Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on child/toddler walking harnesses?
Iv always been against them because it seemed like walking a dog and why not just get the child yourself,
but now that I have a toddler myself (a super fast one at that)
Im thinking it might be a good idea.
for safety reasons and also because I suffer from cronic fatigue and back problems.
Would you recommend a walking harness, or do you have a better alternative?
(Aside from the pram)
toddlers walking harness, yes or no?
toddlers walking harness, yes or no?
Posted in:
Parenthood Guilt, Behaviour, Baby & Toddler, Kids
8 Replies
Of dear, welcome to the real world! You do whatever you have to, to keep your child safe and if that means a harness then go for it. We used a harness for excursions where it was extremely crowded. It seriously only takes a second to loose a toddler and that easily can turn into an incident that you'll never recover from.
I have twins and when they were toddlers I considered getting harnesses, I never ended up actually buying them but for safety reasons they are sometimes necessary. People will judge but really it's your choice not theirs, you are the mum and you know best :)
Oh there was once a time when i thought the harnesses were only for dogs, until i found I had a runner escape artist (he could get out of any pram, Houdini straps can't even hold in little Houdini), a new born and a 4 year old. Chasing a 2 year old with a baby strapped to you isn't safe at all, so I got one, worked a treat.
Here's my view on it, if you are going to lose your child, risk them running through a car park, or anything else - get one. I'm a firm believer in using them as a last resort only because of my way of trying to teach my kids to hold hands ect, but you can still teach them all of that when they are on the harness.
Absolutely a god send. Especially if you have physical difficulties. They give your toddler a bit of freedom while keeping them safe.
I've never understood why people think it's kin to walking a dog.
I would rather a happy toddler who thinks they are the bees knees cause they can walk themselves.
It also helps when they are just starting to walk as you can stop them falling without hurting yourself in the process. Also keeps your hands free.
I have had people comment and I just said I would rather that than a dead child because they ran onto the road.
Sorry just my opinion :)
Yes! Do it. IMO a led kid is better than a dead kid.
But... use it in conjunction with hand holding in public places so that he's still learning how to be safe and the harness becomes the safety net, as it were. Letting kids run ahead or be dragged behind while on a harness teaches them nothing.
Give him opportunities to run off in controlled environments and you can also play Stop/Go games at home so he knows what those words mean.
My son who was 4 at the time wanted to ride his scooter to macca's so i let him but i clipped a retractable dog lead to the back of his pants because even though he's a good boy all it would take was for him to accidentally scoot out in front of a car this way i still had control if he did loose it i could stop him and i didn't care what looks i got my son was safe and that was all that mattered to me i've never had to use the walking harnesses for out in public but do not see anything wrong with them it's all about safety at the end of the day i'd rather go home with my child and had a lot of filthy looks than loose my child or worse
Yup go for it...stuff what anyone else thinks. Its for your childs safety.
Yup go for it...stuff what anyone else thinks. Its for your childs safety.