My wife and I are currently debating whether or not we should use a child harness (aka leash). It'd be great to take our son to the park and let him walk around on his own without having to chase him everywhere. However, I've always been against the idea of putting a leash on my child though now as a parent I understand why one would want to. Would love to know what others think, pros and cons to using one, and possible recommendations if we do decide to use one.
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We used one of these cute monkey harness/backpacks a few times and it was great. We used it in very crowded venues (summer fairs, aquariums) where our daughter wanted to run everywhere and look at everything. It took the stress right out of those events, knowing that she was right there. Not only did we not get any funny looks, other people were clearly interested in getting the same thing. |
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When children start walking - and for the next year or so - they have an unhealthy attraction to the road. Your child's safety is far more important than the looks you'll get from bleeding-heart, childless know-it-alls, so I would say yes, get a harness. You can get a harness with a soft animal toy build into it, so it looks like a cute little animal is hitching a ride. Our son quite liked it. It seems to change other people's perception from "isn't that cruel" to "isn't that cute". Think of the harness in the same way as training wheels for a bike. You use it to teach a toddler to walk on paths and only cross the road when it's safe. You won't need it for long because from about 18 months onwards they're quite happy to hold your hand. |
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Yes, use a harness We bought one that looks like a cool kids backpack but has a 3 foot long cord. The children love wearing it as we put their toys/comforter, some fruit and a drink inside. We use it every time we go out walking near roads or area where we need to be sure they won't run off. It has prevented them running in front of cars at least three times (particularly in car parking areas) and also stopped them hitting their head on hard ground when they fell as I used the cord to lower them slowly. When your children are able to understand not to run off or towards traffic, you can reduce the use. Some people think it is cruel. I wouldn't know - but my children have not been hit by cars, still have all their teeth and no scars on their faces. |
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We used one a fair bit at that middle toddler stage with all three of our kids - when shopping, at festivals, anywhere crowded or when walking near busy roads it helped us in three ways:
and most importantly
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I bought one for my son when he was about 18 months old and wanted to walk everywhere, but everywhere literally meant EVERYWHERE. Honestly, we only used it maybe 10 times. It wasn't that our son minded wearing it, we just didn't use it as much as we thought we would--mostly because kids that age generally don't really get that far away from you even if they do sort of wander off. Our daughter is now around that same age and we haven't even bothered--whenever we take her somewhere like a park, we allow her some space and stay within about 2-3 feet of her. If she's climbing on a play structure we stay closer in case she takes a nosedive. If we were to go to an amusement park or something like that, I can see the benefits of the leash being greater because it is so easy to lose your kid in places like Disney even if they only get a few feet away from you, but for day-to-day stuff we didn't find it incredibly useful. |
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