If you have a child who runs/wanders off, what can you do to help the person who finds them?

[coppertop]

Do you make sure they have some kind of ID or your phone number on them? If so, what do you use?

I've been thinking about this recently after already managing to lose ds1 (8yrs & ASD) and ds2 (5yrs & ASD) during the summer holidays.

Ds1 has a tendency to either just wander off to look at something and not bother too much about being separated from us, or walks so slowly behind us that he gets lost.

Ds2 races off ahead at full speed when he's in full hyper mode and then suddenly realises that he can't see us.

Ds1 got lost in a busy touristy place and was spotted by a member of staff when he was trying to go through the exit by himself and out on to the street. Dh was already looking for him and spotted him on the way to the main area.

Ds2 ran off at another tourist place. This time we were lucky because the staff member who found him apparently recognised him from about an hour earlier (he stands out in a crowd ) and saw that he was no longer with us.

I've thought about attaching a mobile phone number to them but I'm not sure what's the best thing to do. Ds2 won't wear things like ID bracelets because he doesn't like them touching his skin. If we wrote the number on his arm he would rub at it until it came off.

Ds1 can tell someone his name and his address, but that's not as useful when there's no-one at home. Ds2 can give his first name but that's about it.

What does everyone else do?

[silverfrog]

Hmm, this is something I'm pondering for when dd1 (just 4) gets a little older/more independent.

would either of them allow an ID tag to be attached to them elsewhere? eg a tag with a keyring attached to a belt loop or buttonhole? that's the best I can think of for dd1 atm, and use a similar arrangement for her name tags for clothes at preschool. I've put a keyring onto her zip tag on her coat, and that has the added bonus of giving her a larger tag to try to zip up with as well.

[Twiglett]

at festivals they have these wrist bands and you write the carer's name (not the child's) and your mobile phone number on them

or you can have something like a medic alert bracelet I'm sure

depends what they'll wear

[bubblagirl]

i found this

[bubblagirl]

www.mypreciouskid.com/ID-tags.html

[silverfrog]

That's exactly the type of keyring I've used on dd1's coat, bubblagirl (except i used a cheapie 20p job from the local keycutters! )

[bubblagirl]

i ordered my ds a engraved dog tag with my name and mobile that he is speech delayed and has autism just follwed from nas website

[bubblagirl]

my ds does the same will not answer although limited speech anyway so i ordered him a truck design dog tag in blue with details engraved was 22 pounds but small price to pay for his safety that was inc shipping

right off to watch last choir standing final

[bubblagirl]

got it wrong it was 22 us dollars 11.76 our money so bargain

[bubblagirl]

baahh its not the finals lol

[MannyMoeAndJack]

Failing all the sensible suggestions above, how about......









a tattoo on each ds's forearm with their name and your mobile phone number on??

[MannyMoeAndJack]

[supportman]

One of the special schools I know put a little card in the childrens bag or on their person with information on who to contact and what to do if the child is found alone.

[UniS]

Can you sneak a sticker onto the back of his shirt?
"If found Call xxxxxxx" or similar?

[hardworker]

How about the name/tel no. written in permanent ink on the inside label of clothes?

[r3dh3d]

DD1 used to have one of those conference badge things attached to her. Rymans do a kit thing with 3 of the plastic holders that sort of self-laminate and 3 matching clips. On the front it said STOP! Don't feed me, read me! and overleaf it had her condition, why she could only eat food from home, contact nos, all that stuff. It was just clipped to whatever was convenient - bag, buggy, car seat, clothes (worked well on back loop of jeans where she didn't notice it) but point was the message on the front of the card drew attention to the small print on the back. So if you can "tag" him in some way that tag can lead the finder to some other location with more info, eg in a bag or a laminated card in back trouser pocket or wherever. Something that won't bother him. The tag could say: "DS2. Card in my pocket" You could squeeze that onto 2 sides of a dog tag, no? You can get very brightly coloured dog tags these days - flashing ones, even.

[magso]

Ooh ds is into tattoos at present perhaps I could sneak his contact details in too! Ds has a keyring label on his bag, and my mobile number written into his shoes and clothes where others have a name tag.

[Pixel]

Ds used to have a t-shirt with "if you find me please call" and my mobile number printed on it but he's outgrown that now. When his school takes him to places like theme parks they just put a sticker on his back so that he can't pull it off so that's what we're going to do now. Mind you, I say that but we've just got back from out holiday where we went to lots of busy places and each time left the stickers in the tent! We managed not to lose him though .

[coppertop]

Lots of really good ideas here. I think I might try a combination of them to start with to see which ones work best for each boy.

The sticker on the back is a good one but I have an awful feeling that it would go something like this:

Ds2: You've got a sticker on your shirt. Look!

Ds1: Ooh! You've got one too. Look!

By a weird coincidence we actually have a box of those name badge things that they use for conferences. Dh found them in the charity shop because he said they might come in handy one day... I laughed at him.

The tag on the back of the jeans sounds good, especially if it's too difficult for them to undo each other's. Ds1 might even be able to tell someone who found him that the number was there.

The tattoo sounds tempting. Dh suggested using a permanent marker pen so that ds2 couldn't rub it off.

The number on the clothes label could be a useful backup but I'm wondering whether someone who found them would think to look there. It's definitely worth a try though.

Did I mention that I also managed to lose ds2 on holiday last year too when I was meeting up with MrsF from the SN board? The first we knew about it was when there was a tannoy announcement asking for 2 people with the same first names as me and ds1 - and I said to MrsF "Oh isn't that a strange coincidence? There's a couple here somewhere who have the same names as me and ds1?"

Thanks for all the ideas and links.

[rosie69]

I got a pack of temporary tatoos from icegems.co.uk, they come with five in a pack with wipes to apply them and wipes to remove them as will as a permenant pen to write contact details, they last about four days, I got the autism ones but they do different ones, they also do medic alert jewellery made with trendy beads and crystals or nice fabric ones for kids,they will do whatever engraving you want on the back of the tags.