Posted on 10/13/2008 6:40:19 PM PDT by Oyarsa
I was reading a messageboard thread over at Babyfit.com, and was curious as to what my fellow Freepers thought of the practice of using toddler leashes?
Do you swear by them? Abhor them? Want to burn them on sight?
Go ahead and use them- your kids will have something to remember you by when they’re with their new mommy and daddy.
I had to get one for my son when he was a tyke. He walked sooooo slooooooowwww that he was forever behind me. I spent more time looking for him than getting my shopping done. I had to get one to make him keep up.
Have a 4 and 6 year-old and work full-time while rearing them since they were born.
Never once did that - I always carried them if it was a short trip, or where they would at max be held 30 minutes in any extended, continuous stretch. I always figured if cars, danger, tiredom, was around, I’d just pick them up and carry them. It burned extra calories for me to carry the extra 20-30 lbs and most important, created a safety bond between my kids and me.
Of course, as they got to toddler/walking age, we let them walk/hold our hands or be within several steps as they got more mobile.
We only used strollers for walks over a mile+ and found them cumbersome...never a leash though.
We have used strollers at zoos and Disney, etc - where they get overwhelmed more quickly ;) But otherwise, we rarely used them...
I keep Mrs Al baby on one just for fun sometimes
She lets you just to make you feel manly.
Tht is what I heard..
Bleeding them helps with that? Slows them down or something?
I think they’re very sensible and practical. They’re quite common in Europe, but in the US people don’t seem to be able to get over the knee-jerk reaction that leashes are for dogs. They can actually give a toddler MORE freedom, in that the toddler is free to move farther away from the parent in settings such a sidewalk on a busy street, where a parent would normally have to keep the toddler within grabbing range for safety’s sake. And they eliminate the need for a parent to be constantly grabbing and chasing and shouting “No!”, “Come here right now!”, etc.
Pretty much all toddlers go through a stage where they insist on frequently testing the limits of their ability to escape from their parents’ control. This often puts the toddler in danger, and also makes fools of parents (in the eyes of everyone, including the toddler) giving chase as a giggling toddler darts away from them. I’ve seen way too many parents who cheerfully allow this to go on, essentially agreeing with the toddler that it’s fun game, but then are terrified when the toddler predictably assumes it’s also a fun game to play while standing on a station platform as a train approaches, or standing at the edge of a sidewalk waiting to cross a busy street. I often see parents react to such incidents with unjustified anger or with a really stupid “explanation” lecture to an obviously uncomprehending toddler. A leash avoids all this. A toddler who is on a leash knows it’s not “play run away” time and doesn’t bother trying, but is still free to impulsively run a few feet in any direction when sparked by an interesting sight (except, of course, when the parent is holding the toddler on a short leash during those brief periods on the train platform, etc).
I’d a lot rather see a toddler on a leash, than strapped into a stroller, as so many are these days, even when they’re plenty old enough to be walking. It’s beyond me why so many Americans are perfectly comfortable seeing a toddler imprisoned in a stroller by a secure 3-point harness, so s/he can’t even sit up straight, but are horrified by the sight of a toddler happily running around at the end of 5 foot long leash.
Hows you anchor did you leave it on the boat
My sister was the kind of kid who took off running whenever her feet touched the ground. I remember our parents putting her on a leash when we went to crowded places like theme parks or the fair.
That was when she was about 2 or 3 years old.
Lol
I understand that my mother-in-law used to put a harness and leash on my husband when he was a hyperactive toddler and attach him to the clothesline so he could run in the yard — LOL! He’s 6’3” now and the image is very amusing. She had to stop doing it, though, because he kept wiggling out of it. One day he walked a few blocks away and across a busy street on his way to find the library. Luckily, a fire house was on the way and the firemen intercepted him.
At 57, he’s still a bit ADHD.
My brother and I argue over this. Our kids are the same age and when they were about a year old, we all went to the mall. I put a child “leash” on my kiddo around his waist and chest. He (my son) was as happy as he could be because he got to walk on his own and he thought he was going wherever he wanted. Since my nephew is not a “dog” and didn’t wear a leash, my brother had to hold him all night or try to walk holding his hand all slumped over. A couple of times my nephew shook loose of my brothers hand and he spent half the time chasing him. My nephew cried and was miserable all night...
1 year olds are old enough to train to stay with you but they are still babies and will make mistakes... one that could cause you to loose your kid forever. A child leash is a safety thing. Some old timers say their parents didn’t need one blah blah... but times have changed and there are more dangers out their and wierd people everywhere.
Well....I am the mother of 4 and only used the leash on the second. When the oldest was 13, I had 3 more children each only one year apart.
Taking a 2 and 1 year olds, and newborn out for a walk was a challenge all by itself. The 2 year old was a easily distracted ( especially trucks) and was so excited and thrilled to see one he would simply bolt.
Besides this our home was on a busy Main Street. For mere reasons of safety a leash was an absolute necessity. Especially in a parking lot.
In a parking lot are you able to hold the hands of a one year old and two year old while ( at the same time) unbuckling a newborn out of her car seat? ( Just wondering how many hands you may have been blessed with.)
So?....I contend that it is far less abusive to put an impulsive 2 year old on a leash than to straight jacket him in a stroller, or ( worse still) keep the 2 year old, 1 year old, and newborn imprisoned in the house.
But...I can see you are a much better mother than I am, and with the merely look of the evil eye could stop any bolting two year old in his tracks, even if you could only see the back of his head.
By the way, my 3 younger kids started college at 13, 12, and 13. All finished all general college requirements and Calculus III by the age of 15. The two younger had B.S. degrees in math at 18. The older of these two has a masters in math at 20. These young women are now married and mothers themselves and are strong in the gospel.
The oldest (now 24) will soon finish a masters in accounting. He is a nationally and internally ranked athlete, and has traveled the world representing the U.S. As an older teen he worked for several years for our church in the Baltics and as a result is completely fluent in Russian. He too is faithful in our church.
Leashing the second of my children didn't seem to hold him back any.
I hope your children are doing as well.
I bought one at a rummage sale, but can’t remember using it. There were a couple of times when I wished that I had. I once lost two sons in a Target store. The toddler ran off, I was juggling the baby & I sent the oldest son to fetch the runaway. Oldest was old enough & smart enough to go to the service desk to have me paged. Course, I was in a state of panic by then, as I had started looking for them when they didn’t immediately return together.
I remember hiding inside of one of those circle shaped clothes racks when I was a child. I ended up with children just like myself, proving to me that the mother’s curse does work.
Your child is old enough for you to have learned that no matter what you do, there will be people who think you’re doing something wrong in raising them & they’ll be happy to tell you their opinion about it too.
BTW, when the boys got older, we played red light, yellow light & green light when we were taking walks. Red was of course stop. Green was permission to run & yellow was slow down, you’re getting too far ahead.
practice of using toddler leashes?
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As a child I loved them because I knew I was about to be free of the cuffs to the water pipe in the bathroom for an outing.
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