Mummy I'm Here Teddy Bear Child Locator review

Now that the summer holidays are upon us, if the sun decides to put in an appearance, we'll all be out and about taking kids to the park, the zoo, the beach and the swings, or attending the various summer festivals, fetes, play days and other family events that are put on to keep everyone entertained. The problem with all of these days out is that wherever you choose to go, hundreds of other people will have had the same idea so keeping an eye on your kids to make sure they don't wander off is always a source of stress.

Despite our best efforts, it literally takes a few seconds of inattention (for example, if you're tying the shoelace of a sibling or searching in your bag for your phone that's ringing) for small children to wander off out of sight and create a mad panic while we try to find them. Usually, thankfully, they haven't gone far - particularly in shops, they may still be within reach but if they're danced off around behind a rack of clothes listening to the funky muzak or attached themselves to the wrong trolley as you pluck things off the supermarket shelves, they can be hard to spot.

That's where the Mummy I'm Here Teddy Bear Child Locator comes in, which Safe Girl UK (who sell safety devices for grown ups as well as children) sent me to try out. Working very much like one of those "find your keys" keyrings, you attach the cute plastic teddy bear to your child's shoes (by threading the laces through the clip) or belt and, if they go astray, you push the button on the transmitter key ring so that it emits a loud beep. Alternatively, you can use the velcro strap to attach it to your child's wrist, although this is not so foolproof as it would be much easier to take off or lose.

As you can see in the picture, Juliette loves it and said she'd be happy to wear it in public. She also thinks it's really funny when I make it beep, although it does always make her jump so be careful you won't cause an accident by making them swerve on their bike or scooter if you suddenly make it beep ! Volume-wise, it's 86 decibels which I find is about as loud as a smoke alarm and is designed to work over a 45 metre radius.

My two criticisms would be that, firstly, it is too chunky for the size of the child who will probably be wearing it - the teddy bear plastic casing could be much smaller and attached to a plastic wrist-watch style strap which would be less likely to come undone than velcro - and secondly, I think it's a bad design that the on-off switch is on the teddy bear part where the child can easily turn it off, rather than the parent's transmitter. The blurb on the packaging talks about helping relocate an abducted child - one of the first things the abductor would do is turn off the device !

These negative points aside, it's still a really good idea though and one which can give parents greater peace of mind. It's labelled as water-resistant but I haven't tried it out in the pool so can't vouch for this (yet !). Another fabulous way of using this product is as a way of calling in your older kids for dinner. If Sophie's outside with her friends or riding her bike, I always end up yelling her name out of the window but if she goes out armed with the teddy bear, one quick discreet beep and she knows it's time to come in. Brilliant !

star rating : 4/5

RRP : £29.99

for more information : http://www.safe-girl.co.uk/kids-safe/27--mummy-i-m-here-teddy-bear-child-locator.html

Other reviews you may be interested in :

Me Finder Digital Wristband - "Help Mummy Find Me !"

Buggy Tug Pram Wrist Strap review
Summer Holiday Safety: how to spot and treat a child's head injury