Parents take 14hrs to realise 5yo son missing

A Melbourne couple have told police they had so many children with them, it took them 14 hours to realise their five-year-old son had been left at a Christmas lights display late at night.

The boy, Alexander, was discovered wandering alone at 11.30pm (AEDT) on Sunday night in a street in Vermont South after his family had gone to look at the lights.

However, it took his parents until lunchtime on Monday to realise he was missing and contact police.

Alexander spent the night in the watch house at Nunawading police station and was then taken into the care of the Department of Human Services (DHS) on Monday morning.

The DHS will speak to the parents to determine how they could have left him behind.

Sergeant Wayne Williams, from Nunawading police, said the family took two cars from their Dandenong home with their eight children, as well as a neighbour's children, to the lights.

Each parent thought the other had Alexander in their car for the trip home, he said.

"They've got home and all piled out and the kids have gone straight to bed and they didn't realise anything was amiss until lunchtime today," The Age quoted Sgt Williams as saying.

Sgt Williams said Alexander slept well at the police station.

"He curled up and went to sleep. He was a little bewildered and not used to the surroundings but adapted pretty quickly," he said.

About 1.45pm today, police said Alexander's parents had been found.

"We understand that they had taken the family in two cars to visit the display and due to having a large number of children with them they have accidentally left Alexander at the location," police said in a statement.

A police spokeswoman said she was unaware of why it took more than 14 hours to reunite Alexander with his parents.

Alexander was spotted by a passerby on the corner of Narracan Drive and Ensay Court in Vermont South, in Melbourne's east.

He told police his name was Alexander, but could not tell them his surname or where he lived.