Toddler Abscondes

[mumma bear]

Hope everyone can learn from this, unfortunately i had to do it the hard way.

This morning whilst on the telephone my DD absconded. She was playing happily where i could see her in the play room then she walked past me and i thought she was heading for her bedroom or the lounge at the front of the house. I was on the phone for another 5 mins or so then hung up and went to look for her. She wasn't in her room or the lounge. I noticed that the front door was open which i had closed and locked earlier in the day.

I immediately flew out the door to find two neighbours walking DD up the street towards our house. We have only lived in this house for 6 weeks and have not met the neighbours yet. Thankfully they spotted DD walking alone down the street with a bag and mail in her hand. They asked her where her Mummy was and she said on the telephone.

They didn't know where she had come from and only thought it might have been our house as we are new and they know most other people in the street. She had walked approx 150m.

I was beside myself and so greatful that nothing had happened to her!!

My front door was locked. We have a security screen which was closed but not locked and the main door was closed with it locked by the handle not the dead lock. DD therefore quietly opened the main door by the handle therefore unlocking the door and as the screen wasn't locked was able to open it too.

Please make sure you lock your doors properly in a manner that your toddler can not open it at all. This is the first time DD has opened either of the doors and will definately be the last!!

I thank god and the neighbours that she is safe and sound!!

Can't remember the ladies names I was in such a state but am going to personally deliver a thankyou note and small gift.

[MumsieMel]

oh wow :hugs:

glad all is well

[aggero]

Wow - so glad things turned out ok.

I had a similar experience with my DSD when she was 3yo. At 5:30am she very quietly got out of bed, got herself dressed, grabbed her dads wallet, keys, hat and mobile and was trying to fit the key into the security door when I caught her trying to escape :eek: When I asked where she was going she was off to the shops to buy the paper and an ice coffee :eek: :eek: :eek:

[sugar n spice]

I know one time i had my inlaws with me and i heard the front door open early in the morning which was strange so i got up and there was my 2 1/2 yr old nephew walking out the front door. i scooped him up and carried him back to bed, he was crying for mummy i think because it was a shock that i found him or something, not sure if he was sleep walking or what anyway took him back to his room and back to mum who was so grateful. We have a steap driveway so he could have rolled or walked down the road where theres a lake:eek:. Our front door locks but as soon as you turn the handle it unlocks

[Odessa]

how scary! :eek:

Reminds me of that toddler girl Rahma el-Dennaoui who went missing, toddlers can take off like a flash...she was only 19 months old though. The police still don't know if she escaped or was kidnapped. :thumbsdown:

[Mum&bubs]

Oh my heart would have stopped!! :hugs: glad everything turned out okay though.

[vanillabean]

We an experience like this with our DS who was almost 3 at the time. We were on holidays, thankfully in a small unit block. I had DD who was 4 months at the time in the pram. There were 2 units on each floor. I was just coming out of the unit and he was in front of me. I had the pram, next thing I knew he pressed the butoon on the lift and got in before I could stop it. I was in such a panic, DH ran down the stairwell and probably set off the alarms in the process and I waited until the lift came back up and got to the ground floor quick smart. DH and I got there at the same time and DS was outside the unit block, which was near a busy road bawling his eyes out. I almost did the same thing when I saw him. It frightened me so much. I was just shaking.

[Ky]

Both of my kids have done this to me! You think that you are safe with the doors locked and then you find out that your child has a knack for problem solving (really rather intelligent!) and have managed to get out!

I feel like I have created a fortress at my place as when we go inside, I lock and chain the front door, lock the other doors at the top and make sure that the wondows are locked in position! I need to do this as we live across the road from dd's school and there are a lot of busses and cars all of the time!

My dd grew out of her "escaping and running like the wind" at around 4 years of age ... about the time when our ds started! :banghead: I have kept my kids in thier pram at shopping centres or put them on a "leash". I get a lot of stares and some pretty rude comments about treating my kids like animals, but I know what my kids are like so reassure myself that I am keeping them safe and me sane!

I had a recent incident where we had stopped to have fish and chips in a park on our way home from a day trip. I was in a seaside town that I didn't know very well and just on dark my dh and dd went off in search of toilets while I packed the car up and let ds have a final play on the equipment. I called him and he came up to the car only to see a train going over a bridge, spin on his heels and run in that direction yelling "train, train" at the top of his lungs. I turned and locked the car door and took off after him. By this time he was out of sight (I'm no slowpoke either!) and we spent the next hour seaching the streets, waterfront and train tracks for him. I finally panicked and called the police who said that they had him at the station after someone had seen him crossing the main road by himself and brought him in. He was happy and unhurt, but I was a wreck! :crying: Since then, he has been on his leash every time we leave the house and is no longer allowed to play outside in our yard unsupervised!

I am in the process of getting a card made and laminated with my contact details and his name on it which I will pin to the back of his top whenever we go out. I also have a whistle to put around his neck for him to use if he can't see me so that I can find him.

I don't like living in a fortress and it frustrates my dh when he has to wait for me to come and open the door when he gets home, but if we don't want a "flat" child, I guess we need to do all we can to keep him safe!

I encourage my kids to be noisy and laugh a lot ... this way, I really notice and miss them when they have disappeared or are getting into mischief!;)

[Chickadee]

Some scarey stories here, thanks for the warnings. We are probably at the point of needing to lock doors, but thankfully all the handles are quite high and out of DD's reach. Although she could get a chair and is smart enough to do that :rolleyes: The locks are deadbolts that we could set with a key and make it harder for her, but I hate the idea of needing to search for a key to unlock the door if we need to get out quickly in an emergency like a fire.

Kyra, or for anyone else... many of the label suppliers also do identification tags or wrist bracelets. We got some when I ordered clothing labels. The ones I have are fairly discreet because they're clear and you could tuck them up under clothing so they woudn't be easily seen by strangers but still found if DD gets lost. They have her name on them and a space to write in contact details - handy if you are out on holiday and want to use a different mobile or hotel number.

[Issey]

I heard similar of a naked boy found down the street, he woke up and took his clothes off and opened the door and went for a walk. The poor Dad when he realised was a wreck, fortunately a neighbour took the boy too the police in a blanket! Happens so easily and quickly so don't be hard on yourself. Bet you needed a big hug. :hugs:

I saw on Ebay a while ago a bracelet which beeps when your child gets a certain distance away from you, you wear a device as well, that is how it works. Don't know the name of it though but sounds useful when out in a crowd or something.

The other thing my friends gave her sons whistles when they are out and if they can't see mummy or daddy they are to blow them really loud. This was used at the Zoo when DS #1 took off like lightening, anyway he blew his whistle and his Dad scooped him up from behind, the DS was screaming as thought a stranger, it was a good lesson for the DS #1 who was 4, he now doesn't run off. It really scared him (and Daddy for that matter).