“The systems!” My friends and Marie Kondo’s internet shout-out. “All you need is a system. As long as you always put your stuff in the same place, you’ll never lose anything again,” they say, as I stagger to the door carrying the kids’ backpacks, a bag of dirty laundry, the waist pack, and a bag of Dog Food.
Like Elizabeth Bishop, I have developed getting lost to a fine art. I hid my Kindle from my 5 year old and now I can’t find it. My husband borrowed my wallet to grab my car insurance card; while I was looking for him, the dog came out of the yard. You might feel ambivalent about possibly following your friends or loved ones (please resist the urge to sew a tracker into your shady lover’s coat), but without Bluetooth and GPS trackers, I’d barely be able to function . I’ve listed my favorite uses for each of my favorite trackers, but many of them are multi-purpose – if you can stick it on a dog, you can stick it on a kid and vice versa.
For more ideas, check out our roundups of baby travel gear and our many other buying guides, such as Best Strollers.
Updated July 2023: We added Apple AirTags, updated information on some products, and updated links and pricing.
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