When your child goes missing

[Butteryflakycrust83]

As we are entering the summer and I just read about another tragic drowning of a child in a pool in Spain, I implore you to ALWAYS check the dangerous places when your child goes missing first, both at home and abroad.
It is better to spend two minutes checking the pool, the street, inside the dryer - anywhere that could be dangerous, before checking the normal obvious go to places.
When time is so crucial, its better to spend those most important minutes checking the unlikely but dangerous places before checking the obvious and normal hiding spots.

When you're child goes missing I'd imagine most people would be scurrying around in a panic trying to find them in probably quite a haphazard fashion, rather than logically trying to figure out which are the high risk areas.

I think it’s easy to try to apply logic when your thinking about it away from the time but in those initial moments at least with panic setting in then it’s a lot harder to be logical.

When Ds was little I did always buy brightly coloured coats/swimwear to make him more noticeable if he did get away somewhere crowded/dangerous. Looking for a child in an orange coat is easier than a navy one!

Where I live we have a lot of drownings as so much of our leisure time revolves around water.

Something I have learned about children drowning is it most often happens during gatherings, for example at family BBQs. Everyone assumes someone else is watching the children and a little one slipping into the pool can easily go unnoticed. Drowning is not the loud dramatic event portrayed on TV, it os quiet and easily missed.

The advice is to appoint one person to be responsible for the small child’s safety.

Another handy hit when going to places like the beach or theme parks is take a photo of the child that morning so you know what they are wearing and have a clear picture to show people.

This is a great tip, along with brightly coloured clothing (particularly swimsuits).

The OP was well-meaning but I don't think it's very helpful and almost borders on victim-blaming in my opinion.

Remember reading somewhere to write your name/phone number on their hand or arm or somewhere with a waterproof pen, or a wristband even

Apologies if my post came across like that - I absolutely know the fear and panic that sets in and understand that logic goes out of the window - but its good advice none the less. I know even at home when my toddler has gone from my sight, I go and check the obvious places first rather than the dangerous and thats what I am trying to drill into my subconscious.

I read somewhere that when looking for a lost child, to search 'loudly' ie, to call out a description of child and what they were wearing, eg, 'has anyone seen my little girl, 4 years old, brown hair, green coat, red shoes' etc. People then become aware that there is a child about and join in the search too.

I think in certain, shall we say, less dangerous situations it could work. In others it would likely be difficult to stay focused. Also depends a lot on the person and how they respond to fear.