Teach Your Kids What To Do If They Get Lost

Losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare. Whether in a public place or in your own neighborhood, it’s a situation no family should have to endure. However, it happens more often than we’d like to admit. Regardless of the age of your children, it is important to tell your children what to do if they get lost.

It is important to come up with a plan that all family members know so that if this situation ever occurs, there is no confusion.

This isn’t about overprotecting your kids, nor about making your kids nervous. It’s just a matter of making sure your kids know what to do and how to stay safe.

By doing this, you provide them with tools that will come in handy as they get older and more independent.

Who should teach children what to do if they get lost?

It’s important to be a good influence on those around you if you don’t want to add anyone to the missing children list:

• your own child
• a niece
• a nephew
• your neighbor’s child

There are standard prevention methods that you can share with your family and any friends with young children. Teachers, nannies, sports coaches and anyone responsible for children should have a contingency plan.

This minimizes the risks of losing a child. They get distracted quite easily.  Depending on how old your children are, you should explain things in a language they will understand. Therefore, the rules and guidelines should be clear and simple.

What are the basic guidelines?

If you ever lose a child, even for a few minutes, the stress and anxiety can be unbearable. Despite all the warnings you may give or no matter how careful you are, there is always the risk of losing a child.

This is especially the case in children between the ages of three and five. Their curiosity easily lures them away from us. Let’s take a look at what to do.

Talk to them about what to do

This conversation should take place at home. Even if your child is with someone else, it’s vital that they know what to do if they get lost.

This is not to scare them. These instructions should be delivered calmly and positively. You can explain to them that it is quite easy to get distracted for a few seconds and then be separated from an adult. Your children need to understand that by following your instructions, it will be easier to find them if they get lost.

Teach them to ask for help in a safe way

We always tell our kids not to talk to strangers. However, if they get lost, they need to know how to identify someone they can approach safely.

• Tell them they can approach someone who has children with them.
• If they can’t find anyone with children, they can approach a woman alone or a security guard.
• They should then tell this person that they are lost, give their full name, their parents’ name and their phone number. Of course, you will need to practice with them to fully remember these facts.

Tell them to stay in one place if they get lost

What sometimes makes the situation worse is when a child is lost and then keeps moving around.

You have to teach them that it’s best to stay where they last saw you. You have to remind them of this every time you leave the house. Assure them that you will come and find them wherever they are.

An easy way to make sure your kids understand this is to practice with them. Every time you go outside, ask what they would do if they got lost.

You can also ask them the following questions:

• Who would you go to if you can’t find anyone with children?
• What would you do if a man asks you to go with him to find your parents?

Practice with questions like these to make sure your kids know exactly what to do.

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In addition to the above guidelines, it is also wise to encourage your children to always walk hand in hand with you. It’s also a good idea to mark the labels on their clothes with:

• their name
• your name
• your phone number

With very small children who have trouble remembering all this information, it may be a good idea to give them a piece of paper with the information listed. They can then show this to an adult if they get lost.

In addition, you need to know what to do when you finally find your child. It would be very unfair to get angry and yell at them. Remember that children are not intentionally lost.

The moment you find them is the perfect time to show how much you love them and how glad you are that you found them. Later, when everything has calmed down again, you can analyze things together.