Share your best SAFETY tips for kids in the parks

[kirstenh]

We're going in October for the fourth time as a family, and our daughters will be 7 and 4. I actually never really thought about safety until we went to the mall at Christmas, and my four year old, with her head in the clouds, just wandered away from us when I was looking at the mall map. It took us about 15 minutes of completely frantic searching to find her, thankfully with a security guard. Obviously it scared the heck out of us, and made me think about our upcoming trip. She tends to be in her own little world most of the time, so wandering away is not out of the question with her.

Aside from the normal "teach your kids about safety" stuff ... what are your best tips/tricks? I've seen some temporary tattoos you can get with your name and phone number on them - are those good?

 

[Pesky]

My DS is kind of the same way and just tends to not pay attention. Fortunately, when you are on vacation, it's easier to tag-team with your spouse to keep an eye on the kids. We would usually assign one kid to each parent -- DH would take DD (who is older and tends to stick with us anyway) and I would take DS (who was more the getting lost risk). We would do a verbal hand-off if needed -- "hey, I'm going to get the food -- keep an eye on DS." When we got into a crowded area, it was "safety time!" and we'd have to hold hands. And we would swap charges periodically as well, especially with DS in the stroller. FYI, we did end up using a stroller at DLR as the walking was too much for him and he is tall for his age. The stroller was also a great way of keeping tabs because it sure was easy to know where he was. Honestly, when you know your kid is likely to be starry eyed and wander off, you tend to be more aware of where they are in a crowded place like WDW.

We also went through a drill with the kids: you look around and there are a lot of people and you don't see mom or dad -- what do you do? Figured it would help them not panic too much if they knew what to do. We taught them to go to a CM and talked about how to identify a CM (they will always have a special name tag and you can find them often selling stuff like popcorn. Next, if they couldn't find a CM, look for a mom with kids or another family and ask for help. We used pen and wrote our phone # on their arms (covered by a shirt then). Make sure you are familiar with the lost child protocol of each park too so you know where to go to pick your child up. GL!

 

[celina14]

Will you have a stroller with you? That would be my plan. My 4 year old still rides in the stroller if we are in a crowded place plus I doubt she could handle walking around Disney all day. That way during times when it's really crowded she could be in the stroller and other times when she wants to walk you have the stroller to put all your stuff in. The previous suggestion on making sure she knows what to do in case she does get separated is also a good idea.

 

[MinnieFields]

Taking our twin boys next month.. 3 yrs old and very prone to wonder/run off, we plan on having our double stroller, backpack leashes, wrist leashes, id tattoos, and 6 adults. I hope that something works.... We will see.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

have a picture of each child each day so you can look and see what they are wearing that day. at the small park I work at.
had a mother having us look for child in a red shirt. for 15 minutes he sat at security while mom had everyone looking for lost child in red shirt only problem he was wearing a green shirt. took dad to come back from his looking on his own with the picture and the only phone. do not rely on your memory of what they are wearing each day.

 

[Ashby04]

This was a big worry of mine on our first visit. Our kids were too young and didn't know our phone numbers, etc. I ordered safety bracelets from mabel's labels with our information on them. They didn't tear, you could only cut them off. And they held up when they got wet. This trip I will still put them on even though my oldest knows our phone numbers now. I imagine in a scary situation, she may not remember. I have also heard write your information with a sharpie and paint over it with clear nail polish, but I haven't tried it.

I really like the idea of taking a picture of them each day.

 

[Hopeful8]

We bought the safety bracelets from Mabel's Labels also. If my kids were 4 y.o., I would get some sort of backpack leash or wrist leash. And we hold hands all the time.

 

[marikoj]

I went to Petco and made a "dog tag" with his name, our home address and cell phone numbers and put it on a chain. He would just wear it under his shirt and forget about it. We've used it at the fair and other crowded places since then too. Haven't used it at a water park or pool, so not sure how that would be, but it's snug enough to not fall off easily.

 

[kccne]

I did "dog tags" for my kids, have my name, number, and their name on it, Plus we took pics of the kids every morning just in case

 

[ChasingLeslie]

Most of my suggestions have already been mentioned...

1. Teach children to identify cast members and remind them NEVER to leave the park (even with someone they think is safe)
2. Talk about the itinerary (i.e. - we're leaving Haunted Mansion and next we're heading to Splash Mountain) so children have a sense of where you are going/where you've been
3. Take photos every morning (take two if you are going to the waterparks and will change from bathing suit to cover-up/clothes)
4. Write your cell phone number on a bandaid (or temporary tattoo label) and put it on a covered but accessible place (ankle, upper arm, side)
5. Give your child an uncracked glow stick necklace; if they get separated, crack it and wave it in the air so they are easier to spot (obviously more helpful in the early evening and nighttime)

 

[Baklava]

I went to Petco and made a "dog tag" with his name, our home address and cell phone numbers and put it on a chain. He would just wear it under his shirt and forget about it. We've used it at the fair and other crowded places since then too. Haven't used it at a water park or pool, so not sure how that would be, but it's snug enough to not fall off easily.

We threaded ours through her shoelaces. Petco has a cute BB 8 tag right now.

 

[jahber]

I've lost sight of a kiddo at WDW. It's terrifying. But like everyone said, have a plan and stay calm. They have an excellent system in place to locate kids. Just find a cast member or security guard immediately and get the process started. It happens frequently and they will take care of you . The more mobile our kids get (and the more there are!), the more likely it will happen. It's a part of parenting, but that doesn't make it easier on us!

 

[Lalalyn]

Do you think writing your cell phone number on tape and putting it inside their magic band would work -- by which I mean stay on?

Perhaps write number with a sharpie (silver colored one) inside the magic band? We leave in less than two weeks so not sure I have time to order bracelets and now sure my three year less would wear them.

 

[hisgal2]

I'm teaching my kids,in general, to look for people in charge if they get separated from us. They know to find someone with a name tag or to go into a shop and to find someone at a register.

You can use a sharpie pen (fine point) and write your cell phone number on their arm and then cover it with liquid bandaid to keep it on. You can get one of Disney's celecelebration buttons and write your name ans cell number on the back of it. Just tell your child its there and to show it to someone if they get lost.

 

[minnieinnie]

We used the safety tattoo's last time we went, thankfully they didn't come in handy but they were really great, super easy to apply and stayed on even on the waterpark day. Highly recommend them

 

[wilkeliza]

Ex-CM here. I will give you some suggestions.

Point 1:
CMs can not take anything off your child so if you are going to put a number on them please make sure it is visible with out having to remove clothing or your child can be trusted to show it to the CM they ask for help. The tattoos are great so is the sharpie but a CM can not push up a child's shirt to check for that so make sure your little ones know to show it! Same thing with the dog tag, your little ones have to remember to show it to the CM.

Point 2:
Once you alert a CM to your lost child, stay with that CM! Too many times I would have a mother come up to me and say "My child is lost they are wearing xyz can you help me find them" and then by the time the word Yes was out of my mouth they were running to the next CM. So we would find the kid and have no way to reach mom! If you loose your child it is always best for at least 1 party member to stay with the 1st CM you tell.

Point 3:
Phone numbers are great but a CM may not be able to call if they find your child. So even if your child has your phone number on them please know it could be 5-10 minutes after they are found before they are taken to a non-safety critical location or passed off to a manager to be taken to the baby care center, etc.

Point 4:
When I worked any child under 7 went to baby care and any child 7 and over went to Guest Relations. It was best to check there if you were close. If you aren't close CMs should be calling that location as soon as they put the lost child call out over the radio.

Point 5:
Make sure your kids know how to describe you if they are old enough to do so. It helps CMs match parents to children in a big crowd before we make a park wide call if your 5 year old can say what mommy or daddy look like. Perhaps a key feature that would be easy to spot like Mommy was wearing a bright pink bow or a green shirt with our name on it etc. Not everyone wears something like that but if you do point it out to your kids.


Final point:
If your child is non-verbal, teach them to hand a note over to a CM. I have not worked for Disney for 2 years now and I still remember the 10 year old non-verbal boy who walked up to me on the edge of tears and handed me a laminated piece of paper. It said My name is ____ and I am non-verbal to strangers. I am lost. Please call my mommy at ______ if I hand you this. Thank you. We called his mom (broke the rules and used our cell phone on stage because to me non-verbal lost child = emergency find mom now) and mom came right to us. Watching that boy run into his mom's arms and her being so proud that he did it right was something that I'll always remember.

 

[BubblyTrip]

We bought the safety bracelets from Mabel's Labels also. And we hold hands all the time.

We also have these bracelets. Love them. I just put Mom: and Dad: with our numbers, so that a tricky person couldn't look at it and know our names to potentially make our kid think they knew our family. I use these bracelets at fairs, etc as well. And DS knows to show it to an adult if lost (of course he knows my number now too, since he is older). I always tell him to look for a female employee or a mommy with kids as a first choice if he gets lost. We've roll played what to say many times, and we always review it before a big day.

We actually lost him within about 30 minutes of being at MK the first time we took him at barely four years old. Stopped for a snack at a kiosk, and just made a parent fail and each though he was with the other. It was a horrible five minutes on a very, very crowded day. Turns out he took his snack and sat down close by at a table, but we just could not see him. He never knew he was lost. I think I aged about ten years though.

 

[Mchurchill96]

have a picture of each child each day so you can look and see what they are wearing that day. at the small park I work at.
had a mother having us look for child in a red shirt. for 15 minutes he sat at security while mom had everyone looking for lost child in red shirt only problem he was wearing a green shirt. took dad to come back from his looking on his own with the picture and the only phone. do not rely on your memory of what they are wearing each day.

We did this very thing when we went our first time. Before we left our cabin, I took a pic of each child in that day's clothes. Great reminder--we're going back this summer!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

As was already mentioned, assign each child to a parent and frequently reiterate the plan to each other. "I have A. You have R." We always agreed that if we got separated in a crowd, at least we would know each of our boys was with one of us.

The other rule is to always hold hands. Unless we were contained in an area such as a line or sitting at a table, the kids had to hold an adult's hand. For us it was not negotiable and there were no exceptions. If the kids wanted to stop and look at something, they could always ask and we would all stop. Otherwise we ran the risk of one of them becoming distracted by something and wandering off by themselves. Our oldest has Asperger's and even though he's now 20-years old, it's still important to keep him very close to us in crowds. He will sometimes grab the back of my jacket so we don't get separated. If we're walking through a huge crowd, I'll reach back and have him hold my hand. When both kids were young but too big for strollers, we held hands while walking. There was nothing I needed to do or see badly enough to risk losing track of them.

 

[Bluegrrl]

My son's isr teacher (infant swim teacher) recommends that you assign a "watcher" to your kids and trade off if needed. And do it in a tangible form, like one parent gets a thing to hold (necklace or lanyard).
Taking picture of kid each day is great because often times a parent is so frantic that they forget everything. Most kids don't get to far from adults though.

Although leashes are a hot topic here, I found them to be a huge help with my boy. He's outgrown it now, but it was so helpful when he was little and wanted to walk. Plus, teaching them how to walk with you is very important. My boy is in the process of learning how to "walk like a gentleman", to stay right by us (or with hand on stroller), and when he has to stay in stroller (parking lots). It's a process.