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

[IllumFan]

We did get one of the "dog tag" necklaces for my DS3. He felt very special wearing it under his shirt and it gave me peace of mind. I'm probably overprotective and rarely let him out of my sight but it only takes a second of being distracted (paying for a snack, etc.) for him to get lost, esp. in a large crowd. I bought mine prior to our trip (customized in his favorite color and with a fun design on the front). However, when I was at Disney, I noticed several kiosks where you could purchase them. There was one in the Land Pavilion, next to Garden Grill in Epcot, another near a gift shop by the Backlot in DHS, etc.

 

[hoffmann2828]

I think I am going to tag when we go in July. She'll be just about 3 then and even though she is our only one, she hates strollers. So, I know this is going to be a "hold my hand" nightmare.

I am a worrier and I think better safe than sorry. It's worth it to me to know it's on her.

Jenny

 

[Dannielle_1]

I tagged my DS at 2.5 years using a tag I made, laminated and attached to his belt loop using a luggage tag chain & key ring. Worked great. (And we didn't lose him either, so that was great too ).

So when we returned this past December when he turned 3, I did the same thing. Didn't work so great. I lost 2 tags in 2 days. (And I only brought 2.) He was not using his stroller as much and wanted to be picked up and I think we must have knocked the luggage tag chain apart in the process. Didn't lose him this trip either, but I will say I was a bit more on edge this time. Being a little older he wanted more freedom, but he's not old enough to know what to do if lost. He's not a wanderer, he stays close by for the most part (unless theres wide open space) and I'm very watchful, but you just never know.

I'm going to make the same tags again for our next trip, but instead of the luggage tag chain, I'll probably use a sturdy thread. But I always worry about the "Getting Caught in Something Factor" which obviously the luggage tag chains would break easily (since the tags were lost), if caught.

Or I could make enough tags for each day of our trip, just in case.

 

[luvwdwfla2]

Our last trip DS4 I put a luggage tag on his waist. He new all his info but I was worried if he got scared he would forget. Also he knows home info but on vacation where we are staying and what is cell phone # is a little harder. I am kinda liking the dog tag idea now that he is a little older. The other thing I do fairly often is stop and ask him where he would go at that moment if he did not see mom. I have taught if to go to a register in a store/food place or a Mom with a stroller. I actually am a little more nervouse this year, just turned 6, because he wants to venture further and then is surprised when he realizes I am not there. I have actually gone out of sight on purpose to give him that awful (where is she feeling) trying to teach him why I always want him close to me.

 

[daleswife]

I put a tag on my then 21 month old. He was never and is never out of my sight, but you just never know. I had a tag on my 5 yr old as well. It was small engraved dog tags I attached to their shoes. My son's was a skull and cross bones and my daughters was a princess crown...

We are going back in september and you can bet they both will be tagged again. DD will be 6 and DS will be 2

 

[ppan77]

Thanks for all the advice! I will probably do a wristband of somekind just to be safe!!

 

[snoopy5386]

I have tagged my DD at times during various trips. This past trip it was just the two of us some days so I tagged her those days. I just wrote her name and my phone # with a sharpie on a piece of masking tape and put it under the hem of her shirt. Quick, easy and free.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I'm REALLY trying not to offend anyone...so please don't get your panties all knotted but..

I have a 9 year old and if I tell her to go to her room and put on her shoes, grab her coat, and brush her hair...she'll usually do one thing..or forget to come back at all. Now this is a very intelligent gifted program 3rd grader I'm talking about. Now...why someone would think that a 3 year old, who is scared and in a strange place and cannot find Mommy or Daddy would remember a string of directions such as find a CM, stay where you are etc is beyond me. I'll tag my kids until they're in college if they'll humor me...gosh I've panicked when I can't find my husband..and I'm 36 yrs old!!

 

[slo]

I've never tagged my kids when they were with me, but I definitly have when they go on field trips with their daycare. I make sure they wear jeans, and in their back pocket I put all their information. They've never had to use it, but I definitly feel better knowing that the information is on them.

 

[amelia1]

and put them on their ankles. My 3 yr old would take it off it was on her wrist. I am very cautious at parks, too cautious if you listen to my DH, but it only takes a few seconds for a child to get lost in a crowd like Disney.

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

We will tag our daughter just in case. And she is almost 7.
You never know.
And in high stress situations, it's easy to forget important information.
Now that she is older, we just put in the info in her pocket. But when she was little and we went to Disney, we put a luggage tag on her.
Poor kid! lol

 

[arielmomma]

Although I have never even come close to losing one of them, I do put identification tags on my 2 children (DS5 & DD2). I also carry pictures of them on me at all times. It is comforting for my husband and I to have our children wear them.

 

[kristilew]

We got the ID badges they sell at DS - they look like the CM badges and you can have your child's name engraved on them. Each kid got to pick his/her favorite character badge. Then we used a sharpie to put the parental cell #'s on the back.

One little guy in our group - age 7 at the time - ended up getting away from the group more than once. He would get absorbed in something and not realize we had moved on, and we had a large enough group that it would take a minute to realize he wasn't with us. This is where having more adults than kids doesn't help, b/c you sort of assume someone else has the kid you don't see.

Anyway, he would just turn his tag over and a cm would call his parents. Worked great.

 

[Brer Shay]

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

I did my own version of this with velcro - worked our great. I agree with PP who said that when kids get flustered (likely to happen if they're lost) that they could easily forget their phone numbers. We ended up not needing it, but just another level of peace of mind.

 

[Tasmen]

We've used they luggage tags that often come with booking a trip through AAA or some other travel agency when going to Disney. The kids feel like they have a special Disney souvenir without realizing they've been tagged

 

[ilandrazdsw]

After the way my DS5 has been acting since we returned from WDW, I will gladly tag him, "If returned we want you to pay us the ransom!" with phone number, of course.

 

[teacup princess]

We absolutely tag our kids. Last trip we were in the first park on the first day for exactly 8 minutes before we lost our 4 y.o. and we had 4 adults with us and only 3 children. It only takes a second for a child to wander off in a large, crowded place and become lost.

We went to park our stroller before getting on the first ride of the trip and he thought he was supposed to go ahead and get into line. None of us noticed. We all went in a different direction looking for him screaming his name. I found him standing in line for Tower of Terror all by himself almost at the entrance (boy did I get some dirty looks and comments when I hopped over the rope into the fastpass lane and headed toward the front. I bet they felt like jerks when I came walking back out with a lost child).

That was the only time any of the kids got lost the whole trip. I found him myself but I was glad that I had put a tag on him "just in case".

 

[maitlynn]

We tag them (3 and almost 6).

We also stop on the first day in the park and stop a cast member and show them the nametag and say find someone that has one of these and tell them you are lost.

We've never had or anticapate a problem but i've heard too many stories and as a kid my cousin was lost on Tom Saywers Island we were about 6 and I remember being soooo scared for her. We all got on the raft to come back over and she didn't she was on the island alone at dusk. She still has issues with TSI!

 

[DisneyKings]

I bought Iron-on labels with DD3's name & my cell # to put in her clothes last year & also used bracelets that you write their name & phone # to call on. I usually had to sneak the bracelet on the back of her pants so she wouldn't see it or she would take it off. I like the dogtags idea--she might like wearing a necklace. Off to search to see if I can get 1 in 10 days. I don't know what to do with DD1 this trip... I'll try all the tricks I guess!

 

[*Seanaci*]

Even though there were 5 adults in our party, we still stuck a sticker in my sons shirt every morning. You just never know what'll happen, regardless of whether or not they're a runner.

Also, invest in a Monkey back-pack leash. Strap it to your 3 year old and you'll be fine...especially if he's a runner...OR could turn into a runner at WDW. And trust me, I saw soooooo many little ones in some kind of kid leash while we were there last month that no one is going to say anything to you.