within eyeshot). That night we went to meet friends for dinner at O'Hana's over at the Polynesian (never been there before). In the middle of dinner she asked to go to the hula lesson (again within eyeshot) but when the hula lesson was over she was nowhere to be seen. She was missing for quite a while. Again, I was in tears while I talked to security and gave the description. I couldn't believe she had disappeared because she wasn't in one of her moods when she left the table.

As it turns out they found her at the Grand Flordian Resort. She had gotten on the monorail and gotten off there! Thank goodness she remembered to go to a CM right away and they called me back and we were able to go pick her up. Last night we went and bought something to use as a backpack/harness and she now knows that we will use the harness unless she is holding my hand. I don't care how old she is, I don't ever want to go through that again!!

 

[peemagg]

You have to do whatever it takes to keep your child safe. If that means putting her in a harnass and tying her to you so be it. Those who have different ideas can just mind their own business (not what I really want to say, but you get the drift). You know your child and their personalities and what it takes to keep them safe.

I hope that the rest of the trip goes off without another incident.

 

[LilyWDW]

Normally I am not a huge fan of the harness, but in your case OP, it is a situation that warrants it.

 

[bidnow5]

Her safety is much more important then anyone's opinion. try to have a fun time for the rest of the trip. If she were mine she would be either in hand or on a harness

 

[kirstenb1]

I would have been so scared!! I've always been a "by any means necessary" kind of parent, so the harness would be exactly what I would use too.

I hope the rest of the trip goes much better!!

 

[SueM in MN]

Very scary.

You need to do what you need to do to keep her safe.

 

[mysevendwarfs]

Very scary. Just a thought, but when I rented a stroller this week from Orlando Strollers I saw they rent gps devices for children. I believe the owner used it on her own child when she attended camp at Sea World. I know they deliver directly to most local hotels. Their link is on the family board at the top as they sponsor that board. I don't know how much longer you are there, but it might bring you some peace of mind. Btw, I rented the Liberty Stroller which is for older children up to 100 lbs. Hope the rest of your stay goes well.

 

[Karalynn]

I agree with you, harness should be the way to go! My dd has obvious physical disabilites and sometimes I get 'those looks'!! just know that you are doing what is right for your child to you, hope you can relax a bit more and enjoy the rest of you vaca!

 

[kelleyrn2000]

Very scary. Just a thought, but when I rented a stroller this week from Orlando Strollers I saw they rent gps devices for children. I believe the owner used it on her own child when she attended camp at Sea World. I know they deliver directly to most local hotels. Their link is on the family board at the top as they sponsor that board. I don't know how much longer you are there, but it might bring you some peace of mind. Btw, I rented the Liberty Stroller which is for older children up to 100 lbs. Hope the rest of your stay goes well.

That is good to know! DH and I were thinking that there should be something like that available, like they have on cell phones. We don't have cell phones for our kids though, otherwise that would be an option. I checked the website and it looks like you have to order them, so it may not be possible for us to use this trip since we are only here a few more days. Thanks for the tip!

 

[knieriem]

OP, does your daughter have Autism? I don't mean to be ignorant, just curious and it was never mentioned in the following posts on the page (i read them twice to make sure.)

 

[SueM in MN]

Very scary. Just a thought, but when I rented a stroller this week from Orlando Strollers I saw they rent gps devices for children. I believe the owner used it on her own child when she attended camp at Sea World. I know they deliver directly to most local hotels. Their link is on the family board at the top as they sponsor that board. I don't know how much longer you are there, but it might bring you some peace of mind. Btw, I rented the Liberty Stroller which is for older children up to 100 lbs. Hope the rest of your stay goes well.

There is a link to the company in post #2 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread, near the top of this board too. There is a note there that they rent the GPS devices - so if you need the link in the future, you can find it there.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

OP, does your daughter have Autism? I don't mean to be ignorant, just curious and it was never mentioned in the following posts on the page (i read them twice to make sure.)

No, she doesn't have autism. She hasn't been diagnosed with anything, and we stopped going to counseling when our visits ran out (insurance) and she refused to talk to the counselors. She is a wonderful but unpredictable child that no one can figure out what is going on in her mind. She is moody and can change moods quickly, and can be defiant/stubborn like a toddler sometimes. Tonight she had a great night...sand Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" in front of a crowd of strangers at Karaoke night at our resort. You just never know which side of her you're going to get.

 

[Luv2trav]

I agree do what you have to do to keep her safe. I am not sure I would have let her to the hulu lesson in the first place after losing her at TL.. I would keep her glued right next to me.

 

[Rekenna]

I'm sorry your family has had such a hard time with this. I am a big believer in the harness backpack. Those who like to share their unwarranted opinion in the negative have never lost a child, have no children or just need to mind their own beezwacks.

Our DS2 is autistic and LOVES to run in his own direction. I understand your DD is older-but safety is first. I lost DS2 at home (he snuck out a door I thought was locked) we live in the country next to a busy road, pond and railroad tracks. It took me 20 minutes to find him and he was feet away from a train that was beginning to move.

No matter what, her safety and your peace of mind are more important than anything. It is impossible to enjoy yourself or for her to have fun when you are on pins and needles all the time.

Try the harness, relax and have a great time-good luck!

 

[mickey&minniealways]

When we go to WDW I attatch a small luggage tag to the belt loop of my two special needs children. I put a sticker on it of their favorite disney character. It has their name, age, disabities, medications and my cell phone #. DS is 23. He is okay with it because he has a siezure dissorder. He is well controled on medication but is also aware that things could change at any time. He knows that if something happens when he goes off on his own it will help whoever is around to know what is going on and reach us. DD15 stays with us. She doesn't run off intentionaly but she does get spaced and can be easily distracted. You can most likley find a luggage tag in the world. Our local scrapbooking store even carries disney ones. There is a store in tomorrowland that has disney scrapbooking supplies. I realize you invested in a harness but for those times she isn't attached, like in the pool etc., it makes it easier to find us and for my peace of mind.

 

[jmartinez1895]

As a child I had a tended to wonder off. My parents had a loop that was worn on my wrist and they help the other end ( it was a kid leash). Once i was about 10 or so I figured it out that if I stayed with them I did not have to wear it. I'm not sure why I felt the need to run off, I guess I was just curious and if I wanted to see something I went. I hope that your child will out grow it as well.

 

[PrincessMom4]

I don't know why others feel the need to judge. There is nothing wrong with the harness' plus they are really cool from what they used to be. I have a monkey harness. They need realize safety first and not be staring.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

Thanks for the tips! Here is what we did for the rest of the trip:

Bought a Disney drawstring backpack that had velcro in the front to connect the straps like a harness. Then took a strap from my cooler that had a loop on the end and tied it to the inside top of the backpack. Whenever dd didn't hold hands (usually because it was so hot our hands were super sweaty) then I could take the loop and put it around her my wrist. Other options were to put it around the handle for our stroller, or for me to wear the backpack and have her wrist in the loop of the strap.

We bought a monkey harness but she wouldn't wear it and we ended up using it for our two year old a couple of times The only other incident we had the rest of the trip was in the pool. She suddenly did a backflip into the pool headfirst... thank God she was ok, but she bumped her head on the bottom of the pool....could have been much worse.