Lost Child: How To Proceed?

One of the biggest nightmares for parents is when children lose themselves. Either it is lost in a public place or it is lost in the area of ​​the house. No family should go through this situation. However, unfortunately, it happens quite often. In the following, we offer you some tips on how to proceed with a lost child. Thus, as parents, we can teach the little ones about this.

It is essential to establish a plan or strategy that all family members know about. That way, you won’t have any problems when your baby gets lost. It’s not about overburdening your children, or the fact that you have to worry all the time. All you have to do is make sure your little one knows how to react in these situations and get to a safe place.

Who needs to teach the child what to do if he gets lost?

First of all, it is important to communicate a lot with family members and other people who take care of your child. Preventive measures should also be discussed with other family members or close friends of the child. Educators, teachers, nannies and others who have the child in their care should have a plan for emergencies. This plan must take into account that child who is lost and reduce the associated risks.

When explaining these things to a child, it is essential to consider their age and speak to them in a language that they can easily understand. Therefore, the rules or strategies to be followed must be clear and simple.

A lost child: what do you have to teach the little ones?

If you end up in this situation, it is normal to worry and be anxious. Despite the fact that there are thousands of precautions we can take, the risk of losing a child is always present.  The risk is even higher if your little one is 3-5 years old or if you are in a crowded place. However, there are some helpful guides that can help you in this situation.

Discuss how to proceed

Initiate the conversation at home. Although, especially in kindergarten or school, the child is in the care of others, it is very important to know how to proceed if he gets lost. The conversation is not meant to scare him. It aims to draw your attention in a calm and positive way about possible preventive measures.

You can tell him that he may be distracted sometimes for a few seconds and break up with the person who takes care of him. The child should understand that if he does what his parents recommend, it will be much easier for him to return to the person who takes care of him in case he gets lost.

Teach him who he can ask for help

Although the little ones should not talk to strangers, a lost child must know how to identify what kind of person they can rely on in these situations.

Tell him that he can ask for help from a person who is with another child. If he does not find such a person, look for a single woman, a guard or a policeman. The child will have to tell the adult that he has lost his parents. You will need to give them their full name, parents’ name and phone number. To do this, you will need to store this data.

Instruct him to stay put if he gets lost

Sometimes, what aggravates the situation of a losing child is the fact that he goes to look for his parents and moves. You need to teach your child that it is best not to leave the place where he lost sight of you. It is important to remind them of this every time you go out.

Assure him that you will look for him in the area where he was lost and that you will not give up until you find him. Also, as many parents do, you could do a little test in this regard. When walking with your child on the street, ask him what he would do if he lost sight of you at that moment.

You can also ask him the following questions:

• Who would you call if you can’t find a woman with children?
• What would you do if a man told you to go with him because he knew where your parents were?
• Which of the adults on the street would you turn to if you missed us?

Lost baby: some extra tips

In addition to the guidelines described above, it is important to encourage the child to hold hands with the parents. It is advisable to mark the labels on his clothes with certain information, such as your name and phone number.

Younger children cannot memorize their parents’ phone numbers or surnames. It would be ideal for this data to be written on a piece of paper and placed, for example, in a necklace. In this case, the child must be trained in such a way that he knows what to show an adult in case he gets lost.

In addition, it is good to know how to react when we find the child. It would be unfair to get on his nerves, scream and blame him. A child who gets lost does not do this intentionally.

Finally, the time of the meeting is an ideal opportunity to show the child affection. You need to express how happy you are to have found him. Later, talk to him about what happened to make sure it doesn’t happen again.