“My 5yo got lost at Disneyland… I’ve never been more terrified’

“But even though we were separated, he knew exactly what to do… I’ve been teaching them the rules to follow if they’re lost since they were toddlers,” the mum-of-three reveals.

Pilar Grace

3 min read

July 23, 2023 - 7:30PM

What to do if child goes missing in public place

Parenting

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Susie Allison and her family was at Disneyland in 2022 when her five-year-old son Matt got lost.

“When my family got off a ride, our wires got crossed,” she said in a recent Instagram post.

“Between three kids, packed crowds, trying to find the stroller and navigating the Disney app on my phone, we zigged and he zagged. He was five. This happens.

“By the time we realised, he was nowhere in sight.”

The minutes seem to stretch for an eternity. Susie left her other kids with her husband and ran towards the spot where they’d last seen him.

“I took off sprinting, shouting to every employee I saw that my son, age five, was lost. I gave a brief clothing description as I ran. ‘Boy, five, grey sweatshirt, red shoes’.”

Susie is a former kindergarten teacher who now runs a social media account called Busy Toddler that's full of useful advice on how to raise kids, entertain them and most importantly keep them safe, and this post was no different.

“When our kids go missing, be loud. Be very loud and be descriptive,” she advised. “This is not the time to be embarrassed. It’s the time to mobilise everyone who can help.

“Every person there knew to look for my son because I was loud.”

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Susie taught her kids to follow three simple rules when they're lost. Photo: Instagram

Mum shares cardinal rules to follow when child is lost

Sure enough, Matt was quickly found.

“Someone in their early 20s, having heard me, ran to my side. ‘I know where he is!’ They grabbed my arm and shoved me through a crowd to where my son was sitting next to a park employee.”

Susie was so relieved to see her little boy, she hugged him hard and then thanked the park employee.

According to the staffer, the five-year-old had walked up to her and said, “I’m Matt and I’m lost”.

“Later I asked Matt about being lost. He said, ‘Once I saw [the staff member], I knew I wasn’t lost anymore’.”

It’s just like they’d practiced ever since her kids were two.

Susie has been discussing with her kids three key rules to follow if they get lost.

Stop moving. If they get separated from their parent, they should stay in one place.
Find a family from that spot. “Where they’re standing, see if they can find an adult with children,” Susie said. “If they can also identify a staff member, even better.
Be loud. This is a time when kids should be loud, and loudly tell the family that they’re lost and they need help.

Susie gives advice to parents on her Instagram account, Busy Toddler. None of her kids are toddlers anymore. Photo: Instagram

How to find your lost child

Susie shared what Matt did when he was lost, and how she did her part to find him.

Mum Jess also shared similar advice, saying that the best way to find a lost child is to "look loudly"

“Do not start silently looking for them,” she continued. “You want to look loudly, and what I mean by that is you start shouting their description while you look.”

Jess had lost her son in public once, and the looking loudly technique is what saved him. She described what she did to find her son.

“It’s going to sound like this: ‘I’m looking for a boy, age five, short brown hair, brown eyes, Caucasian, red Nike t-shirt, black shorts, black shoes’.”

She explained that the key is to keep repeating your child’s description loud and clear so the people around you hear.

“Now you’ve got every single person who’s around you looking for your child instead of just you, and best-case scenario somebody finds your child and they return them to you.”