Looking for what to do in toddler-stalking situation advice/websites.?

Do to incident at Chuck E. Cheese this weekend where a man in his 60s was closely following my 2 year old son aroudn and then followed us to the Target a fewblocks away, continueing to stay within a few feet of us at all time making both me ad my son very uncomfortable - I have been looking for googling for advice on how to handle this type of situation if it should arise again and am shocked at the utter lack of information. Do you have any advice, or know of any website specific to this topic? I am looking for something more specific to children who are too young for ';stranger danger'; - my son is a late talker and would not be able to articulate the situation accurately or efficiently. Since this man did nothing wrong excpet make us uncomfortable, I can not go to the police, so please do not suggest that for this situation, but thank you for the concern.Looking for what to do in toddler-stalking situation advice/websites.?
You are correct. There is very little on the net about prevention of abduction if your child is not talking yet.





This is what I would do:


1. Child harness. If the child is connected to you they are more likely not to be taken.


2. I know you said that you don't want to call the police but they do have info on protection of children. They may have steps you can take in the future. At least in Canada the police have many programs for various things that are offered to the public. They may also have stats about abduction in areas of your town/city. Stay away from high abduction rates areas.


3. I would confront the guy in a public place and ask him ';Why are you following me?'; This is probably not the right thing to do, but it is what I would do. Most of these guys are cowards.


4. If you are driving to a different place and he follows you, drive to the police station instead. I've done this before for other reasons. The guy took off after I parked my vihicle in the police parking lot.


5. Keep a constant eye on your child. The obivous answer.


6. There are also child safety hotlines in Canada, I don't know about the US, you may want to look that up and see if they have any info.


7. If your child is in daycare or day home, tell them about this happening.





What a scary situation. My child is just about two. You have started me thinking about safety with this question.Looking for what to do in toddler-stalking situation advice/websites.?
There is nothing to really ';teach'; your son about it at this point...he is too young to really grasp the concept. At 2 I would assume he is never unattended. IF you are ever being followed and feel threatened you should call the police. It may not be an offense they can make an arrest for, but they will certainly respond and talk to the man. For all you know, the man is a registered sex offender and could be arrested for violating the terms of his parole.
I would not worry about your son articulating the situation at all. This man was not just a threat to your son, but to you too. For all you know, he was trying to find a good time/place to kidnap you.





the fact that he followed you to another location and continued to follow you in THAT location would be enough for me to contact law enforcement. There were security cameras in Target that would have been able to to see the man entering behind you and possibly seen him following behind you in the store. You could have either gone into the ladies room and called the police or if you felt bold enough, gone to the customer service counter and asked them to call because this man was stalking you in a second location.
Not sure what your expectation is; are you trying to find out how to teach your child to respond to a stranger in this situation or how a parent should handle it?





There is not much out there because a child too young to understand stranger danger is too young to be out of sight of an adult. They do not have the capacity to judge a situation or realize it is odd for adult to give them so much attention. You are in charge and you have the capacity to just leave the situation. Or you can contact the store manager and make them aware of it - either target or Chucky Cheese. You can confront him too - say 'excuse me, do I know you?'; Making him aware that you see/identity him can put them off too. But I would go the route of speaking to the managers at the places as perhaps he is there and they need to also be aware of it.
watch your son. and go up to the man and directly ask him. once he knows that you've seen his face and are aware of him, he'll be more likely to back off. say to him that you've noticed he's been follow you and if he continues, you're calling the police. be direct and show him tha tyou're the type of mother that notices thing and you will call the authories if it continues. in the mean time watch your son very very very closely.





*note: confront him in a PUBLIC place. not alone.
the man did do something wrong, he made you guys feel unsafe and he followed you with who knows what intentions.


A 2 year old is barely going to understand this concept so for now you as the adult need to be prepared. if a man follows you again like that. go straight to costumer service, DO NOT go to the bathroom as he can follow you there and he can trap you. When at costumer service call the police and tell them of the situation. Believe me a store wants you to feel safe there and they do have security that can detain him while the police comes.





i am not sure who informed you about going to the police, but you are seriously misinformed. It is considered stalking and harrasment even though he never said anything. YOU could have called the police or gone to customer service. so dont think that you could not have called. thats the worst mistake people make, it also makes a good scare tactic. I would also not confront the person directly as it could become a physical battle.