Tips needed on keeping track of your kids in crowds

[RachelMumsnet]

Winter Wonderland have asked us to find out how we can make visiting crowded places with kids easier. We're putting together some tips for them and it would be great to have your input. All mumsnetters who send in a tip will be entered into a prize draw to win 4 VIP tickets to visit Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London, this winter, which will give you free access to all the rides and outdoor ice skating. Send in your tips before lunchtime on Monday 25th October and we'll announce the winner later that day. Thanks in advance for your help.

Write your mobile number in permanent marker on their arm. Then use your mobile to take a picture of them so that you could show someone exactly what they look like that day

At an organised event, physically show them what the stewards look like so that they know who to go to

Dress them in something unusual - ds has a pair of yellow and black stripy leggings that are instantly identifiable as him from a distance

wrist straps for younger children, wrist bands that you could write a mobile number on should the kids get lost/wonder off.

Mine have very bright red wool coats and hats so I can pick them out of a crowd at a distance, also mobile number written on a wristbands, I tell them if try get lost where to meet me or who to tell (policeman/steward etc)

I second the taking photo that day - I do that (but don't tell them why!)

I dress mine in matching clothes sometimes for visits to places where it is ok to wander about within sight (quiet theme parks and swimming pools mainly) so if one wanders a bit, people can see that they match the one I'm still with.

I dress my kids in the same outfits - bright clothing that is easily identified, but also the same as each other, so if they are out with their Grandma/Dad they dont have to try and think what the lost child is wearing.

I also make sure we have the most recent picture we can on our mobiles, and in very busy places pop 50p and our mobile number in their pocket(the 50p is so they know they can go into a shop and ask for help, for some reason without money burning a hole in their pocket they forget to go into the shop!!)

When we take the girls out in the dark I have astash of glowbands and they get one attached to their backpack/arm/leg. They are also told that if they ever lose us they are to sit down and yell at the top of their lungs and wait for us to come and find them. We also dress them very distinctively (or rather DD1 is 2 and dresses 'alternatively') so easily identifiable. Also the wristbands you can write your number on so you can be phoned. A designated, bright, easily identifiable lost children meeting point for parents and children to head to with staff who can calm lost children and give them something to do until their parents arrive.

agree with matching clothes and moble numbers written on arms/wristbands very lucky ds1 has learnt home telephone number and I'm sure a policeman/woman will be able to get me through this

Wot CMOT said bar the leggings. Being able to identify stewards, and to know that the stewards have a clear understanding on their lost family process. Hard to have faith if a system in the first steward you approach doesn't have a clue.

Clear exits to rides, so that if you let your (older) children go on a ride without you, you can be sure as to where they will exit.

The panic of losing a child is lessened significantly if exits are controlled and monitored.

I think that Chessington now gives out wristbands for writing down mobiles. That said, these give a false hope if mobile reception is limited, so if that is the case you may in fact wish to highlight it on the map/literature at the start.

Off on a tangent: what not to do.
The others are mentioning phone numbers on wristbands etc. You do not put their name anywhere (to avoid giving clues to prospective paedo, so they cannot be faux-matey with the DC)

Definately coaching on who to approach if they get lost i.e. policeman/woman or mummy with children

Add a bribe for not getting lost, just as an extra incentive - mine will do anything for hot chocolate with marshmallows

Agree with the wristband thing - but make it more organised i.e. a registration point for kids where you give your details and they get a wristband. Will give them a friendly familiar place to head for if they get lost, or a convenient place for people to take lost kids. Stock it with balloons and colouring stuff to make it more attractive to escapees!!

Great idea from CMOT to have a picture of them on your phone

As a last resort tie the little buggers darlings to you

I'd forgotten that the Game Fair did exactly what Lion said - there was a booth just inside each entrance where they were wristbanding children and giving their adult a receipt with the matching number to the band on so that if you needed to claim your child you needed to produce it. you also got a goody bag with drink/snack/colouring

Lost childrens was at the onsite creche which was v attractive and very clear to find

Another one for bright clothing here. Orange is the best.

When DS1 (a runner)got too big to allow me to dress him in mad clothes, I made him wear an orange hat.

Do not dress your dd in a pink fleece.
I was looking for a friend's dd in a crowd of children in a petting zoo and every single girl was wearing a pink fleece. You can't identify the right one quickly enough.

Always let children older than 5 in on the plan: 'we're going to the reindeers in that direction next' or 'we're heading over there for an ice cream' at every stage, so that they know which direction to look in if they can't see you, and know what to tell someone about where you might be if they are lost.

As a childminder I always have my younger children wearing hi-vis jackets which have my business name, phone number & website address on the labels, this is whenever we are out walking any distance, playing in the park or on outings; including the school run

DS got this for his 2nd birthday. It is fun and cute. It also has a long tail onto which we can keep a tight hold. When we went to the zoo in the summer, I often let DS lead me, so he had the sense of being free to look where he wanted to look, but he was always safely within my arms' reach.

It also means that if a large vehcle came into the pedestrianised area I could get hold of him very, very quickly.

When we go out with it, we always have people asking me where they can get one.

PS I do not work for this company

and the winner is ... CMOTdibbler . Congratulations, check your inbox [hgrin]