I read an article awhile back about a mom who put her small child on a leash whenever she went shopping. The leash attached to her belt and the child’s belt.
I thought that was an excellent idea as it provided a little bit of extra safely.
However, evidently no one else liked the idea. The mom was slammed on social media for treating her child like a pet. I guess it’s better to risk a child abduction.
I’ve seen child leashes in use in Europe and even in Mexico recently. They’re just soft cords with a cute little figure (such as a monkey or cartoon character) that conceals the chest harness part.
In fact, these harnesses were also used in the United States back in the 1950s and even into the 1960s.
I think they’re a great idea. The child can’t dart out into traffic or do the other unpredictable things small children like to do.
I drive a school bus on the east side of my city, to an RC and several public elementary schools hosting kindergarten to grade six kids. It seems that most of the kids attending these schools are from Africa or the Middle East.
In nice weather, often times mother will walk with a baby in a stroller and a toddler or two running free, near her. The toddlers tend to run free, running into the road and risking injury. In addition, many parents pick their kids up at school, offer parked across the street.
Do they encourage the kids to use the MARKED CROSSWALKS, manned by CROSSING GUARDS? Of course not! Instead, these parents encourage the kids to cross in the middle of the street, and the kids rarely check traffic! Arriving to pick up my ‘kids’, it takes two minutes to go by the school and park. Driving with my ‘kids’ past the school, after school dismissal, takes 10-15 minutes!
It seems to me the attitude amongst many that we import into Canada is, ‘Let’s have eight kids. We get more welfare with eight than three, and if one or two get killed, meh, we’ll just make more!’. When you move to Canada, LEAVE YOUR THE CALLOUS ATTITUDE ABOUT KIDS IN YOUR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN!
One of my children was especially prone to wandering off and no safety belt in a cart could hold her in. I tried the child harness/leash method. The only way that would have worked is if I were willing to drag her through the store. Every time I put it on her she would lay motionless on the floor. It was the only time she was still.
She is now past that phase and we are so thankful that she survived her toddler and preschool years. For awhile I was certain she wouldn’t make it.