Toddler "Leashes"

[NHBelle]

Okay, I have decided to get one. I am not worried about around the parks so much, because my toddler loves being in a stroller. What I am worried about is the lines. Last year he wasn't walking yet, so we carried through the lines (which wasn't easy) so no chance of him running off. This year he is very active, much differant than our daughter at that age. When he is out of his stroller he likes to run and he thinks he is funny. Of course I have to admit it's adorable on the playground or in any other safe environment, but definately NOT in Disney. I have decided the only thing that will make me feel better will be to buy a toddler "leash" or whatever you call them. I am more moried about his safety than any stares I will get form strangers that I will never see again in my life. I just don't know where to get one. I live in a small town and our local dept. stores do not carry them. Does anyone know if Toys R us has them or anywhere else? And what is the real name for them? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[4disneyfans]

....is where we found our but that has been 7 years ago. There are a couple of post on the community board about how they are lifesavers at large theme parks. We would definitly use them again. My attitude was "I would rather have the strange stares than not know where my child is !!" We never really got many anyway. I think Toys R Us would be a good bet. Good Luck !!

[addicted_to_WDW]

DS didn't like his leash, so we only used it once or twice. I bought the type that slips around the wrist as opposed to the harness type. I felt a little better about it. :) I can't remember where we bought it, but it was likely Toys R Us or Babies R US.

[Ali]

I've used both types - the wrist leash and the over the chest harness with my extremely active little soon to be 14 monbth old boy. People come up to me at Disney to say that they are glad I am using one because my son can't get into trouble. Most people will tell you that they wish they had one when their kids were young. So don't worry about that.

Target sells both types, I believe, as well as Walmart and there is one at One step ahead.com that is expensive, and no better than the ones at the discount stores.

We tend to use the harness one more at Disney because it is easier for us to control the direction we are moving and with a wrist leash, my son tends to pull and pull and hurt his wrist because he wants to go a different way.

If you can't find one let me know and I'll pick one up and mail it to you.

[campingcorgi]

We have the Fanny Pack one, and got it at Onestepahead.com

Just checked their site, and they have it for $7.95. Do a search for 'fanny pack'

We love this one and have made more fanny pack pockets for it. She calls it her pocket, and doesn't mind it at all. When we don't need the leash part we can just tuck it into the pocket.


12 days to go

[kaseyC]

I just saw them this morning at BabiesR Us. They carry the wrist type and the harness. You can order from the BabiesRUs.com website if you do not have a store near you.

[vald1977]

We also used the over the shoulder harness type leash on our trip a couple of weeks ago. We put it on right away in the morning to avoid it seeming like a punishment and DS loved it! He actually cried when we took it off at night. I think he enjoyed the freeedom of being able to walk a bit and I certainly felt safer that he had it on. We bought ours at Wal-mart for under $10. I also saw the wrist type leashes for sale at the parks when we were there but the over the shoulder harness seems more secure, IMO. Standing in lines can be so hard for little ones. We tried to avoid carrying him in the lines because it was just too hot but DH did have to put him up on his shoulders sometimes because DS just could not stay still. He loved being up on daddy's shoulders, though. We also had a rule not to stand in any line that was more than 15 minutes long. If it was something we really wanted to see, we either used fastpass or came back at a different time. Hope you have a great vacation :) ! By the way, we never got any stares or comments about using the "leash". There were a lot of people using them.

[minivanmomof2]

Originally posted by campingcorgi
We have the Fanny Pack one, and got it at Onestepahead.com

Just checked their site, and they have it for $7.95. Do a search for 'fanny pack'

We love this one and have made more fanny pack pockets for it. She calls it her pocket, and doesn't mind it at all. When we don't need the leash part we can just tuck it into the pocket.


12 days to go
Oh, I just checked this out and I like it a LOT!
Boomarked the page so I can order go back and order it ........We're going next summer with our two boys and I'd like this for our youngest(he's NOT a toddler but he's an active lil fella) ;)
Thanks for the info!

[Mish]

Last year we also used the belly bag one. I ordered my through Baby Abby.com. It was great DS loved it and we were happy beause he is a runner and we had control. Michelle

[JonHM]

for the fanny pack one: (looks really cool, we may have to pick that up!)

http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=126&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=126

[campingcorgi]

JonHM--thanks for posting the link! I am clueless on how to do that!!

11 days now!!

[minivanmomof2]

Originally posted by Mish
Last year we also used the belly bag one. I ordered my through Baby Abby.com. It was great DS loved it and we were happy beause he is a runner and we had control. Michelle
Thanks for the info......$3 less here :D

[skeezixspud]

DS does not need reins any longer, but at nearly 5, he still wants to be picked up in the ride lines, because he gets tired of having nothing to look at but the backsides of grownups. I found a gadget in a kids consignment store for $3 that is a lifesaver, and it would be easy to make one. Mine came from Japan originally, and actually has a fold-out shoulder strap that I never use.

It is a fanny pack that goes around the adult's waist and serves as a ledge for the child to sit on. Essentially, it is a fanny pack with a flattish top flap, and the interior is filled with a styrofoam wedge. It is really nice to be able to prop a heavy child on the wedge without having to take all the weight of supporting him on your arms. I would think that it would be easy to use an x-acto knife to cut a wedge of styrofoam to fit inside a fanny pack for this purpose.

[crisi]

Here is another one:

http://www.rightstart.com/global/store/product_detail.cfm?TID=02191747135415370216058148&Site=baby&rs_section=Safety&category=Child%20Safety%20%2DOutdoor&GroupID=1214&GroupTP=Model

We bought two at Target that was a Gerber product. Cost all of $5 apeice.

[stacy6552]

The right start used to sell the best one ever! Its called the hands free tether. its basically two belts with a tether between them. its great because it leaves your hands free and your child cant get tangled because the tether is on rings that will slide all the way around!

[elemusing]

I tried a harness that goes on the wrist. Well, in all of 2 minutes, my son figured out how to undo the velcro clasp and was out of it. What a waste of money. Anyway, the belted ones sound like a great idea.

[LBYC-19]

My kids are much older now, but honestly I don't know what I would have done without one when my youngest (who loved to wander) was about two and we went to Disney. I had to fly home with a pre-schoolar and a toddler (DH had to stay on business) and my toddler would have ended up on another flight if it hadn't been for that "leash"! It's great to see you receiving so much support on this issue. Safety is #l.

[Ali]

Just got my "fanny pack" leash things from one step ahead and I am very dissapointed. It is not an actual fanny pack that has a zipper pocket where a child could put his stuff, it is a polyester pocket with a little plastic belt sewn through it. There is no way to close it and it is very small. The packaging says elastic strap, but it is not elastic. I am returning it because i can just imagine using this thing that will move al over my little guys body and I end up dragging him off his feet it if slips down or strangling him if it goes up. If there was a way to locate it around his waist I would do it, but my son doesn't wear anything with belt loops yet, he's only 14 months old and doesn't like anything tight fitting like jeans.

Not a good product in my opinion.

[MaggieMouse]

I just bought the fanny pack restraint from a store here locally. I only paid 5 bucks for it. I tried it out with my daughter (21 months) yesterday. She really didn't like being restrained but once she got used to it it was fine. I was able to tighten it on her waist so it wouldn't slip up or down. It worked really well. I think this is going to work well in Disney. And no she won't be able to store her treasures, but that's what stroller baskets are for!!! ;)

[CanBeGrumpy]

I never had to use one on my kids, but I *did* have one, just in case. What I did was to buy the wrist one, but also buy a kids'-sized fanny pack. I then could put the fanny pack on my child, but before I buckled it I could slip the fanny pack strap through the wrist strap on the leash. I then could put the other end of the leash around my wrist. This way, you can use any fanny pack you like, but still have your child "leashed". I never did use it , but I tried it on my sons a few times to see how they liked it, and they were quite fond of the fanny pack! HTH someone!

[Lainy67]

And my daughter had a FIT. She was two and literally flung herself on the ground and rolled around and screamed and kicked until we took it off.

We are nervous. She is going to be 3 when we go, and we know we need to do one again or we WILL lose her. The fanny pack thing is cool, but I think we want to maybe make our own. Maybe if she helps color it or something she will be more amenable to wearing it.

[jldriscoll]

I was on the fence about the leash thing... Not that I object to them AT ALL, but I've been concerned about getting tangled up with other people or my DD getting hurt, being pulled, etc. UNTIL we went to dd (7)'s second grade concert last week and dd (4) decided to go out in the hall to find a friend, dh thought I knew where she was, I thought he knew where she was....10 sec of panic. She didn't know what the fuss was about. She knew where she was! Needless to say the girl will be leashed!!! Fortunatly my kids love to play "pets" and she'll like nothing better than to be my kitten on a leash :)

[flit]

Hi. We went to DW with my DS(4), DD(3) and DD(3). Needless to say, we had 3 leashed kids. Without them, all I could think of was 3 kids going in 3 different directions and only 2 parents to chase them. Our kids are pretty good about staying close, but the temptations of DW are great. We gave them the choice, they could wear the leash on their wrist or they had to hold one of our hands the entire time. After about 10 minutes of hand holding they were asking for the leash.

[dutton]

How would these work with a 2 1/2 yr old? We went in May w/her and are going again in Dec. and the hardest part w/her was standing in line. I was either holding her or chasing her! How exhausting. It seem alot of people will use these w/ one yr olds and I wanted to know it 2 yr olds tend to balk at them?

[vald1977]

Hi Dutton,
Our ds was 2 1/2 on our May trip and he actually liked his harness. We have one that goes over both shoulders and then velcroes around his middle. I think he liked being able to have a little freedom and not having to hold our hands every single second. Yet, he couldn't get too far. We put the harness on every morning before we entered the park so he wouldn't see it as a punishment.

[Chance's Mom]

I know some people don't think the harness idea is a good one, and having only 1 child I haven't used one. That being said, if I had 2 or more children to watch--I would have been the first to use one. When my DS was 2 1/2 we arrived at the Orlando airport. We arrived at the little monorail that wisks you from the gates to the main terminal just as the doors were closing. I didn't have a hold of my DS's hand and you guessed it, he slipped right through the doors. Instinct took over and I shoved my arm through the doors. They work like an elevator and thankfully opened again. Everyone on that tram breathed a sigh of relief. That was the first day of the trip:D
He's older now, but i still believe my gray hair started that day!:D

[BrerMom]

We have a harness from One Step Ahead that we love. The link is: http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=333&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=117&iSubCat=139&iProductID=333 It's called a "kid keeper" and hard to find because if you do a search on harness, it doesn't come up.

I've never seen so many harnesses at Disney as I did on our last trip. I think for the four and under crowd, there were more kids that were wearing them than weren't. The wrist/velcro leash doesn't work for us at all. DS either takes it off immediately or tries to wait until I'm not looking to take it off. The harness works well. I use it as an added layer of protection: he holds my hand whenever he wears it.

It's nice at someplace like Disney World, but it's invaluable at someplace like an airport where you have to pay attention to luggage, gate numbers, getting somewhere quickly, etc.

DS also wears his at the grocery store if I have to take him alone. He just doesn't understand he has to stay with me and can't sit in the cart (long story). I've had stares and rude comments here but never in Florida.

[JonHM]

Has anyone else used any good tethers or harnesses besides the ones mentioned earlier in this thread? We've never had one before, but DS is 2.5 and takes off like a shot, and we're going to WDW in a few weeks. Any other suggestions?

[Zephyr]

Has anyone just tried to tie some sort of rope to the toddler's belt loop?
I have a harness, but I was thinking it would just be easier to carry around a piece of small rope that I would have attached to a clip and then when he wants to be out of his stroller, just clip it onto one of his belt loops on his pants/shorts.

[BrerMom]

My darling son ripped the beltloops out of his pants. Proving once again that all kids are not created equal. :p :rolleyes: :p

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by crisi
Here is another one:

http://www.rightstart.com/global/store/product_detail.cfm?TID=02191747135415370216058148&Site=baby&rs_section=Safety&category=Child%20Safety%20%2DOutdoor&GroupID=1214&GroupTP=Model

We bought two at Target that was a Gerber product. Cost all of $5 apeice.

I just picked up the same one. My son loves it!! We were practicing around the house with it, and he was having a ball!! I hope he still likes it when we get to Disney on Monday!! :)

[4greatboys]

I need one of these bad. My 2 oldest boys now 15 yrs and 12 yrs always stayed with me. They never ran away. I cant believe I had it so easy then. My 2 yr old thinks he is on a track team and runs EVERYWHERE full speed ahead. I have had to run after the little man more than once and he is much faster than me. Im getting one of these asap!

[BCVOwner in MA]

We used a wrist tether with our 3 year old during our last trip to WDW. We decided to get one after he ran through the airport security checkpoint on our prior trip-- security stopped us from going after him of course, and thankfully they quickly corralled him and brought him back. (It's amazing how fast their little legs and go, isn't it?)

We primarily use it as an added measure of protection when there are really large crowds-- at the airport, leaving the park after a parade/fireworks, etc. He didn't really like it at first, but now we when we tell him we have to "put it on for safety", he puts his hand out so we can put it on him. Then, of course, he starts debating with us as to which daddy gets to hold the other end! :)