Hungry 3-year-old sneaked out of home and walked to McDonald’s by himself

A 23-year-old mother of twins went viral on TikTok after she shared that one of her children sneaked out of their home and went to a nearby McDonald’s while she was taking a nap. In an interview with TODAY.com, Marissa Phiffer said she was taking a nap with her 3-year-old twin children when one of them woke up and went out.

“I was sleeping on the floor right next to their cribs,” she said, adding that she later noticed her son Aiden was nowhere to be found after she woke up. “He was not in the house. He was not in the basement. He was not in the front yard or the backyard.”

Phiffer said her son’s disappearance left her in a state of panic. She ultimately called 911 to report that her son was missing. “I really started to get nervous when he wasn’t in our neighbor’s yard. I thought that’s where I’d find him. They have a bunch of rocks and he likes to line them up and play with them,” she said.

The 23-year-old said police responded in “two seconds” and showed her an image of a minor. She ended up breathing a sigh of relief as that was Aiden and he had been found at McDonald’s not too far from their Wisconsin home.

She said a Good Samaritan who saw her son walking alone contacted authorities, adding that she eventually drove to the restaurant with Aiden’s sister. “We run in, and he goes, ‘Hi, Mom!,’” she recalled.

Phiffer also told TODAY.com that she could not even get angry as she was relieved her son had been found safely. She also said Aiden told him he was hungry when she asked him why he went out. “I almost bought him a Happy Meal, but I was embarrassed,” she said. “I just wanted to get out of there.”

It also turns out that Aiden loves McDonald’s and is always happy when he goes there with his mother to get food. “Fries, nuggets and apple slices — he’d eat that every day,” the 3-year-old’s mother said. “But that was actually his first time going to the PlayLand there.”

To prevent an incident of such nature from happening again, Phiffer said she has since fixed child-proof safety locks and door latches.