SAHMs: Do you worry about being....

[visitor1]

Wow...ive not ever thought about this one til you mentioned it....hmmm now u have me thinking.

Considering my lil girl cant say much more then Mum, Dad, Bub and nan....let alone dial 000....i think id be up $hit creek to say the least.

[Mother Goose]

Bath - do you have speed dialling on your phone? The simple ones where you don't have to press 20 different numbers to make the speed dial work! You could program it into the phone and teach them to use that. But I like the suggestion someone made about putting a red dot on the 0 button.

When I have taught kids how to call 000, we have done lots and lots of role play including me pretending to be the phone operator and asking all the questions they ask. The first thing they ask is "Police, fire, or ambulance?" and then patch through to the appropriate service where they ask questions like name, address, what is wrong etc.

Don't fret if your little one is too shy to speak on the phone. If they are able to dial 000, 000 WILL trace the call and send police around (as someone else said). Even if your phone number is a "silent" number, it will show up on their system and they can track it back to your residence.

Are your neighbours home during the day? Do your kids know them? That is another really good alternative - knowing to go to the neighbours if something is wrong. You can teach them under what circumstances you want them to go to the neighbours (i.e. if Mummy/Daddy can't wake up, if Mummy/Daddy falls and can't get up, if Mummy/Daddy tells you etc). If they can go to your neighbour and alert them to your condition - your neighbour can call the ambulance for you.


HTH and try not to fret too much.

MG