Have You Ever Momentarily Lost Your Child in a Public Place? - JFF

I'm like you, I seem to find lost kids all the time. I think it has to do with being nosy :-/ I'm always looking at people, so I notice kids looking concerned. I usually have my son with me, and he likes to be the one to ask the kid if their okay and if we can help them. I think that helps put kids at ease too since it's another kid not a "stranger" walking up to them.

Anyway... yes... when my son was about 18 months old, I lost him in Target for about 90 seconds! He was only about 5 feet from me the whole time, but I was terrified. He could see me, so he didn't think he was lost. I let go of his hand to grab a set of shoe laces off of the hook and he ducked into one of the round clothing display racks across the isle! When I found him, we went straight to the baby section and bought one of those leashes I swore I would never use!

HTH
T.

My daughter's a wanderer and a social butterfly. It terrifies me sometimes, she's 5 now and knows her full name, my full name, her dad's full name, her city and state. Just to be safe. I'm working with her on how to behave if someone grabs her and where to go and who to talk to if she does wander off and can't find me. I got lost in a mall once, I found the customer service counter and had them help me. Since them I always located the counters in the stores we were in form myself, just in case.

I've lost my son for a few seconds but that is it. I can not understand how someone can forget their child at the store............. I mean really? I'm totally paranoid when I shop. I must see him at all times. I constantly think of poor Adam Walsh. That was a long time ago & things are way worse now!!!

Well, kind of. Once our 3 yo took off running through a huge crowd at Disneyland. Scared the bejeezus out of us. My husband caught up w/ her and snatched her up. We've never ever forgotten her anywhere, though. I must say that one I don't get, lol.

Once when I was a young child I got lost at a huge home show at the Anaheim convention center. I remember how panicked I was and I didn't want anyone to notice because I was scared that a "stranger" would see me and notice that I was parent-less. Anyway, a really nice lady and her teenage son did notice me and asked me if I was lost. I think I managed to nod my head slightly and she took me up to the big control booth where they made an announcement to the convention center about a lost little girl. I wouldn't tell them my name, though, because they were strangers! So they had to describe me over the intercom. I guess I took stranger danger a little too far, lol

Oh God, I still remember the panic I felt when my oldest son was 'missing' when we took him to Knott's berry Farm for his 4th birthday celebration. I was 4 months preggo so you could only imagine the Mama bear that unloaded on Daddy with that one.

My husband and my Dad took the 3 boys my 2 nephews and my son to a ride just across the way from me. My Mom & I stayed over and tried to side track my 2 year old. I see them walk into the ride, measure the older boys and then turn around and walk out (they weren't tall enough). Then I see my husband run back in--I was like say what?

Next thing I know my Dad leisurely walks over and asks "Did AJ come back over here with you guys"--I was uh NOOO why are you asking. He said my husband turned around after measuring one of my Nephews and he wasn't there. I panicked--Oh my God! I send the kid with them for 1 little ride and you loose him!! I was literally screaming HOW DID YOU LOOSE HIM!

I just looked at the huge crowd of people walking, not knowing where to even start looking. What way did he go--did try to get on another ride? We really hadn't explained to him what to do if he couldn't find us. I was literally in tears--Thankfully my Dad found him with sitting with some lady about 1/2 a mile out from the ride. She said he was just standing there yelling for his Daddy. I thanked her endlessly, was so greatful she stopped to help him.

I was not a happy wife after that one. Right after I wrote on all the kids (2,4,5,7 yrs) arms the cell phone number to reach us, just in case it happened again. That feeling is nothing I will ever forget!

I have not lost or forgotten my kids, but my daughter at age 3 got into the elevator at target ahead of me and the doors closed- heard her screaming all the way down... and I had an infant in a car seat latched to the top of the cart so I was all flustered trying to figure out what to do- call up the next elevator? Run over to the escalators (But I can't put the cart on the cart track with a baby in it!), finally just lugged the whole heavy infant seat out and ran down the escalator to find her crying in some nice person's arms. Poor babe!

I was staying with my hubby in vegas last year, for some couple time. In the morning I heard a kid crying and I thought, that sounds way too close (darn it, this is supposed to be my kid-free weekend!). Sure enuogh I peek out the hallway and there is a lone 2 year old with nothing but a (very full) diaper on. I picked her up, brought her in my room and called down to the front desk that I have a lost child roaming the hallway. BTW, they never sent anyone up, even though they said they would. I took her back out in the hallway and finally got help from a maid, who was bold enough to just start knocking on the doors near my room and yelling in "you missing a kid????" All around the same time, my husband comes back up with our coffee and bagels, wondering why Im standing in the hallway with a random two year old in my (sorta sexy) pajamas... We finallay hit on a room with a very groggy dad who claimed her but needed a minute to come out and present himself to get her, right around the time her mom and grandma come up the hall with their morning coffees. I guess they had snuck out thinking she was asleep, but she saw them and tried to follow them out the door, and voila, big heavy door locked behind her, and she's in this endless hallway where all the doors look the same. Dad was probably too hungover to notice any of them leave!
That's why my Vegas weekends are kid-free :)

I only have one time and had a mental break down, just about. I was at Macy's and they have that darn place so packed with clothes racks. Its like a grid. My oldest was just maybe 18 months then. She was wanting out of the stroller and I was keeping her close but she found she loved the clothes racks too much, and got away from me. She thought it was a great game to run from mommy, her small size, and the proximity of clothes racks, made it impossible for me to see her. I quickly called to my aid, two cashiers where we did a grid system and pretty much corralled the little s**t. and I got her back. I hugged her so hard and cried. To this day I dont go back to that Macy's.

My mom once forgot me at the library but I was like 8... I walked there every night after school and she would pick me up on her way through town after work. I was doing some homework I didnt stand outside like usual. She normally comes inside for me, but this time nope. So I waited and waited. They finally let me use the phone there (this was before cells, and I had an older teen sister and only one land line) I tried for hours to call and couldnt get through. Finally it was closing time and I was devastated. HOW could my mother forget me this long? I sat outside the closed library, in the summer thankfully, and cried and cried. Finally an officer stopped and asked me what was wrong. He called my house and got on the line, and literally heard my mother scream on the line "OH MY GOD M." she hung up and I think she never drove so fast before. She was there in like 10 minutes. and it takes 15 from our house normally. She was bawling and crying so hard. She was begging me all the way home for forgiveness. I did cause I knew she was so stressed from work and she had thought I was at singing practice and that my aunt was going to bring me home. So she didnt even worry till she got the call. When she heard the officers name she knew immediately what happened. She was exceptionally nice to me for a WHOLE month LOL

Well I haven't lost any but I did rescue one, LOL. We were walking into a Kohls in the mall and a little girl was just running out, she must have been 2 or younger. I expected to see someone running after her but didn't so I ran after her and scooped her up. I started toward the customer service counter when a frazzled mom comes up, sure enough it was her little girl and she was sooo relieved. And I'm with you, how do you "forget" your 2 year old at the store, that's just out there!

I've never forgotten my kid (I wonder, like you, how on earth that could even happen!!) But I've lost both of mine. When my oldest had just turned 2 I was 8 months pregnant with her little sister. My mom, my daughter and I went shopping for some comfy yoga type pants for me to wear after the baby was born. We were at JC Penney, and I swear I took my eyes off my daughter for 2 seconds to look at some pants. She disappeared. We had the whole store looking for her. I truly felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I was convinced someone had taken her. Of course, we found her, playing under the racks of clothes, happy as can be. Whew!

Then the scarier one - when my youngest was almost 4 she had figured out how to swim - no lessons whatsoever. She could literally swim from one side of the pool to the other with no help. You can imagine how proud we were! So, we went to the beach where my in-laws live and a bunch of us went into the ocean. Obviously we did not leave my daughter alone in the water, but once we were past the breakers we did let go of her (she insisted actually, and kept shoving us away) and let her paddle around us. She was never more than a foot away from an adult. We were all having such a great time. When we tired of swimming we all went back in to shore. When my daughter was far enough from the shore break for me to feel comfortable that she wouldn't be pulled back in, I turned to get my towel. In that instant she was gone.

At first I didn't think she had been pulled back in, but what I DID think was that she had been having so much fun out in the ocean that it didn't occur to her not to run back out there by herself. Talk about panic. I raced to the lifeguard stand and had them calling out to all the other lifeguards down the beach. My mother-in-law ran one way down the beach, I ran the other, and my husband went inland. I think she was only missing for 10 minutes but all I could think was that she was in that water, just below the surface, struggling. My heart is actually racing, just thinking about it and writing about it now!

So I was about to get in the water myself, to search all around the murky bottom (How would I ever find her?!?! But I was going to try.) All of a sudden I saw my MIL waving me over. My daughter had just wandered down the beach, and since all the lifeguard stands looked the same she just got confused. I'll never forget rushing over to her, falling down onto the sand, hugging her and bursting into tears. That was honestly the scariest moment of my life.

Oh my gosh! These are making me tear up just thinking about how these moms must have felt!!

I haven't lost mine, yet - she's 20 months, but she's a runner, so I have no doubt I'll experience one day.

However, I was that lost child one time. I was about 2 and my brother was about 3. We were going camping (?) or something at a local state park called Brazos Bend. It's known for it's alligator population.

Well, my parents were unloading the van as my brother and I played at a playground just across the narrow road/parking area. At some point, my mom turned around and I wasn't there anymore. They asked my brother where I was (remember - he's about 3) and he doesn't know (of course). They panic. Alligators.

They look all over, can't find me. My parents finally get in the car with my brother and start driving looking for me. A ranger sees the commotion eventually and asks if they're looking for a little girl.

I had wandered off somehow, someone saw me and took me to the ranger station. I think I was "missing" from my parents for at least 15-20 minutes.

Apparently when they got to me my mom was crying and my dad started yelling at me! Ha! At least I wasn't eaten by an alligator, though I'm sure my mom was just convinced I was.

Yes. Scared the bejeebers out of both my and my husband, and as soon as we scooped him up we LEFT and WENT HOME. Even though we hadn't finished what we had set out to do on our shopping trip, and even though we had driven an hour to get there, we were too shaken up. My son was 3 yrs old. We had an infant too (his younger sister) and had a miscommunication.... "lost" son for about 3 minutes.

When we did find him (sweet older woman had stopped him and was asking him if he knew where his mommy was) I felt like a horrible parent. I was practically shaking until we were halfway home. Post traumatic stress? Ugh.
I know it can happen to even the most careful... but gosh it is scary.

ETA: we were Christmas shopping at the mall

When my oldest was about 5, we took the kids to Disney World. I had 3 children at the time: 5, 3, and 1. We had just entered the park, so we were near the front entrance. One of those Chip N Dale characters came up, grabbed my son, and took off so fast! He went through the middle "stay off the grass" area, through the crowd, not stopping. We freaked out. I stayed with the stroller, my FIL who was with us that day kept the 3 year old, and my husband took off running for our 5 year old. He finally caught up to them and took our son back. We were so furious and shocked. He was gone so fast. Oh, it still gives me chills.

Yes, it was absolutely terrifying. We were waiting for a movie to start, so we stopped in a little Dollar store. It was me, my hubs and my inlaws. 4 adults and only 2 kids. We were in the check out line. My 4 year old silently wriggled away and just took off.

I searched the perimeter of the store, my mil gaurded the front door to make sure noone was leaving with him, my fil went looking in the parking lot, and my husband searched the interior of the store and contact management to help. We got on the overhead announcer and called for him. He was gone for almost 10 whole minutes... in just a teeny tiny store! It was absolutely terrifying, and right after a store kidnapping had just happened on the news.

Sure enough, the little puke was hiding, and completely silent underneath a store fixture. I think my fil saw a flash of his blonde hair. It was absolutely terrifying, I'm amazed that none of the adults had a heart attack.

Our DS, 16 months now, wriggled his way through a line of people at the supermarket, out the automatic door and onto the sidewalk. Thankfully the cashier was paying attention and grabbed him. I couldn't get through the adults to get to him fast enough. We're introducing a child harness/leash. Better safe than dead.

My brother used to run off all the time on my mom when we were kids. He did it a LOT, so I am sure he was doing it on purpose. My mom would go into a panic and they'd have to make an announcement on the PA system. My mom always thought he was just in his own world and would just see something interesting and wander off. I never had this happen with my son that I remember, but my daughter (age 2) thinks it is funny to run off from us in a store. If it is a clothes store she likes to hide in the clothes racks while giggling. This has happened 2ce...once for me and once for my husband. Little stinker. I'm not letting go of her hand now...not till she matures a bit.

I haven't, but my husband lost our youngest on his 3rd birthday when they were shopping at Incredible Universe. He never watched the boys very closely when he was shopping with him, and he was looking at some sort of electronic, and our son wandered off. Luckily he knew his dad's first and last name. He went to the front where the check out stands were, and had someone page him. My husband was frantically looking for him when he heard his name paged. We were pretty impressed that our son stayed so calm and knew what to do at 3 years old. My husband did not stay calm, and I wasn't calm when he told me the story either. ;)

Oh Hell, I could have killed my husband. My idea of watching our three year old daughter in the store is, shop and kinda sorta keep an eye out on her. There have been times where I left her with him, and when I come back they are on separate isles, where he has no visual contact. Ergh

So one day I told him, watch her, I need to go grab something, and I left. When I came back I said, "Where is she?" "Next aisle over." "Uhhh no she's not." We found her two aisles down playing with a barbie.

That was the last time he let her out of sight.

When my son was 3 I was shopping at Fred Meyer (Kroger) in the clothes dept. with him and my other son, 6 (at the time). The little buggers were going in and out of clothes and I had HAD it and told them both to hop into the cart. My 6 year old got right in, with my help, and when I turned around my 3 year old was gone. I was calling and calling him and NOTHING. I was looking in the clothing racks, yelling his name, getting panicked. A woman who worked in the clothes area saw me and called it in to her boss and they did a "Code Adam". Got on the store PA system and said a little boy was lost, wearing jeans and a dinosaur shirt, named Sebastian. Code Adam closes down the whole store and all of the doors are locked so if someone has snatched a kid they can't get out. Of course, after they get over the PA system my kid pops out, "here I am!!" oh man. He was in so much trouble, and I was SO embarrassed.
I have never forgotten a child, although I found one once at a garage sale. We had to call the police after waiting 20 minutes and NO SIGN OF MOM and a sobbing 2 year old. When the police got there the mom showed up too...really nonchalant about the whole thing. I couldn't believe it.
I too seem to "find" children that are lost or have wandered away. We must just have a nice face! lol
L.

I have had the instant fear take over me, when I let my 3 year old walk with us and he starts getting ahead of me and I instantly kinda panic. Or at Gander Mountain the other night I let him stand by his dad when he was purchasing a gun and I turned to get my 18 month old out of the cart and turned around and I didnt see my 3 year old. I freak and started calling out his name really loud, only to have him peek from the fron of my husband and say "um mom I am here by daddy!" I suppose anything can happen at a wim, but I pray it doesn't happen to me. Usually when we are in public they are both in the cart.

When we were at the renaissance festival last year my daughter, 4, decided to play hide and seek without telling us. We found her in a random shop's dressing room.

OMG my heart attack was when we went to disney and I told her to stay with grandma i'm gong to grab something. Well I didnt realize she took off after me and grandma wasnt fast enough to catch here. Well I get back a few minutes taught my daughter at an early age if you cant find us and yoru lost. You do not move from where you are you let us find you.

Mall Of America - my sone was about 2 I think. We were in teh Columbis store looking at snowpants and teh lady was helping me. I thought my husband was watching him and he thought I was watching him. We both panicked and checked the fitting rooms which were right there and where he liked to go. No sign of him so first thing I thought of was to block the mall entrance. As we look up with the lady who was helping me, we saw another employee chasing our son in front of the entrance out in the mall! I felt horrible and panicked but the lady said it was entertaining for her to see that guy move so quick chasing our son!

My father had a stroke in July and we were at the hospital visiting him. My daughter was 3 1/2 at the time. She said that she was hungry so I took her to the cafeteria for something to eat. While we were waiting for our food she kept saying that she wanted to go back with poppy. I told her that we had to wait for the food and we would go back up very soon. Well she took off on me. By the time I made it back down the hallway she was gone. I panicked and was calling her name. I asked one of the cafeteria women and she told me that she saw her trying to get on the elevator by herself and took her to the security desk. I rushed upstairs to find her talking with a nurse. Needless to say I almost ended up next to my dad. I was in such a panic that I couldn't find her. I didn't yell at her but I explained to her that she shouldn't do that anymore. She told me that she just wanted to see poppy.

I know some laugh but I can't.

We were moving from NC to CA 11 years ago. Our 4th was maybe 5 months old. So we were at Wall Drug in South Dakota. I had the baby and both girls, one was 3, the other was 6.
THe baby started to fuss so I attended him. When I stood back up my 3 yo had gone.
I went to my husband thinking he had her, but no, he only had our 12 yo.
We both completely panic. Wall Drug is a series of hallways and souvenir shops. It is not well lit and was full of people.
It took us a good 10 minutes maybe more and we found her with a lovely older woman asking her if she knew where mommy was.

That one only compares to the time the same child fell off the wharf in Monterey, CA. She was just walking along, happy go lucky, and BLOOP onto the rocks below. THe fall was maybe 5 feet down, thank God it was rocks at that point and not water.

I always tell my kids to go to a mom with a stroller or a mom with kids if they get lost and can't find a clerk or amusement park worker.

I haven't lost mine...yet...but we still joke about when my mom lost me in a Younkers 30 years ago! Apparently, I loved to push strollers when I was 2. We were in the store and I found the strollers for sale and wandered over to them. My mom(who was a young mom at 23) and grandma were frantic trying to find me. They found security and actually closed the doors that lead into the mall so I wouldn't wander out there. Then mom noticed the tops of the strollers moving back and forth and sure enough...it was me pushing them around like nothing ever happened! My dad loves to pick on my mom...he's never lost 1 of us!

Oh that gut sinking feeling is horrible! I was at Taco Bell and my son had gone in between the trash can and the door. It was a small space, but he was only 3 and he fit! I turned out and didn't see. First just walked around calmly... I mean Taco Bell is only so big. Still didn't see him. I hit frantic mode, but before I had time to freak out an employee told me where he'd gone. Little stinker.

Another time we were at the pumpkin patch and they had this big play thing. I was standing outside the entrance and then I realized that the slide went down clear down the hill on the other side! I went there to look for him and he had gone to look for me. Luckily another mother saw him and helped him find me.

It's so scary when you realize you can't find them!!!! Now I have an ID bracelet for him to wear when we are at an amusement park or anywhere big. I also (tip from you Mamas on Mamapedia) tell him that if he loses me to look for a Mommy with other kids or a Mommy with a stroller. I figure most mothers would help a lost kid and sometimes an employee at those places can be hard to spot.

When we lived in TX, our library was constantly having AWESOME events, and tons of people came. One day, someone like "The Critter Man" came. He had a rabbit, a hedgehog, a prairie dog, lizards, etc. There was a big space on the floor for the children to sit close, and along the sides and back were chairs for parents, and he'd give a little speech on local animals, conservation, show everyone the animals and talk about them, and everyone loved it. I took my oldest son (then, he was 3 years and 2 months old) and I sat down in a chair and said "This is where I'll be. If you want to go sit up there close, you can, and when it's over, you just stand up and walk back to me. I will not move, ok? I'll be 2 chairs away from this big white pole with the fire extinguisher". He was cool with that. I had my 1 old baby with me, asleep in the travel system strollers (the kind with the infant carrier). He sat down and looked at me, and I nodded and waved, and pointed to the fire extinguisher to remind him that he could find me easily. Everything went fine. After the session was over, it was bedlam, kids all over the place, parents roaming around trying to pick out their kids, and I congratulated myself on being smart and letting him come to an immovable object instead of trying to see over everyone's heads which parent was his. I stood up and saw him walk straight to me, and all was well.
THEN: they announced "Hey, if you want to pet the animals, line up over here!" Everyone rushed over. I asked "Do you want to pet the rabbit" and he said yes! Cool. Go on, I'll be at the end of the line. (Granted, we're at this library 3 times a week so it's no big deal). He goes to the table and I watch him, and then start heading to the end of the line where he'll end up when he's finished. Stupid moms were not letting me maneuver with my stroller. I tried to be polite but then started getting nervous. Regular paths were blocked for the show, and where I could go, moms were looking at me like "Hey---I'm looking for a book and not moving". I saw Joseph go but I was far away and he couldn't hear me. I said "Please---my little boy!" at a lady and she just looked at me and planted her feet firmly, taking up the ENTIRE aisle. I panicked because my son was now out of view and I couldn't see him, and this lady wouldn't move, so I moved the stroller out of the way and actually moved to punch her (oops) but I heard someone call my name. I looked (fist in mid-air) and saw a lady I knew from Small Fry Club and she said "What's wrong?" I said "I lost Joe!" and she was like "Little Joe?" and all I could say was "MY Joe!" She nodded and said "You go to the doors. We will hit the corners and work towards you" (she was with several moms who knew me). The mom I almost punched had ducked out and was gone. I took the baby with me and left the stroller so I could maneuver better, and was jogging to the front doors when I saw him with the head librarian, at the central desk. I waved and she waved and brought him to me. All the librarians were VERY impressed and kept going on and on about how good he did, how calm he was. He just walked to the central desk and said (again, at 3 years, 2 months old): "Excuse me. My name is Jo-Jo __ and my mommy's name is A. __. I am lost." She was just standing up when we saw each other. I was proud of him but embarassed that HE had remembered what to do in that scenario, but I had not. I bragged on him and how he'd done better than me, and I learned from him, which made him pretty proud. I had to go home and lay down, I was shaking. I always thought I'd be cool, but with HUNDREDS of children roaming all over the place, and noone letting me through to get to my son, and then almost assaulting someone, I needed a truffle and a nap.
The boys are now 5 and 2, and that was the only time that's ever happened, though we go to A LOT of events. I've always told my guys that if they ever got lost, to go to "a worker" that is standing at a computer or cash register and tell them his full name, my full name, and that he's lost. And if we're at a place where it's hard to find a "worker", then to look for a mommy that has kids with her. My 2 year old has a bracelet that has my name and cell number on it (he calls it his "clock" because it looks like a watch), and my 5 year old has a Red Cross emergency fold out card in his wallet with everything from allergy info to EVERYONE'S cellphone numbers and he knows to hand that to a "worker" or whatever if he needs us. (He also has a bracelet, but only wears it at the beach, amusement parks, etc).