Let a two and a half year old wander off in a shopping centre ??

[goforawander]

I saw my aunt and uncle the other day who said if there was one thing they learnt from having children, is to let them roam freer. They said I needed to let my two and a half year old walk off alone at the shopping centre...

Apparently she would find her way back to us. We were sitting in a coffee shop and she kept wanting to walk off. They said I should let her and she'd definitely come back.

I know they wouldn't have meant it in a horrible way at all, but I literally cannot take my eyes off her in public and the thought of letting her out of my sight terrifies me.

Aibu to think this is absolutely insane to let a two and a half year old walk around alone ?

*my own young son!!

As well as the obvious (to anyone with a single brain cell) safety aspects, they seem to have forgotten how incredibly distressed tiny children can become, very quickly, when in any way lost/separated from their adults. Totally unfair to think of doing that to them.

As soon as I saw the thread title I thought of poor Jamie Bulger.
yanbu. They are crackers. Though I might allow a bit of running around in an appropriately spacious shop with them in sight at all times, if they clearly needed to let off steam