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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Why arent we all tagging our kids?

227 replies

COL1N · 18/02/2022 19:10

Just reading up on buying an airtag as always losing stuff & started thought process of getting one to sew into DDs coat. She is only 2 so not a privacy/ stalking type issue I dont think- just if the worst happened and she was snatched or lost I could find her easily. Why doesn't everyone just do this as standard?!

OP posts:
TyrannosaurusRegina · 18/02/2022 20:21

Has no one here lost sight of the little one in a supermarket or somewhere similar? Where nothing bad has happened to the child, they've just wandered off. Surely the tag would be useful in such a situation, you'd see they are still in the vicinity, just elsewhere in the shop.

karmakameleon · 18/02/2022 20:22

[quote 100problems]@karmakameleon you could more usefully stand at the bottom of the slide watching the child than watching your phone.[/quote]
I have three children do not really practical. I assume all these parents who say “just watch them” only have one toddler tather than multiple kids that want to run in different directions. I can’t believe I’m the only parent here who has had that horrible feeling in the playground when you think you know where they all are and then can’t find one a split second later. For most people it’s going to be ok but it’s scary when it happens.

labyrinthlaziness · 18/02/2022 20:22

@COL1N

I dont know! She is never out of my sight but these things happen.
Do they though? Do you know a single person this has happened to, or has it happened to anyone in your town in the last five years?

Your child is more likely to die falling downstairs, getting hit by a car or choking on a cherry tomato.

CaliFrown · 18/02/2022 20:22

@grapewine That, too!

SomePosters · 18/02/2022 20:23

Lots of people do op. In the shoes is best as they are unlikely to be take off or ditched easily.

And over the generations it will become the norm

RedCandyApple · 18/02/2022 20:24

@TyrannosaurusRegina

Has no one here lost sight of the little one in a supermarket or somewhere similar? Where nothing bad has happened to the child, they've just wandered off. Surely the tag would be useful in such a situation, you'd see they are still in the vicinity, just elsewhere in the shop.
If they are young enough to not know that they shouldn’t just be walking off then they need reins, a pushchair or to sit in a trolley so no that hasn’t happened to me.
underneaththeash · 18/02/2022 20:25

@AchillesPoirot

So what if you have an ex who wants to know where his child is all the time? Is it ok for him to put a tracker in her clothes? Because after all, if you want to know where she is, so does he

I wouldn’t do this.

Also

It would be hard to stop. And when they’re older you’ll be over stepping

But you could have lots of fun with that, cut it out and post to Australia? AS long as you're only tagging small children who would normally be with you it's a good idea.
BobbinHood · 18/02/2022 20:26

The chances of your child being kidnapped or snatched are so minuscule it’s not even worth giving this much thought.

I’ve successfully never accidentally lost my 4 year old. The time they’d actually need to be tagged is probably the teenage years by which time it wouldn’t be acceptable for privacy reasons (IMO).

karmakameleon · 18/02/2022 20:29

Do they though? Do you know a single person this has happened to, or has it happened to anyone in your town in the last five years?

I do thinks that people who don’t believe children get accidentally lost are being naïve. When I worked I a supermarket (albeit a long time ago) there were always lost children finding a member of staff and announcements to locate their parents.

Theyellowflamingo · 18/02/2022 20:30

OP, I think half the issue is how you’ve worded your post - as if to suggest absolutely everyone should tag their child. If you have a runner, or anxiety or are going to a fireworks display or just think it’s a good idea then by all means go for it. No one’s going to stop you.

It’s the notion that somehow there’s not a fairly obvious set of reasons why “we aren’t all tagging our kids” that grates.

COL1N · 18/02/2022 20:30

My husband, who is a postman, once found a young child walking down the road on their own & had to call the police.

OP posts:
Needmoresleep · 18/02/2022 20:30

He he. I tagged my mum. She had dementia and was prone to wander. The same sort of GPS things you can get for dogs, but instead of putting it on a collar, I put it on her walker.

Toddlers… not so sure

QuillBill · 18/02/2022 20:30

Always? There was always a lost child?

AchillesPoirot · 18/02/2022 20:32

My kids are adults. When does it stop?

Should I tag dd when she’s going out for the night in case anything happens?

What about when they’re 16 and going out with their mates?

When their 21?
When does it stop?

COL1N · 18/02/2022 20:33

@Theyellowflamingo I certainly didn't mean to grate so apologies for that. It just hadn't occurred to me before & then once I had the idea just couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before!

OP posts:
BABAHOTEL · 18/02/2022 20:33

@COL1N

So what if instead of coat it was in her joggers pocket, surely a kidnapper wouldn't immediately take all her clothes off. Also, what is she was just lost or had wandered off? She wouldn't take her own coat off.
That's a lot of air tags you'd need!
Looubylou · 18/02/2022 20:33

If this was common practice, abductors would know to ditch clothes ASAP.

BABAHOTEL · 18/02/2022 20:34

@COL1N

My husband, who is a postman, once found a young child walking down the road on their own & had to call the police.
And?? The child wasn't abducted? Had been found and was all on? Without a tag? I presume someone ax anxious as you would not leg a VIPS wander out of the house unsupervised?
oakleaffy · 18/02/2022 20:35

''How would a Two year old wander off''?

Does anyone remember poor baby Jamie Buller and other youngsters snatched away in a blink of an eye?
It can happen.

oakleaffy · 18/02/2022 20:36

Bulger, wretched autocorrect.

RoseRedRoseBlue · 18/02/2022 20:36

@COL1N

My husband, who is a postman, once found a young child walking down the road on their own & had to call the police.
Precisely. ONCE.
oakleaffy · 18/02/2022 20:37

@COL1N

My husband, who is a postman, once found a young child walking down the road on their own & had to call the police.
Good for him.
ABCeasyasdohrayme · 18/02/2022 20:37

When my dd was little she could dissappear in a second. I had a teddy shaped device attached to her shoe that alerted a keyring I was carrying if she got more than a certain distance away from me and it made a loud beeping noise on her shoe so I knew what direction she was in. She's the only one I needed it for and it was a godsend. I don't think tracking would be especially helpful though tbh.

BABAHOTEL · 18/02/2022 20:38

@oakleaffy

''How would a Two year old wander off''?

Does anyone remember poor baby Jamie Buller and other youngsters snatched away in a blink of an eye?
It can happen.

And what good would a tag have been then?
HeyGirlHeyBoy · 18/02/2022 20:39

Dawdling in the park means a tracking and a call? Hmm It's a little depressing. (That wrt a pp's friend).