the day u lost ur dear child somewhere...........

hi,
i am mother of 2 sons, 4.5 yr old & 11 mths old baby.many of us would have faced this situation when u turned back & find ur child is missing.OMG that moment is terrible.u have to act fast but ur legs turn to lead.u want to think swiftly but all u can see is ur child crying lost somewhere................i hope no one faces such situation.it seems like a very bad thread to start but i know from personal experience that a well remembered tip helps u very much in such crisis.
so lets start this thread.here we can discuss THAT horrible day when this happened & secondly what precautions u take to avoid such happening.

i will start with my experience.

diwali was coming & lots of rush in all places..there was this trade fair in our sector so after dinner dh & i decided to take our son who was about to turn 2 to this fair.
we entered the fair & dh & i started shoeing ds all the things on display in different stalls(fish aquariums,book stalls............).ds wanted to rush to his merry-go around but as we had our dinner just then so i wanted him to go after some time.we stopped at a stall of carpets.one sec he was holding my hand & another sec he was not there.i had this sinking feeling but reassured that he may be holding dh's hand.but when checked he was not there.
we both were very scared & run around to look for him.i kept on running in circles when suddenly remembered to chk at entrance.i rushed there ,but he is not there.ds is very fond of autos.i checked all autos parked near the entrance.tears were running on my cheeks when i suddenly saw some police constables.i ran to them & explained .they went immediately & announced over the public announcement system.within minutes someone found him standing near the merry-go around. could not thank that person enough.me & dh hugged our little sons ten times.we came back immediately & i decided never to visit such crowded places again.

since then we have decided that
1.whenever going out one of us will constantly keep eye on kids
2.whenever travelling we make id card for child with his photo,name,dad's name,nationality,contact nos & flight no plus the country he is travelling to.let the child wear it around his neck.
3.let the child wear something striking when going to such crowded places(my ds was wearing a kurta with OM written in hindi which proved to be identity mark that day)
do share ur experiences
pragati

Hi Pragati,
You had a terrific experience. I can`t imagine what the parents feel.
But anyway parents get some tips from your experience.

HI Pragathi,
the horrible experience of parents!!! i can feel your emotions from your words. moreover it happened to me also years before. at that time my son was 3yrs old( now he is 33yrs) and my nephew 6 yrs old. both were pestering us to take them to the beach. we were all tired on that day because of a function. My dad ( 67 yrs at that time) took pity on them and take them to the beach. after playing sometime in the sand, they wanted to go and stand in the water. my dad, took their dress off and stood with them for sometime. they refused to come from water. mydad feeling tired sat at a few distance from them and was watching them. suddenly both of them disappeared. Poor dad he was
shocked and came home running to inform us. on hearing the news, i shreiked and fainted. My brother went to the extent of asking the fishermen to throw net in the see. oh my goodness!! aftergaining my senses i was literally weeping and every body in the house was praying to GOD. my dad felt so bad feeling things happened because of him. after2 hrs we heard a man calling from outside. all of us rushed and we all shouted when we saw our children with him. when he was coming on the road, he saw these two children; approached them asked them address. thank god my nephew told him the address.that god sent man brought them safely!!! we all jumped in joy. Only GOD must have sent this man! It happened many years back, but even today if i remember the incident, my whole body will begin to shiver. now both of them are happily married and settled. All our gratitude goes to that man who brought them safely. we bow to GOD for sending that man.such along post!!!
with love
pad,

Pragathi,

This happened to me and I am still too cautious.

We were in delhi. my son was 2 years. He could not speak much, other than amma,appa. just these two words. In-laws had come. DH was shifting to muscat, so was busy at office. I had taken the kids (DD is elder) and in-laws around in a cab to almost all the places

before going further let me also tell you my son was car crazy. we were staying in a complex, where we were not having a car. so anytime he comes down and seens a car door open he would be seen sitting in that and i thank god for giving me the stamina.
So coming back to the incident, the last two stops were chatarpur mandir and qutub minar. Chatarpur mandir was so crowded as it was navarathri. DS was hold FIL hand and DD was with MIL. just as we stood in front of the tree,(they say it is very powerful..and too many ladies) my FIL was standing a little far away. So DS slipped out of his hand, and FIL thought he was coming to us.

Suddenly he is missing. barefoot too. we searched the whole temple. it was just the start of the cellphone era and I did not have one too. we searched every place.by then i was almost feeling weepy, but just kept my cool. I saw security forces people standing guard, so told them i have a problem, they said your child will give his details and they will announce. It was about 4.30p.m. and gut feeling that i had to find him before evening or i may not be able to...

somehow I convinced them that my son could not talk.and they told me ok, we will help you register a complaint with the police and let us hope for the best. the complaint registration cubicle was on the opposite side of the national highway and we had to cross the road and go in..what do i see..my son is sitting on the table and playing with them until he saw me, he told them this is my mom.

The police personnel did not want to give him to me until i proved he was my son. so ultimately did prove and signed the register and took him. actually the car parking for the mandir was on the opposite side of the temple and he had crossed the whole road with so much traffic and i am still going when i think of that.

people told me that i was so lucky to have go my kid immediately and there were people who have not got any info....

I just bravely took them home, and only then did I take the freedom to cry..all the tension..mygod..
today he is 11,I still dress him in bright checks/stripes... and now he knows our number, address everything, but we do keep an eye wherever we are.

hi ladies..
though the incident is not going to be as terrific as what the 3 of you (pragati, padmini ma'am and shanthi) narrated, this is still fresh and on top of my mind coz this happened only last sunday.. and am still bonkmyself for my carelessness. Me and my 2.9 year old were at home and hated the sunday evening when dad had to attend some association meeting in the apartment. we were hoping he wud be bk in 1-2 hours time.. but no. the meeting kept continuing. no patience and i started out with my little one on a drive to a departmental stores closeby.

both of us excited coz we hv never been to shopping coz most of it is done by the men in the family and never just both of us. Little K went around every counter, asking if she can buy everything that she saw. We were in the toothbrush counter and i was just thinking of IL, abt the discussion on how to make brushing activity attractive to toddlers. i was asking LO to choose her own next toothbrush. all of a sudden, i find her nowhere around. i went around looking for the adjacent 2 rows. and i also peeped outside the door and noone there too. there were 2 other shop staff who joined me in the search, but all they did was to follow me since they cannot recognize the kid themselves and the shop was crowded. this was just going on for 3-4 mins and then i could hear her cry from a distance.. i ran in the direction of the sound... there i found her saying "amma amma..." wiping her tears lifting her own skirt all the way up . i hugged her and said sorry.

though i had got lost 2 times during my school days giving a scare of life to my parents, this was new to me as a mom myself and i warned myself to be extremely careful from the next time. and yes, matter totally sealed from everyone except my DH.

Dears...all yours are so frightening to read....I hope not i get a situation like that in future.

Well, It happened in our family too...My Niece was one of the "lost and found " child.

She was 2 years and my uncle ,aunt and Grandparents had taken her to Trirupathi for the "mottai"(head -shaven) ceremony.
First they went to offer the hair of my niece to the Lord and then took bath in the devasthanam room and headed for darshan Q.
After darshan ,my aunt and grandmom was holding her while my uncle and grandpa went to get the prasadams.
My Aunt spotted a foto frame of Balaji and Thayar and was bargaining with a shop keeper..This little girl slipped out of the hold and went away merrily.
After about 5 mins, my aunt and grandma realised that the child was missing.
They searched for her frantically.My Aunt started to cry and then repeat only 2 words...Green dress..Head-shaven child...She(my aunt) could not think of anything at all....
Few yards away ...my aunt and grandma spotted this little girl dancing merrily in the road in front of a toy car shop.
oohhhh.. the happiness was back..
Even today when we talk my aunt recounts this incident with a shudder. My niece was born after 5 years to my uncle and aunt.So after this incident, my aunt is over cautious..

dear padmini mam,
just reading your story brought goosebumps all over me.Thank God they were safe.talking of God i remember promising many things to God when i was looking for my ds.u feel that at this time only God can help & which is true.and the good samartarian strangers who help us at this time seem like God.
pragati

dear shanthi,
well,its real pays to maintain ur cool at that time.finding a policeman immediately really helps.these guys have wireless & other network which can help locate the child as soon as possible.
u were right in assuming that if u found him before evening its good otherwise chances r slim.statistics also say the same.
also,its good that the police took necessary precautions by verifying ur identity before handing u the child.........
Dress a child distinctively before talking him to crowded place.till now we have 6 replies & three of the children was found because they were dressed little differently.
pragati

hi asha,
with u pregnant this incident must have caused u great anxiety.
whenever i find a child running away from his parents I stop the child &tell him/her to go back.i find kids respond to the command from strangers better then that from there parents.also,if such thing happen with me I immediately rush to the exit point to warn the security personal over there before looking for the child myself.making them sit in trolley really helps.........
same with me.my mom is very attached to my ds so never told her about this incident as was sure to get an ear full.Take care

pragati

hi aishu,
as a little girl I also visited Triputhai Balaji & my cousin also got lost there ,but by grace of God he was found .then that same cousin got lost in a temple in our hometown.but somebody recognised him & brought him home.meanwhile his mother kept on looking for him in temple.Finally ,she called home & got the good news.
temples seem to be hot spot to loose kids.personally,i never visit temples duing any auspicious day.for one there is never good darshan,then the danger of stempede or blast & now another danger of loosing kids..........
pragati