Toddler 'Tracking'

hi L.. i dont know anything about the gps things, but i will be checking back here to see. i bought one that stunk, i dont remember the name. the kids mostly wanted to see if they could make it go off. i did want to give you some advice... what i did to stop the wandering off was to bring them out in the stroller. then when you are in a safe but tempting place (the mall or the park on a fairly empty morning works well) let them walk. if they walked away from me, they were strapped back in. immediately and mercilessly, no second warnings, no second chances. and there they stay. you have enough time before your trip to give this a shot, it worked for me. also, i put id on my kids, they have a bracelet called id inside, with my cell number etc inside it. id_inside.com, i think. (never put their name outside). and the bright clothing thing is great too. but there is no substitute for you, you have to teach him to stick with you. try the stroller thing, it works even better if you are someplace fun (NOT disney, lol) to teach him. and if he doesnt learn, then i would absolutely leash him or stroller him, whether he liked it or not. no way i would take a chance, especially not at disney. you will have the stroller for the baby anyway, right? so, if you dont want to do a double stroller, then bring a sling or baby bjorn or whatever along and you can take out the baby and put him in if you need to. (dont forget about the carseat if you are still using it in the stroller, that wont work, use the stroller without the carseat while you are "training" him). though you really should use a double, imo, because he will get tired and hot and whiny and he should be able to take a break. btw, my daughter absolutely lost her mind the first couple of times i did this, she fought. i crossed the straps of the stroller across her chest and let her scream. she sticks with me now. sounds harsh, i know, but some things cannot be done halfway. kids do vanish, you know?? they are slippery little suckers, dont mess around. and have a good trip :)

I don't use that, but from experience I have learned a little trick. My mom has my kids everyday and from time to time they go on field trips with his play group. There can be times when it is just a sea of little people. My trick...dress him in the brightest shirt in his drawer. Lots of times it's all kids the same height and all with white, or grey shirts on. I dress him in Red, Orange, Bright Brillant Blue. So instead of trying to pick a little brown haired boy out of a sea of brown haired boys I just look for the red shirt. It makes things easier. So if you do decide to use the GPS thing, dress him brightly anyway, it's a little added security. And you'll be able to spot him faster.

Hi! We went to Disney last May and used one and it worked like a CHARM!! Our son wore a belt with a device on it and one of us had the other end and if the distance that we set was exceeded we both beeped. There was no physical attachment to us both, just a GPS-type monitor. Basically we told him that "if we got too far away from him we would both beep so we didn't lose each other." We practiced at home to teach him that if he heard the "beep" he was to freeze until we "found" each other again. Like I said it worked PERFECTLY! We used the Kiddo Kidkeeper. Have fun at Disney!! (We can't WAIT to go back:))
Also- be sure you rent a stroller for the entire time you are there! You can save $$ by pre-renting for the whole time, and trust me it is well worth the $$.

Not for nothing, but if your child is running away from you still at 3 and a half years old, then he's too young for Disney. Put him in the stroller and make him stay there unless he's going on a ride. Disney handles hundreds of cases a year in their parks where children have been taken after wandering too far from their parents. The GPS-like devices only work up to a certain distance. If he can't listen and be a big boy and stay with you, then none of you are going to have an enjoyable trip chasing him around.