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Often derogatorily referred to as "child leashes".
Came up recently as I had a friend on facebook randomly bashing them in a status, and I was kind of annoyed. My sister and brother in law use one quite frequently for my 18 month old niece, who has been walking since she was 10-11 months old. She has an older brother (now 8) who was afraid of his own shadow (frankly still is), who never ventured far from his mother, but she is the complete opposite. She has a very venturesome and daring personality. She won't hesitate to walk away from you with the sort of purposefulness that would convince you she has something important to take care of.
For that reason, the child safety harness has been very useful, preventing her from wandering in the street or into box hauling employees at the supermarket, putting herself in harm's way and inconveniencing others. Yet it seems to provoke some nasty visceral reactions.
I took her running errands with me with the harness on (which looks like backpack with a teddy bear shape, it's not like she's wearing a choker). I'm carrying numerous bags since I had purchased groceries, to go food and now I'm at self-check out in the drug store trying to pay for the new items I had picked up. The child safety harness is on my wrist as she goes back and forth, seeing how far she can get away from me and explore this drugstore. Some woman next to me in self check out says, "Is there a better way that you can handle her?" I said, "Excuse me?" She goes, "Is there a better way that you can handle her besides having her on a leash?"
"Well," I said, "I'm carrying numerous items and it's for her safety." She persists, "Well can't you hold her hand or something?"
Look lady, I can't hold her hand. She's 18 months in the 10th percentile for height and I'm a full grown woman. Even if I did yoga every day I couldn't maintain that posture, and I have bags full of stuff with me.
Instead of worrying about what's restraining her, be glad she isn't running around, in yours or another patron's way, or putting herself in harm's way.
I do not understand why there is so little respect for personal boundaries any more. It is quite simply not anyone's business how you handle a child in public unless you are abusing her somehow. I think that people need to stop defending what they are doing and instead tell the busybodies to mind their own business.
While I would NEVER ever say something to a complete stranger, i do often refer to them as leashes and when my cousin bought one for her walking 10 month old son I did call it a leash. To each there own and I dont give dirty looks but we didnt need one to keep our rambunctious son next to us. And no matter what you call it, its still a leash. In a positive light or a negative one, it is exactly the same as a harness on a pup. And if your train your animal well enough they dont run off, but the law requires a leash. The law doesnt require me to leash my offspring and thus i train him to walk with me OR he gets restrained in a stroller until he learns to walk with me. And the stroller also helps with all the bags too!
People can be so judgmental. I used one a few times. I have no problem with them.
Kids are different. Some don't want to sit in a stroller. Some dart off suddenly. If it keeps the child safe, and works for the family people need to MYOB.
Every child is different. As I pointed out, my nephew didn't need any measures to keep him close to his mom.
Walking is good for her, and strollers are often bulky and inconvenient. And while she'll reply to a stern warning to return, she still gets hypnotized by random objects. She's not even 2. Doesn't mean she's "misbehaved" or "improperly trained".
While I would NEVER ever say something to a complete stranger, i do often refer to them as leashes and when my cousin bought one for her walking 10 month old son I did call it a leash. To each there own and I dont give dirty looks but we didnt need one to keep our rambunctious son next to us. And no matter what you call it, its still a leash. In a positive light or a negative one, it is exactly the same as a harness on a pup. And if your train your animal well enough they dont run off, but the law requires a leash. The law doesnt require me to leash my offspring and thus i train him to walk with me OR he gets restrained in a stroller until he learns to walk with me. And the stroller also helps with all the bags too!
All this is justification. Nobody has to justify their everyday parenting decisions to strangers.
I really honestly do try my best to not judge other peoples parenting *unless they are being inappropriate, like abusive* because everyone knows what is best for them. But I am still going to call it a leash because that is what it is. Just because something works for you doesnt mean and works for me and just because it works for me doesnt mean it works for you. Like i said I would NEVER EVER EVER say something to someone. But when posting you open yourself to critique.
I really honestly do try my best to not judge other peoples parenting *unless they are being inappropriate, like abusive* because everyone knows what is best for them. But I am still going to call it a leash because that is what it is. Just because something works for you doesnt mean and works for me and just because it works for me doesnt mean it works for you. Like i said I would NEVER EVER EVER say something to someone. But when posting you open yourself to critique.
Well, of course, you can call it a "leash", even as a joke. However, what if it bothered that person?
I know somebody who used a leash. Her son would bite.
I do not understand why there is so little respect for personal boundaries any more. It is quite simply not anyone's business how you handle a child in public unless you are abusing her somehow. I think that people need to stop defending what they are doing and instead tell the busybodies to mind their own business.
It is possible that they see defending their decisions as sticking up for themselves.
I recently read a book on assertiveness for kids and I was quite surprised on the chapter on how to deal with criticism.
Not one single mention about defending one's decision came up. Instead, it was more about how to respond or not respond to the person criticizing.
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