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Original poster

Has your child ever “gone missing”

116 replies

Hipposat · 18/04/2025 22:17

Yesterday 4yo DS2 went missing for ten minutes (although it felt like hours) Me, him, DH and DS1 were at an outdoor fair. DS1 was on a ride with DH and I took DS2 to the bouncy castles. All was fine, then DS1 came over to say DH had sent him over to get his phone off me (it was in my bag) I must have had my eyes off DS2 for roughly 5 seconds, turned back round to watch him on the bouncy castle and he was no where to be seen.

All 3 of us were running around shouting his name, asking people if they had seen a little boy walking around on his own, told a member of staff about the situation and they were helping us look for him and they stopped letting anyone in or out. At this point I am trying my best to stay calm but also trying not to throw up from fear. God it was absolutely terrifying. It was such a large space with hundreds of people. So scary.

DS1 eventually spotted him at the top of a fun house running around having the time of his life. I’ve never felt relief like it. I actually cried when I got hold of him. He is autistic so doesn’t understand the danger of just running off from us and wouldn’t have been able to tell anybody he was lost etc so this made it all seem even worse. We recently got rid of his reins as he was doing really well without them but I am going to order some again I think😅

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? I barely slept last night with guilt

OP posts:

shellyleppard · 18/04/2025 22:25

Yep i lost my three year old at a very busy motorway service station. Took his brother to the loo and left him with his dad. When we came back he had vanished!! I was frantically searching for him, he had gone for a sit down!!! I cried with relief!! Mad as hell at his dad for not realising he had gone missing though!!! I used to write my phone number on their baseball caps or on their arm at busy places.

Bitchesbelike · 18/04/2025 22:26

Oh that must have been so bloody horrible for you! I “lost” DS once in soft play for about 1 minute and that feeling in my stomach was awful.

Wasvular · 18/04/2025 22:28

Yes at a busy beach when child was about 4. It was terrifying

Rockfordpeach · 18/04/2025 22:28

Yes i lost my 7 year old for 15 minutes on a walk, she wanted to go up a shortcut which i couldnt go up due to having ds in a buggy. Told her to wait at the top but she didnt wait and got lost. It was terrifying, i threw up when we got back home after finding her

Original poster

Hipposat · 18/04/2025 22:30

@shellyleppard That’s a really good idea about writing your number down!

OP posts:

PandaG · 18/04/2025 22:30

Oh yes. Lost DS in Chatsworth farm park aged approx 3. Was only for 5 mins or so but seemed like hours. Also lost him in John Lewis at a similar age - 4 adults, 1 toddler and baby in pram. DH and I split up, each with another adult. Each of us thought the other had DS, utter panic when we met up and neither of us had him.

Even worse, left DD in a bowling alley...towards 20 family, adults and kids went bowling together, then left to go to restaurant. We had all left in a group, but DD didn't walk with us. Again, because there were so many adults, and we were meeting up with extended family for the first time in a couple of years so lots of chat, each parent thought that she was with a cousin. Was less than 5 minutes before we ran back and found her, but it was excruciating.

FleaBeeBob · 18/04/2025 22:32

Out shopping with my mum I went into another shop and she had DS in his buggy he was 3 yo and. managed to get out his buggy. Mum came into shop and asked if he was with me. Those minutes he was missing was terrible. I asked so many people if they’d seen him, I was screaming his name. Must have been only 2 minutes and then a security guard came walking along with him. Bloody awful 26 years on. Since then my DCs have always called my name instead of Mum when we were out. Luckily I have a Welsh name but live South England and there aren’t many of my name around

shellyleppard · 18/04/2025 22:33

@PandaG god that must have been terrifying for you

Original poster

Hipposat · 18/04/2025 22:33

Such a horrible feeling isn’t it. I had all sorts going through my mind. Him being taken by someone or running out into the road. The fair was behind a beach so I had visions of him going into the sea😩 I won’t ever be taking my eyes off him again even for a second

OP posts:

TheNightingalesStarling · 18/04/2025 22:34

When DD1 was 2, she managed to "follow" DH out of the house and I didn't realise (thought she was with her grandmother). We realised 10mins later. She was found on the golf course.

DD2... list her aged 10 in the shopping centre (she went to the toilet and didn't return)They wee brilliant, found 20mins later.

planthelpadvice · 18/04/2025 22:35

Yes we lost DS2 at a massive sea life centre place in Spain when he was about 3. One of those "I thought you were watching him" situations. Absolutely awful 5 to 10 minutes. Eventually found him happy as Larry wandering around looking at fish, not a care in the world!!

Also lost DS 1 in a holiday park aged about 8 - he did get a ride back to our lodge on a golf cart though so was quite chuffed!

This makes us sound very careless 😬😬

LoserWinner · 18/04/2025 22:35

We managed to lose our four-year old son in a town we were visiting - husband, my parents, my brothers, an aunt and uncle plus son and his baby sibling. We women went off to look for some dress fabric while the chaps went to a DIY place. When we met back up half an hour later, each group thought four-year-old was with the others. Big panic. We retraced our steps, and eventually found him in M&S where we had parted, surrounded by passers by, with two shop assistants trying to get information from him. He just kept repeating ‘my name is Edward James Smith and I live at Ivy Cottage’ over and over again. Apparently he’d been doing that for the whole half hour. After that, I taught him our full address and phone number.
(name and address changed, of course)

FrillySocksAndDocs · 18/04/2025 22:37

Yes lost my daughter in Butlins when she was two. We were in the gift shop and she was just gone. People were asking me what she was wearing and I couldn't even remember I was so panicked. She actually had on a dress with strawberries all over it and red ribbon pigtails. She was gone for ten minutes. She had spotted those big round lollypops and took one and went out the other entrance. Worst feeling ever.

Willyoushutthefrontdoor · 18/04/2025 22:37

Many years ago. Large supermarket. Myself, mam, niece and son age about 3. Atypical scenario...located under a round clothes rail waiting to jump out on us. Could have killed him after the 10 minutes of frantically searching!

Dueanamechange2025 · 18/04/2025 22:37

Yes on a busy Devon beach. She was about 8, all four of us set off towards the water but the dogs lead got all tangled, I stopped to untangle it. DH & DS sort of stopped to see what I was doing and then when they looked up again DD was no where to be seen. We looked for a few mins, me near the water edge and DH back up where our belongings were. After a few mins of nothing, we alerted the life guards.
After about 20 mins of frantic searching a life guard further down the beach radioed to say she had been found.
She must have gone diagonal towards the water and there was a flag near where we were sat, when she’s looked for the flag somehow she’s seen the next one along and gone towards that one.
Worst 20 mins of my life, and she was so upset by the time we were reunited.

YesThatsATurdOnTheRug · 18/04/2025 22:40

Twice 😬 once in a shop when she deliberately hid from me but I could not find her and started to panic that she'd got out the door, security found her in the end, and once at an airport. That was the worst one, busy airport, just turning round and round and screaming her name while hundreds of people flooded past in either direction. She was only three, she'd gone back to look at something DH hadn't let her go over to, I thought she was with him and he with me. A lovely lady found her and was walking her back the way she'd come with her chatting away happily, I thought I was going to faint.

neilyoungismyhero · 18/04/2025 22:40

Wasvular · 18/04/2025 22:28

Yes at a busy beach when child was about 4. It was terrifying

Same here

shellyleppard · 18/04/2025 22:40

My youngest one went missing on holiday in York. We were in the museum gardens, he was playing with his older brother. Went to ask him if he wanted an ice cream and.....he had gone missing!!! Frantic search, ended up with the police involved. He walked a mile along the river back to our accommodation. They found him in the playroom. The thing was he was angry at me for leaving him!!! The police officer couldn't understand why he wasn't upset, then he explained that we had left him so he decided to walk back to the accommodation!! And people wonder why I have grey hair 😂 he's now 17 , doesn't get lost very much

PandaG · 18/04/2025 22:42

shellyleppard · 18/04/2025 22:33

@PandaG god that must have been terrifying for you

Yes it was. But the DC are both in their 20s now, well rounded adults who were not scarred from the experience!

socks1107 · 18/04/2025 22:44

Yes mine went missing at centre parks they rode off too quickly and we got separated.
we spent a lot of weekends in London and I taught them to go to the nearest Costa/starbucks they could see should they lose me and tell the staff.
so I knew exactly where they would be - in the onsite Starbucks enjoying hot chocolate’s and they told staff as I arrived ‘I knew my mummy would find us here because she knows’

ghostyslovesheets · 18/04/2025 22:45

DD1 caused IKEA to be locked down for 15 mins when she was 8 and huffed off in a mood - couldn’t find her so asked a staff member for help in that led to a missing child lockdown!

Same child regularly ran off in ASDA as a teeny because she liked hearing her name on the tannoy 🙄

babybythesea · 18/04/2025 22:46

Yes.
My daughter aged about 18 months managed to open the garden gate. She was out there playing while I was in the kitchen tidying up. I loaded the dishwasher then thought it was quiet so glanced out of the window. She’d gone. I went out on to the road - no sign. Fortunately the street was a dead end so no traffic. But at the closed off end was a little path that ran alongside a pond - we walked the dog that way so she knew it. The other way, back up the street, was the playground - we also walked there.
I took a punt on the fact that she couldn’t have got to the end of the street in the time she’d been missing so I’d see her if she’d gone that way. So I legged it along the little path by the pond. However in the back of my head I was thinking “if she’s fallen in, I’m going too fast and I won’t see her.” Ran round a corner and there she was. Holding a doll and accompanied by the dog! I have never ever been so viscerally terrified. The path seemed to stretch for miles but running along it while also trying to peer into the water in case she was there …

StarDolphins · 18/04/2025 22:50

I lost my 6 year old at a rainbows lantern parade/Christmas light switch on! I saw all the rainbows run after the reindeer but when I chased them, my DD wasn’t there! (She’d stayed next to my friend while I ran) police got the band to call her name out to come to stage and all was ok but it was extremely busy (like packed sardines) so absolutely shit myself! We laugh about it now though!

babybythesea · 18/04/2025 22:50

Writing phone numbers on them works well.
Also taking a photo of them (if you are out for the day somewhere you might lose them) so you have a very recent picture instantly to hand which includes what they’re wearing to show people.

Throwitawayagain · 18/04/2025 22:52

Yes. We were on holiday somewhere we go a lot and I went out. DD was 4 and snuck out after me. DH noticed after at most a couple of mins. However she was missing for more than an hour, police involved etc. Someone found her walking more than a mile away. It was years ago but my heart still races when I think of it. I will never fully recover!

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