What do you think about baby leashes?

[Midnight_Fairy]

NEVER underestimate a toddler in full blown tantrum mode!!! lol

 

[annawrigley]

NEVER underestimate a toddler in full blown tantrum mode!!! lol

Tell me about it, never knew a 13 month old could go so crazy! And I've been told this is just a rehearsal for the real thing

 

[Laura2919]

NEVER underestimate a toddler in full blown tantrum mode!!! lol

Tell me about it, never knew a 13 month old could go so crazy! And I've been told this is just a rehearsal for the real thing

I wish my phone had a video recorder, I'd record Chloe in a full blown tantrum and I am sure people would be shocked, she is like a demon lol

 

[moomin_troll]

zanes always been good with holding my hand, until one day afew weeks ago when he decided to play up running around a shop. then i got him and went outside the shop to wait for my mum. he got away from me and tried to run in to the carpark!

i ran after him and grabbed him, he started to shout at me ect so then i said fine u cant hold my hand heres ur reins lol

and when next baby is born i will use a wrist rein on zane to attach him to the pram so he cant run off as when u have 1 baby in a pram and another whos roaming free u cant exactly let go of the pram and start running can u

 

[moomin_troll]

NEVER underestimate a toddler in full blown tantrum mode!!! lol

Tell me about it, never knew a 13 month old could go so crazy! And I've been told this is just a rehearsal for the real thing

I wish my phone had a video recorder, I'd record Chloe in a full blown tantrum and I am sure people would be shocked, she is like a demon lol

oh no im sure her perfectly natural outburts would be totaly ur fault and will point out how much of a lazy mother you are lol

i swear zane puts people off having children when he goes off on one lol

 

[beccad]

I think if my mum didn't have reins for me when I was a toddler then I'd have been lost in about 30 seconds flat. I had no fear about wandering off at all and mum had my newborn brother in a pram, so couldn't be holding my hand all the time.

 

[ellie]

Tbh I used to think (before kids or before he walked) that I would guarantee I would NEVER use them, other people who do are lazy or can't control their child, etc etc.

i've learned that you can almost NEVER guarantee how you will or won't deal with something when it comes to your child, and tbh, I've learned that if you're not flexible in your thinking as a parent you will come a cropper at some point. Now that's guaranteed. You can think you can control and organise them and not "allow" them to develop certain tendencies all you like, but you are dealing with a person, not an object you can 'control'. you cannot stop them growing into little indepedent beings with their own thoughts and decisions, and they feel very strongly about those decisions past a certain age!

I have some now and put them on occasionally but atm if K knows I am holding the strap he tends to flop down on the ground as he thinks I will pull him up by the strap so I will still hold his hand but keep one hand on the strap, as he has discovered recently that it is a great game to suddenly let go of my hand and run off. he's too young to understand dangers, roads etc, but too old to restrict. So I do as we all do, keep him safe by whatever means necessary until he can understand it and abide by it.

I think some poeple are forgetting too that children are naturally impulsive until a certain age, until their frontal lobes develop (at about 3 - 5 years of age). So they will simply not be capable of planning and reasoning if their emotions or a desire comes to them.

so in short I think they definitely have a place if used carefully and thoughtfully and I have re-thought my earlier views where I just dismissed them out of hand.

 

[moomin_troll]

zane used to dangle around when he first started to wear reins and it was so frustrating. as hes got older he wants to be independant and not hold my hand so i tell him u hold my hand or ur reins go on.

most of the time that works and he will hold my hand but if hes in one of those moods then its reins all the way

 

[Feltzy]

I used to walk on a fairly busy road home with Evie and when she was around 2 she yanked her hand out of mine and ran into the road so quickly, a car had to stop to avoid hitting her. I got reins the next day!

 

[Laura2919]

I used to walk on a fairly busy road home with Evie and when she was around 2 she yanked her hand out of mine and ran into the road so quickly, a car had to stop to avoid hitting her. I got reins the next day!

See this is the point. This is why it winds me up when people sit and say they know exactly what they are gonna do because the wont 'allow' their children to do that. We dont allow them to do it but you cant just expect them not to!

Its not like we want our children to be injured. Must of been so scary for you hun

 

[Feltzy]

I used to walk on a fairly busy road home with Evie and when she was around 2 she yanked her hand out of mine and ran into the road so quickly, a car had to stop to avoid hitting her. I got reins the next day!

See this is the point. This is why it winds me up when people sit and say they know exactly what they are gonna do because the wont 'allow' their children to do that. We dont allow them to do it but you cant just expect them not to!

Its not like we want our children to be injured. Must of been so scary for you hun

Yeah it really was! She'd been fine holding my hand up until then but something made her just want to run for it that day, I really tried to catch up I felt so guilty afterwards.

 

[Laura2919]

Thats the thing with children though they are sometimes too quick. Not everyone has super sharp reactions. I know I dont, I have two so I wouldnt know what to do if one ran off and I had to stop the other one.

 

[rwhite]

I used to be horrified that my mother had me on reins when I was little, and always protested that I would NEVER use them, that they were leashes (like some others of you have said ). Even when pregnant I was adamant that I would never use them.

But about 6 months or so ago, I went in to town with one of my best mates who has an 18 month old. This little girl is loving being able to walk and run around, and she refuses to sit for a long period of time in her push chair so walking it is. But she always runs off and refuses to hold mummy's hand - not to mention that she's very heavy.

And thus my conversion! I can see it being a nightmare, but I think I would prefer peace of mind (and less stress) and a child that looks silly, than the alternative I've spotted some cute reins with bat wings on, I'm definitely going to look in to getting them.

 

[AriannasMama]

I would use them if I had to, though I'd feel a little weird doing so, lol. My mom didn't use them on me, but she did on my younger brother one time, he was at a stage where he refused to hold my moms hand and we were hiking somewhere with cliffs and rocky paths so she couldn't bring a stroller, in that case it was needed, you can't plan out your day around your child refusing to hold your hand, then they are gonna learn they can manipulate you to get whatever they want. If Arianna is anything like I was (NO sense of caution, I have multiple scars to proof it, lol) then I might need to use one if the situation presents itself, we'll both get over it and it wont be a huge deal because its common for people to use them now-a-days anyway.

 

[happydino]

Havent read all the comments, but I will be using reigns when my DD starts to walk. We live in a major city, near a main road and it only takes one slip of the hand and anything could happen. Simillarly in the city she could get lost or be taken from me. What is so wrong about a tiny strap when it makes the possible difference between a happy mother/safe child and a panicked mother and a lost/injured child? If you want to leave it to chance/use a pram then that's fine also.
I dont see why there's so much hate and diversity in parental choices.

 

[summer rain]

I wouldn't use them ordinarily but I wish I would have used it with second youngest DS, when he was two he opened the front door of my in laws and ran right into the road; my OHs cousin ran into the road and grabbed him; thankfully the traffic light meant the cars were all stopped. He was always gunning to run into the road etc but was too big for a pushchair at that age/

 

[Nic1107]

C has reins and she loves them; hers are a backpack shaped like a teddy bear and the strap is teddy's long tail. So cute! She wears them around the house and drapes the tail over her shoulders.

This thread has given me a bit of a laugh; C at 15 months is worlds different than she was before age 1! Now that she's found her feet, she wants to be on them all the time and won't stand for being strapped into a pushchair or even being carried in our arms. And she can escape from the pushchair! She's far too young to begin to understand safety rules, and she's too short to hold hands! She's much bolder than I was as a child too, and never meets a stranger.

My mom is giving me grief for buying them and tells me she 'won't be using them, no matter what I say'... Good for her, she can try to carry a struggling 20-some lb. toddler who is determined to get out of her arms!

 

[KrisKitten]

I love tommys reins lol. He loves walking down the road with me and the only way I can safely do that s with reins. I usually just hold his hand and have the reins round my wrist so that if (and when lol) he does let go I immediately catch them and he's safe. Tbh I think anyone who hasn't had to deal with a toddler has to curb their opinion on this.
I dont find it offensive being described as lazy for using them, just laughable. If people really think that a 12 - 18 month old is old enough to either understand the logic and reasoning of holding on/hands or not old enough to tantrum or run away then they're gonna have to learn some hard lessons before they can look after their toddler safely.

 

[OmiOmen]

I love tommys reins lol. He loves walking down the road with me and the only way I can safely do that s with reins. I usually just hold his hand and have the reins round my wrist so that if (and when lol) he does let go I immediately catch them and he's safe. Tbh I think anyone who hasn't had to deal with a toddler has to curb their opinion on this.
I dont find it offensive being described as lazy for using them, just laughable. If people really think that a 12 - 18 month old is old enough to either understand the logic and reasoning of holding on/hands or not old enough to tantrum or run away then they're gonna have to learn some hard lessons before they can look after their toddler safely.

I could not articulate it better myself. Although I have always being pro-reigns and intended to use them I agree that until you have a toddler you have no clue! I know I found having as baby different than expected and have done things I said I never would. Plus, you can not account for the person your child will grow in to. My son has always being very bright and very active which makes him a handful to entertain and keep up with where as I have friends with kids the same age who are really sedate.

I would say (in my opinion) that lazy parenting is when you do something to make things easier for you and it is compromising the quality of care your child has in some way (maybe ignoring them, ect). Doing something to stop them getting snatches or ran over seems like responsible parenting to me.

 

[cyclura]

I use them and I find it rather rude being called a lazy parent. I live on a main road, what does the "perfect mother" think I should do then? keep my 2 year old in a push chair until she understands road safety? but then how will my 2 year old ever learn road safety if she is not allowed out the pushchair until she grasps it? see where I am coming from here?

They are a godsend, LO does hold my hand but I have the reins because she has a habit of seeing a bug or bird etc and running to watch it, everything in her way is ignored and this is typical 2 year old behaviour, so "prefect mother" when your child gets to 2 years old and wants to explore but just cannot grasp the concept of danger what will you do? strap your child into a pushchair or let her explore her world under control and supervision?