Mom lists smart tips to share with your kids if they get lost

“Good parents lose kids. Good kids get lost,” said Susie Allison, M. Ed, founder of Busy Toddler, in her latest Instagram post. Allison shared tips about what to do if your child gets lost, as well as what you should tell your kids to do before this situation occurs so they’re prepared. In the caption, she shared a “terrifying” situation that happened to her family when her 5-year-old got lost at Disneyland. 

“It was terrifying, but a situation we had prepared a game plan for—and thank goodness we did,” she explained in the caption.

“When my family got off a ride, our wires got crossed—three kids, packed crowds, trying to find the stroller, and navigating the Disney App on my phone, meant that we zigged and he zagged. He was 5. This happens,” Allison said.

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A post shared by Susie Allison, M. Ed | Busy Toddler (@busytoddler)

Thankfully, “He knew what to do. I knew what to do, and we found him safely in just minutes.” 

But those minutes can definitely feel like an eternity for everyone involved, so Allison wanted to help as many families as she could with these tips.

3 things to teach your child to do when they get lost

Here’s what Allison recommends.

1. Stop moving

The first thing you should tell your kid to do in a situation where they get separated from their parents is to not move, Allison says. That’s because a moving kid is much harder to find. 

2. Find a family

Next, Allison said to tell your child to look around from where they’re standing to find a family with kids to ask for help. She adds that identifying an event worker or staff member is great too, but a family with children is much easier for your child to notice. 

3. Get loud

Tell your child to loudly tell the family or staff member they find that they’re lost so that everyone around them knows that they’re looking for help.

Allison shared that when she first realized her son was missing, she felt momentarily calm because she knew that he knew the game plan. And thankfully, she remembered her part in the game plan, too.

As for the parents’ role? Parents need to get loud, too. Allison recommends going up to people and loudly explaining that you’re missing your child and to describe what they’re wearing. And in her situation, she shouted his description to every cast member at Disneyland that she saw. 

“A few moments later, a really young couple grabbed my arm and said we know where your son is, and they shoved me through a crowd to where he was sitting with a cast member,” Allison said. “Those people who found me would never have connected the dots that I was the parent of the missing child they had seen if I had been quietly looking,” she added. 

“I know this is terrifying to think about, but it’s a lot less terrifying when you know your family has a game plan,” Allison concluded.