Best Child Locator Alert Devices - Keep Track of Your Toddlers

It can happen to any of us - you take your eyes off your child just for an instant, just long enough to check a price tag - and he's wandered off, out of sight around the corner of an aisle.

Ninety-nine percent of the time you find your little wanderer within a few seconds... but what does it do to your peace of mind, for those terrifying moments when you can't track down your little one? That's where a child locator comes in.

Featured here: "Mommy I'm Here" Child Locator is shaped like a teddy bear. Shown here is the brown bear, but this popular and reliable tracker is also available in pink or blue, and even in multi-device packs for the convenience of families with several kids.

The best locator devices - toddler trackers, you might call them - are not necessarily the most expensive child finders on the market, and they don't need to be. There is a lot to be said for a simple child locator that you can use right out of the package, with not a whole lot of bells and whistles to figure out or get set up when you're in a rush to get on with your day.

The earlier versions of the "Mommy I'm Here" child locator devices, such as the brown teddy bear and pink teddy bear units (shown above), do not sound an automatic Alert if the child strays away from the parent or caregiver, as is included in the new blue teddy bear version (shown below).

These older teddy trackers are just simple locator devices that will beep in response to a call button on the base unit worn by the parent, so make sure to choose the blue version of the popular bear child finder (shown below) if you want the automatic alert feature that's triggered by range, by how much distance is between you and your kid.

Distance alert will sound if the teddy bear (child) goes too far from the base unit (adult), so you get a chance to stop your Happy Wanderer before he or she gets too far away.

They're water-resistant, too, so no panic you and your little one get caught out in a rain shower, as long as nobody goes jumping in mud puddles! I've heard you can get a cover for the bears that will make them waterproof instead of just water-resistant. I haven't seen or tried the covers, so can't give you a recommendation on that particular accessory, but thought I'd mention it if this is an option you might want to look into.

Now, perhaps you care for other people's children in your own home? I don't have to tell you, just a couple extra kids mean you need another pair of hands and maybe eyes in the back of your head too, am I right? And if you own or manage a daycare center or if you're responsible for a number of children on a field trip or sports meet away from home base, the situation gets even more complex. That's where you'll want to size up to the Loc8tor Plus, a multi-user child locator device that get top ratings for reliability.

Add in extra kids to your tracking system by picking up some extra tags, either the homing tag or the homing tag with panic button.

A widely publicized child locator, the Giggle Bug was actually the first child locator device I'd run into, some years back, when a friend used Giggle Bug locators at her day care center to help keep track of a couple of special-needs or high-energy toddlers who could wander off in the blink of an eye. Intelent Technologies (the maker of Giggle Bugs) gives an excellent value for under $20, she said, but she found the quality control was a bit "hit or miss" back then. Some units worked just great right out of the box, a few others had to be returned.

Some brands of child locators are more reliable than others

The version 2 Giggle Bug Kid Finder is supposed to have a louder alarm, among other improvements, which is good - but all the actual customer reviews I've found for Giggle Bug are from the older version of the product.

You can still find original GiggleBugs on Amazon and eBay, but I have never seen the updated version 2 for sale anywhere - not yet, anyway.

For what it's worth, my daycare-operator friend has since switched to using the Mommy I'm Here teddy bear trackers - the blue ones with the new alert feature - for the kids in her care, and she's been happy with that choice.

Never a Substitute for Proper Adult Care and Supervision!

I do think a child locator is a brilliant invention, but only as a backup to the normal close attention of a parent or caregiver. Anything that can save a moment of panic is good - especially when kids are at that age where they think it is funny to play "hide and seek" at the mall or park, while you're flipping out with worry and panic!

Having taken care of a senior family member with dementia due to Alzheimers, too, I can see how useful it would have been in that situation from time to time, when she started to get up and wander in the night...

Have you used a child locator or tracker with your toddler, or in an elder-care situation? Do you have a favorite type of locator device you'd like to recommend? Please share!