I used one with my daughter (now 28 and successfully launched), and it was great. The kind I had fastened in the BACK, as Marienee says, and it had straps to attach to a stroller, high chair, or shopping cart seat. Lisa was pretty well behaved and good natured anyway, but even the best of small children are prone to get excited and dash off to see something new. She got to do plenty of running around in the house, in the yard, and on the playground, but when she was in a public place, she was not allowed to run wherever she wished.
Baby and child car seats were just beginning to be required when she was born. My mother and grandmother said that they’d always just tossed the kids in the back seat. However, all it took to make a believer out of ME was one time when I had to stop suddenly…and I realized that my daughter could have been flying into the windshield. Restraint devices are not just for parents’ convenience, but often for the child’s safety as well.
Being on a leash allowed me to take Lisa to many places, which she enjoyed, without causing a fuss or hassle for everyone else. When she was old enough to understand that she had to stay with me or her daddy, and was capable of doing so in the face of temptation, we quit putting her in a harness. And for those who might think that we kept her too safe…when she was a gradeschooler, she was allowed to ride her bike to just about anywhere on base housing, and to the base convenience store. She knew to head for home when the streetlights came on. We have always tried to give her as much freedom as possible, while still keeping reasonable safety standards.
We have a ‘leash’ for our toddler. We got disapproving looks from some, but most of the attention we got was from parents. They’d say things like “Where did you get that! I need one!” or “I wish I had that for when my kids were little”, that sort of thing.
For the record, it was about five dollars, at Wal-Mart. Blue, manufactured by Safety First, and velcro.
ETA: I would double over the leash to make it so he couldn’t go as far out as the leash would allow. It’s about ten feet, and he could get in a lot of trouble ten feet from Mommy.
I think they’re great. I had one for my kids…one tied around their wrist, and another attached to my wrist. That way they could scamper a bit but not get too far.
My daughter also had a darling bathing suit that had an innertube built in around her waist. It was impossible for her to drown unless you actually stuck her in the water upside down. (Not that we ever left her alone, but we got a lot of approving compliments with it.)
I was waiting in line at a grocery store, and while this woman is unloading her cart, her son decides to clamber out of the seat. He looked old enough to be adventurous, but not old enough to be steady on his feet, so I grabbed him and plopped him back down in his seat.
RuffLlama will be two in April, and thus far, we haven’t needed or used one. But then again, we don’t go out to the mall (I personally hate malls–bleh!) or many people-saturated places without both parents, so there is always a pair of eyes on him. RuffLlama is a shy sort and prefers the stroller or Mommy’s legs–for now! But you better believe that once we even begin to think he might be a bolter, we’ll be buying one of these things. I might get one just to have at hand in case the next time we go to the zoo, he decides to take off mid-visit.
Maybe my two boys were remarkable, but much like a puppy we felt it was a better idea to teach the little … darlings to not take off. The held a hand or stood still, and the oldest took off exactly once. He learned his lesson after that.
Whenever I see a kid on a leash I assume the child has developmental difficulties.
My Mother used one for me and I fully intend to use one for my child if I ever have one. I didn’t have the harness type (I don’t even know if they made that kind back then) but the type that snapped around my wrist. That was sufficient for me, I wasn’t a bolter just easily distracted.
The child is safe and able to walk around. The parent has piece of mind, use of both hands, and no sore back from leaning over trying to hold the hand of someone two feet tall. The only downside is loud mouthed busy bodies who feel the need to butt into other people’s business.
I don’t let my cat outside without a harness for her safety why would I want less for a child?
Did the manager actually agree to pay for damage to a customer’s coat that the customer’s child had done? Or was this coat merchandise and the inattentive parent refused to pay for it? Either way, your manager was an ass for even suggesting it was your responsibility to make sure that the parent did their job or to do it for them.
As for actual leashes/harnesses, I don’t see the problem if the kids happen to be the type that’ll bolt for the nearest highway as soon as you look away for a nanosecond. Some kids are naturally prone to be distracted and wander off, and a smaller segment of them are the kind that can wreck the entire department of a store in forty seconds. It’s a lot easier on parents, child, and those around them to make sure they’re behaving themselves by whatever means are necessary and not harmful. I really don’t think it’s harmful, but it does look silly; however, most kid-related things look silly.
ETA: Also, the height issue: If I were to have a kid, I would be unlikely to want to stoop to hold its hand the entire time I’m doing something. I may have always been tall as a kid, but until I was closer to five, I was still too short to make handholding a comfortable practice between me and my adults. It’s not comfortable to hold hands with someone who’s two to three feet shorter than you with teeny arms, and it’s especially uncomfortable to do for exetended periods of time.
My husband, now 41, wore a harness when he was small–he has a picture of himself in it–though I’m not sure if it was commercially made or his parents improvised it.
We have harnesses for our twins–the same one in the first link in the OP–though we’ve only used them a handful of times. They’re very useful in situations where they could easily get away from you and you can’t watch them every second, and strollers aren’t practical–and after a certain age, they strongly object to being strapped in the stroller, anyway.
For those of you using a leash/tether, what kind of nasty comments do you get ? And what are your snappy comebacks?. I liked the one of " which one will you chase" but I might need one for a single kid.
Also, if you are with a kid in a crowded store, how do you keep people tripping over the line? If kiddo has run off just 7 feet to that other side of the aisle, that means you have a tripwire spanning that same aisle and dozens of people walking there, with most of them not paying attention to what happens at knee-height.
My son was lost - really lost - for over forty minutes TWICE. Plus lost several times in stores for lesser amounts of time. At no time did he ever get terrified (I did). When we found him (well, once he found us) he was happy as a clam. He was picking flowers in the park, or hiding knowing we’d find him, or he’d found a TV. Maybe my kids is particularly stupid or particularly trusting or particularly independent, but since he was little he has never been afraid if his parents aren’t there. This is quick ninja boy - so the whole quick, quiet, and doesn’t really care if Mom is nearby added up to lots of trouble.
So I wouldn’t recommend your method because - while it would have worked great on my daughter (who didn’t need it since she was born with velcro attachments to my leg), it wouldn’t have worked on my son - but would have taught him just what actually losing him did - that there isn’t anything to worry about - eventually Mom finds you or you find Mom. Not the thing you want a three year old to learn.
I haven’t gotten a single one. Seriously. I was afraid I would, but nope. I’ve gotten lots of smiles and “isn’t that cute” and “what a GREAT idea!” from passerby and employees alike, but no nasty comments.
I have 5 kids. Every once in a while, one of them would wander off. Sometimes they weren’t paying attention, and I’d let them get “lost” and panic a little, then warn them about staying close. Sometimes if they were wandering repeatedly, I’d make them hold my hand, or get into the cart. I think this works for most people, most of the time.
That being said, if I had a bolter, I wouldn’t hesitate to get a leash. Those kids are scary.
My kid was a runner when she was little. I just kept a death grip on her hand at all times. I figured (knowing how she was at that time) she’d probably find a way to hang herself by accident if I had her on a leash.
As was said, that happens with strollers also. It’s a tool, like any other, the parents who are ignoring the kid on the leash would ignore them if they were in the stroller or grocery cart.
I did have a leash for my son, we didn’t use it very often as it wasn’t generally necessary but going somewhere that I knew it would be easy for him to disappear I would use it.
We didn’t get many comments from the adults, but many of the kids around here had things to say. “Why’s he on a leash? Is he a dog?” “No, he’s on it to keep him safe.” And to keep him from following them into the traffic in the parking lot which is a place they like to play.
I have a picture somewhere of myself from wearing one that was made of leather and my Dad had tied one of those yellow ropes to. The way I’m kneeling in front of flowers (it was taken at the park in Vancouver) I look like I’m praying for release.
Yikes. I guess I’m lucky that my three kids reacted the way I thought they would…
You see, I was a “bolter” as a kid myself. Well not a “bolter”, but a “hider”. I deliberately tried to ditch my Mom a few times to see how long it would take her to catch me. I did this enough times that I actually remember doing it, like to the age of 4 or 5. One of my early memories is of hiding inside one of the clothes racks at Macy’s, the circular kind with a crossbar in the middle, perched on the crossbar so my mother couldn’t see my feet, hearing her frantically calling for me and thinking it was the funniest thing in the world.
Now if my Mom had actually just gone off and seemingly not noticed I was gone I think I would have totally freaked. So I figured I had insight into my kids’ mentalities.
I didn’t do the leash thing, not b/c of any objections to that method, but b/c I couldn’t have handled those really trying environments (crowded stores, open parks, etc.) on my own even WITH leashes. Try changing one kid’s diaper while the other one roams around exploring the public bathroom floor, ick!
Plus it just so happened that my husband and mother were both unemployed when the twins were 15-22 months old, so it was easy for me to find a second adult. After that we bought a house and I quit even trying to take them to non-kid places for a long while.
Mine were absolutely the kind to dash off in different directions. Gosh, even the mall playland required a second adult - one kid would take off for the exit as the other one climbed up the bench at the other end to go over the wall.
I can remember actually trying to run two directions at once, but the exact circumstances have faded from memory.
Shortly after our baby was born, we moved aboard our sailboat for 14 months. During that time, she learned to walk, and 10 seconds later she learned to run. Our boat was moored at the end of the dock. When I had groceries or laundry to haul from the car, it was lots easier to have the young 'un tethered.
When we went mall-walking (cheap entertainment, you know) she had the freedom to walk without having to hold our hands, and we had the security of knowing she was at the end of the 6’ leash. No one ever said anything to me about it, and frankly, I don’t think I’d have cared if they had. I think it’s a great invention!
