I lost Dd3 (2) for 15 minutes today

[Privilegeismine]

And I feel like crap.

I had taken dd3 to see the Gruffalo exhibition at the museum a few months ago and it was fab. Dd1 (10), dd2 (7) and ds(5) had been asking to go in half term, so I reluctantly agreed. It involves driving to the train station, 30 min train journey, 10 min walk to the museum.

So, we all go this morning. Kids are fantastically behaved. Journey goes smoothly and they have a great time at the exhibition. We went to have a drink and cake at the cafe, then went into the gift shop. Dd1 and dd2 chose what they wanted straight away. Dd3 was moaning for a drink (just had one at the cafe) and ds was taking forever looking at WW2 stuff. So I put dd3 down and she ran across the shop to dd1. I rushed ds through choosing some stuff and go off to find the others.

That is when I noticed that dd1 didn't have dd3. We checked the shop and she was nowhere to be found. Dd1 ran off into the museum looking for her, setting all the shop alarms off in the process. I told the lady behind the desk "I've lost the baby" and she rang security. I ran the other way and she wasn't there. Came back to the shop and started giving the security guard a description, when dd2 shouts "There she is". She was walking through the museum with a carton of orange juice that she'd been and stolen from the cafe

They were the longest 15 minutes of my life. I've lost dd2 before in a shopping centre but I don't remember it feeling like this. I've already invested in a backpack with reins for future outings but I just feel terrible I allowed this to happen
Oh and I went back and paid for the stolen orange juice!!

[RobinSparkles]

You poor thing!

We lost DD2 in Tesco once. She was about 20 months and was standing between me and DH while we were paying at the till. I looked down and she was gone.

It was awful. We got members of staff to help look for her.

I finally spotted her in a staff members arms at customer services. Apparently she had been found by a member of staff just outside the doors.

I felt awful. It had taken literally a split second but she could have been taken or hit by a car :(.
She was always on the reins from that moment or stayed in the trolley!

[RobinSparkles]

I was that traumatised I had to post it twice!

[jojane]

We have had several moments like this where you heart just stops and 1 minute feels like hours!
Ds2 went missing at legoland, we had walked into the duplo play area and he was playing right next to us. He was 1 year 10 months, literally said one thing to dh and looked down and he was gone, cue frantic searching and about 10 minutes later a lady came round the corner having found him.
He also went missing in a shop recently, found him riding up and down the escalators!

[Mama1980]

Oh op that must have been awful! It's that awful gut clenching fear that's like nothing else. It happened to me at Windsor castle of all places, one minute ds1 was next to me I looked away for a second to talk to dd and he' gone, for a utterly terrifying minute until I saw him, (a member if staff had stopped him in the next room) I turned into a screaming frantic mad woman grabbed him to me and promptly burst into tears scaring the life out of him.
Don't beat yourself up I'm fairly sure it's happened to all of us.

[ghostonthecanvas]

I lost my son for 10 minutes over 20 years ago and it is still so fresh in my mind. We were at a theme park. 3 adults, 1 child. He was 6. Each of us thought the other had him. I thought my heart was going to hammer out my chest. Horrible. Then he wandered up with a groundsman. I have often thanked god for that man, for he could have been anyone.

[topknob]

Oh and we lost a couple of kids at Butlins over the years, clearly we are fabulous parents....but big thanks to the members of the public who looked after them until we found them. should not have any more kids ever

[Iwaswatchingthat]

You poor thing.

I lost dd2 when she was a similar age in a large park with a river around it. I was running around looking for her and saw her little scooter abandoned outside the men's toilets.

Luckily she had just ditched it there and ran back to the park.

I still feel like crying when I think about it now though and it was over four

Don't beat yourself up with the 'what ifs' - it's pointless.

She is safe. Hope you manage to have some time to relax this evening.

[Iwaswatchingthat]

over four years ago!

[girliefriend]

I lost dd in Sainsburys when she was about 3yo, she ran on in front in of me and i saw her veer off into an aisle and when I caught up to the aisle she had bloody vanished.

It was awful, panic set in as I ran up and down trying to find her. Found a lady who worked there to help me and when she asked me what dd was wearing I was in such a panic I couldn't even remember!!

Eventually after the longest 10mins of my life a lady walked towards me holding her hand, she had found her wondering around crying

In a way it frightened dd as much as it did me and she didn't do that again.

Have been there and have the grey hairs to show for it op

[Icepilot]

Ooh yes. I'm sure I read a tip about taking a photo of dc in the morning of any outing so you have info on what they're wearing.

However most of us just lose them during normal day to day activities!

[mummyxtwo]

Tbh I lost count of how many children you have reading your post - four, is it? Well, you only have two hands unless you are amazing bionic woman - where can I get an extra arm as I really need one so if my calculations are correct you have a hand / arm: child ratio discrepancy. So not your fault at all that one temporarily got out of your sight. Reins sound like a good idea.

[Privilegeismine]

Thank you for all these replies! I've invested in wristbands and reins to avoid any future misadventures, but will also avoid taking all 4 out if I can!!
Feel much better about it today, these things happen to us all!!

[Icepilot]

Ah well done. You sound like a great mum :)

[AngelsLieToKeepControl]

what a fright for you, I'm glad you are all OK.

I swore by this and this when mine were younger. Brilliant devices, and really loud too.

[Weightlessbaby]

I used to work as a deck chair girl on a v busy beach. It was fairly common for kids to go temporarily missing and everyone always put in every effort to find them and unite them with frantic parents. Like Pp said though, every now and then we'd find a lost child, mobilise search parties and unite them with parents only for parents to say 'oh, didn't realise x was missing,

Hope you're feeling ok though op, that's set butterflies churning given my 20 mo has started beetling off in shops etc recently.

[lola88]

I lost my friends little boy in a city centre shopping centre once and could remember thinking typical why couldn't it have been one of mine that went missing! He had run over the thorntons and was ransacking the place.

[FlyingBlind]

As a little girl I regularly got left behind, usually because my sister was kicking up a fuss and no-one had noticed I hadn't kept up. London zoo is the time I remember most clearly.

[Icepilot]

I remember getting lost then running up to my dad in a sheepskin coat to grab his hand.

I grabbed the hand of a sheepskin coat wearing smoker with a lit cigarette instead.

Then saw my dad....

It's actually quite a fond memory!