# What should I tell my three year old to do if she gets lost? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730 "2005-10-04T13:55:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730/21 "2005-10-05T01:07:35Z")
Since my grandchildren have been old enough to motivate themselves they have worn ID bracelets. And every year for Christmas each gets a new one. Besides their parents name and phone number, the bracelets also have our phone number. None of them have gotten lost but it’s nice to know if they do someone can be reached. ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730/22 "2005-10-05T13:23:37Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > A three year old should know her first and last name and her phone number. She should also know her parents’ name and where they work (the name of the business, not “the office building.”) Whoa! Do you have a 3-year old? My son just turned 4 and is exceptionally bright (yes, I’m biased) but he doesn’t have a clue as to what his phone number is. We’re lucky to get his last name out of him as he’s shy around others. He knows it when WE ask him at home, don’t know if he could rattle if off to say, a security guard. I’m afraid of breaching this subject with my son. I know I have to, but geez, I don’t want him thinking that everybody is out to get him. He would cheerfully walk off with a stranger, he makes friends easily and trusts alot. I will definitely echo the “person who works there” kind of thing. I’ve also introduced him to several policemen/firefighters, explaining how these men are our friends and help us if we’re in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730/23 "2005-10-05T13:33:15Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > You’re talking about a three year old lost and wandering on her own and none of you would tell her to just ask a grownup for help? You’ll confuse her with uniforms and employees and code words? I’m sorry the stranger danger paranoia seems a little excessive here. The kid needs to grab the first grownup she can see and say help i’m lost. There just aren’t enough predators out there to justify this nonsense. As a father myself, I agree with every word of this. ::blinks and marks it off on the calendar:: ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730/24 "2005-10-05T13:34:27Z")
Not an answer for the OP but impressive nonetheless, Sydney police at the Royal Easter Show this year stood outside the gates and encouraged parents to write their mobile phone number on their child’s arm. The same number of kids got lost as any other year but they were reunited within minutes. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730/25 "2005-10-05T14:48:09Z")
I’m not too keen on the “wait by the door” idea. It just doesn’t seem the safest place for a child alone to wait. I’d go with “Go directly to the checkout registers.” ---
**Author:** ![sj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@sj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sj2)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730/26 "2005-10-05T19:16:19Z")
I vote for find a woman. In fact, I \*was \* that woman a while back in a bookstore when a very young boy tugged on my pants and said in the saddest voice, “I can’t find my daddy.” Then _I_ didn’t know what to do! :smack: I basically picked him up and headed to the front of the store, holding him up pretty high so he could spot his daddy. He did. And the dad said he did tell him to find a woman if he was ever lost. I also remember a talkshow (maybe Oprah) where they had a girl sit on a park bench and pretend to be lost and crying. Oddly, no one, not a soul, went up to her to see if she needed help. I recall the men being afraid of looking “weird”. I will tell my kids to look for someone who looks like a mom. Better to find one with kids… ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730/27 "2005-10-05T19:46:02Z")
Moved to IMHO. - **xash** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730/28 "2005-10-05T19:49:00Z")
I tell my kids to: A) look for another mom with kids b) Yell: Marco! Polo! ---
**Author:** ![Canadiangirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Canadiangirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadiangirl)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730/29 "2005-10-05T20:10:52Z")
Once, in Florida, I found a little boy crouched down in one of those clothes racks which turn and have a base he was sitting on. I asked him if he was lost, all he could was cry. So I tried to pick him up to see above the shelves to see if he could see his parent…boy, did he scream! A shrill, hysterial scream. When dad came running, he explained that the little boy had been taught to do that! Almost gave me a stroke! However, if I was a dangerous person, I’m sure someone would have asked what I was doing. On the other side of the coin, if you see a child in a situtation which doesn’t look right, do something. ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730/30 "2005-10-05T22:17:32Z")
Our son will be 11yo in a couple of days, but he has learning disabilities and really cannot remember phone numbers. He memorized our home phone number a few years ago–but that doesn’t help much if we’re out and about away from home. I also cannot trust him to stay in one place. He just won’t do it, regardless of how much I drill him and we try to practice it. He is not afraid of people, either. I _hope_ he would scream if someone actually tried to grab him, but I don’t trust him not to walk away with a stranger. He does understand that he should look for an employee or a policeman, and he can recognize those two categories of people pretty well. I also tell him to look for other kids close to his age, and ask them for help (with the idea that the other kid would turn to Mommy or Daddy at that point). If we’re in a place where there are lots of people and there is any chance we might get separated, I write my cell phone number on his upper arm, under his sleeve, using a permanent marker. It won’t sweat off there, and no one will see it unless he shows it to them. However, it means that all he has to remember is where he can find the phone number, and he can’t accidentally leave it behind somewhere or drop it. I have tried to help lost kids in stores on occasion, and I’m really surprised at how few of them protest at all. (Of course, I fall into the “Mommy” category, so it may be that they consider me to be someone they can trust.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-tell-my-three-year-old-to-do-if-she-gets-lost/324730.md?page=1)