All of these ideas are great, but where will a CM look for info on a child who is very young and may not be great at communicating with strangers? Do they look at the kid's shirt tag, shoes or for a tattoo on theirbelly? I really don't have a lot of faith that my shy son would be willing to point out my number written on him somewhere.
From what I have read, they are not going to lift up or move any bit of clothing. So if you want it to be something they can use, you have to have it right out there in the open.
But...they have procedures in place that would pretty much obliterate all the stuff people do. From what I have read from CMs, most CMs don't have cellphones that they can use in the park. So the procedures involve taking them to the lost-child area (I believe after waiting around for a bit). By the time they get the child there, the parents have almost certainly been directed there as well, and then they are reunited.
I cannot recall a single "my child was lost" story on the boards that involved a CM calling anyone. Both parent and child either found each other in the area where the separation happened, or at the lost child area in the park.
Most important thing for parents to do is to know what your child is wearing that day. (the carousel story from this thread involves exactly that!). Take a picture of your child that morning. Because even though we can think we'll be prepared to be calm, cool, and collected, the reality is that it's scary as heck when you lose sight of your bitty. The number of things that go through your head in a *millisecond* could rival that supercomputer. And all those things tend to take away the thinking part of your brain that can answer things like "what is s/he wearing?"
To help DS, we have talked about what CMs look like, where to find them (behind a register!), and while he should find a CM, he should also stay in the basic area so we can come back and find him.
The author of Gift of Fear (a great book about listening to instincts that every human should read) says (I'm paraphrasing here, big time) that it seems a child is safer if that child picks who they will go to for help. They aren't going to go to that creepy dude in the shadows; they will almost certainly pick someone they can trust on a very intuitive level. I agree; just thinking back to my childhood, and watching DS and who he responds in what ways to, I think he's always been spot on in terms of the creepy-factor. So with the child staying in the basic area but choosing a CM (behind a cash register!) to go to, they'll be a lot safer and easier to find.
Other than that, we never labeled DS or anything. Thought about it, but from reading all the posts by CMs telling us their procedures, I trust in Disney's long experience in helping lost guests.
