A MUM-OF-TWO has shared an ingenious way for parents to keep track of their children.
Lucy Jobbins has come up with the creative idea of using Apple’s new AirTags to help keep track of her children Penelope, 5, and Teddy, 3.
The 32-year-old, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, came up with the idea after feeling anxious about losing her children in public.
Beauty therapist Lucy bought the on Amazon last week and has been tagging them to the inside of her kids’ clothes when they are in crowded spaces.
The AirTags, priced at around £29.49, are intended to keep track of lost keys or wallets but have become an instant hit with parents keen to look out for their kids.
Lucy posted about her hack on Facebook on Sunday (SEP 26), writing: “I thought parents would appreciate this.
“I have two babies under five and one of them bolts away from me whenever he gets the chance.
“Apple air tags from Amazon, connected to my phone so I can clip them to the inside of their clothes if we go somewhere busy/crowded.
“Best money I have ever spent. I used them while we were at Alton towers this weekend and it really calmed me down.
“We lost my littlest at a beach last year and I never recovered from the trauma… Until now.”
The post has been inundated with hundreds of comments from followers who were divided over the idea.
One person wrote: “Got the same for my daughter last week and it goes in her school bag because she now travels by bus quite a way each day.
“It’s really good for giving me peace of mind.”
Another commented: “These would be great for holidays!”
Another user said: “I once lost my son in the supermarket. He was with me and I was leaning over.
“By the time I got back up he was gone! I found him in the photo booth with the curtain closed. Taught me that they really do just disappear in seconds.”
One member added: “I was going to order one of these until I read the range was only ten feet and I thought that’s ridiculous.
“Please could you tell me what the range is? I’ve Googled it and everything says different!”
Speaking today (WED), Lucy said: “I think I am just the average paranoid mum.
“My mind runs absolutely wild with fears of something happening to the kids.
“I saw some bracelets on Instagram and they have your number on them, so I put them on the kids a few weeks ago.
“But then I realised if they fell into the wrong hands, then we’d have trouble.”
Last year Lucy’s son had run off on a family outing and was missing for ten minutes.
She continued: “We were both running around like headless chickens trying to find him.
“My friend told me about Apple AirTags.
“I have them attached to the inside of my baby bag, so when we’re out and about and I get a bit stressed from crowded places I will clip them on the inside of the kids clothes tag.
“They know all about it. So if they are lost they know to stay still and I will be able to come and get them.
“It really calms me down. Until you have two kids and are in a crowded area you would never know the stress.
“There is nothing I could recommend higher to parents.”
Apple AirTags use signals from Apple products like iPhones and iPads in close proximity.
It then bounces its own signal back to the iPhone registered with the tracking device based on the location of other Apple devices near it.
If the item, or in this case, a child, is not near an iPhone user they will not emit a signal back to the user’s iPhone.
