Mom dragged kid by backpack harness!

[surfergirl602]

I think it comes down to bad parenting. At the pool this past weekend, there was an older sister pulling her younger brother around by the handle on the back of his life vest. He was around 2, and she was probably 9. She kept pulling him under the water while zomming through the pool, and did the parents care? No, he was talking in a chair on his cell not even paying attention. The kid was struggling, getting mouthfuls of water, and could do nothing about it. I told her to be care and stop pulling him that way because she was pulling him under the water. I said it loud enough hoping that the parent would hear and do something about it - nope. just because he's in a life vest, doesn't mean hes okay.

 

[Luv'sTink]

Used one for my son when he was two. Mine attached from my wrist to my sons wrist, so we were wearing the exact same thing and it didn't hurt either of us. Actually, I wore mine on my wrist and he preferred his end attached to his overalls because it gave him more freedom with his hands. It came in very handy in Disneyland and Tijuana Mexico.

 

[gladstoneganderfan]

Add me to the pro-leash group. Call my babies a dog, I don't care. Woof, woof.

Been to WDW dozens of times. I've helped many a child find a CM because Mommy & Daddy got lost in the crowd, yet not one of them had a harness. Never once saw someone get tripped by a child on a leash. We did see several folks get taken out by strollers & EVC's.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Oh boy, I hate those things too. I can not stand to see a child attached to a leash. Leashes belong on dogs, not humans.

And if Jamie Bulger had been wearing a leash he wouldn't have slipped away from his mother and been murdered.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I will never ever forget the time Dear great-godchild went out and about her first time on a leash. (Monkey backpack. It HAD to be a monkey, just for the awful pun.)

We were in store, she was barely walking. She realized suddenly that no one was holding her hand, no one was carrying her. She was ON HER OWN! WHEE!

She toddled about a bit, then glanced at mom, decided to see if she could run. (Okay, lift her legs up high and toddle faster.) She reached the end of the backpack, felt the tug, looked back as if to say "hey! You're still holding me!" then turned and walked back towards mom. Ahaha! She realized she had some freedom but couldn't wander too far. This, she liked.

Store got crowded and she went back and forth between walking and riding her stroller. She knew she had some freedom from mom, but that she was still connected to mom as long as she had her monkey on her back. She accordingly turned on the charm and worked the people in the store whenever possible now that she could be. a. star. without mom getting all in the way LOL.

She just turned 3 and has a baby sister. Monkey is now her ticket to getting out of the stroller and being allowed to walk about, as mom really doesn't have the hands otherwise.

I think deargrandgodchild would disagree about the monkey backpack leash being a bad thing if she were old enough to argue.

 

[hornedfrog]

Wow...what a perfect parent you must be
I don't have kids yet
Not everyones kids are as "perfect" as you make yours seem to be and there is no right for you to judge people who do use them to keep their kids safe if they choose to.

Trying to get past the sarcasm here....

You are the only one to use the word "perfect".

It takes work. Hard work because of the LACK of perfection.

 

[hornedfrog]

I will never ever forget the time Dear great-godchild went out and about her first time on a leash. (Monkey backpack. It HAD to be a monkey, just for the awful pun.)

We were in store, she was barely walking. She realized suddenly that no one was holding her hand, no one was carrying her. She was ON HER OWN! WHEE!

She toddled about a bit, then glanced at mom, decided to see if she could run. (Okay, lift her legs up high and toddle faster.) She reached the end of the backpack, felt the tug, looked back as if to say "hey! You're still holding me!" then turned and walked back towards mom. Ahaha! She realized she had some freedom but couldn't wander too far. This, she liked.

Store got crowded and she went back and forth between walking and riding her stroller. She knew she had some freedom from mom, but that she was still connected to mom as long as she had her monkey on her back. She accordingly turned on the charm and worked the people in the store whenever possible now that she could be. a. star. without mom getting all in the way LOL.

She just turned 3 and has a baby sister. Monkey is now her ticket to getting out of the stroller and being allowed to walk about, as mom really doesn't have the hands otherwise.

I think deargrandgodchild would disagree about the monkey backpack leash being a bad thing if she were old enough to argue.

The same thing can be achieved with an attentive parent who prioritizes teaching responsible behavior and then follows through (even if it means leaving the park, etc).

Deargrandgodchild might have a different opinion when she is old enough for independent thought. Or maybe she won't.

 

[Disney Doll]

hoirnedfrog, perhaps you're not understanding that the tone of your posts is coming off as very offensive and condescending. You are implying that people who choose to use a leash on their very young child are bad and lazy parents. People tend to respond to that kind of tone with sarcasm.

I have known people who have "leashed" their small children. I now know these children as teens and they have no recollection and certainly no trauma from being leashed. I have known people who feel, as you do, that leashes are abhorrent. They developed other ways to manage, as you did.

Dragging a child along by a leash is clearly wrong. There are those that think that constantly yanking on a kid's arm or threatening "consequences" is also wrong.

Just because someone makes some different parenting choices than you do doesn't make them a bad parent. Especially if they make those choices responsibly and handle them properly.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

The same thing can be achieved with an attentive parent who prioritizes teaching responsible behavior and then follows through (even if it means leaving the park, etc).

Deargrandgodchild might have a different opinion when she is old enough for independent thought. Or maybe she won't.

So then it is the parents fault when they lose a child then. Nice!

18 month olds do not know the meaning of the word "responsible" btw.

Like a puppy--getting hit by a car, falling into a body of water, or wandering far off---are not things they will tie as a consequence to falling away.

I can go on an entire thesis on what responsible parents SHOULD do. However--we all have choices and it isn't child abuse to utilize a harness any more than it is child abuse to use a car seat in a car.

You speak from a naive viewpoint that your way is the only correct way to raise children.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

The same thing can be achieved with an attentive parent who prioritizes teaching responsible behavior and then follows through (even if it means leaving the park, etc)...

Agreed - my youngest son was a "runner", but we never had to use a leash and he has never been lost. And trust me, he has tried.

As parents, my wife and I decided to only have 2 children because we felt that this was as much as we could handle while giving each child the focus that they needed. We also spread them out by 3 years to ensure that we could handle them when they were toddlers.

Parents make different decisions for different reasons. We wanted a bigger family, but made the decision that worked for us - one based on what we felt was best for our children.

I can see why a parent with too many toddlers or little ones might resort to a leash, but I cannot see why a parent with only one toddler would need to do so. I never take my eyes off of my boys when in crowded places, so I never needed a leash - even with the runner. My wife and I just took turns "watching" him while we shopped. If he ran, he knew that he was going in the cart for the remainder of the day - and he wanted his freedom, so he behaved (most of the time )...

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

...Just because someone makes some different parenting choices than you do doesn't make them a bad parent. Especially if they make those choices responsibly and handle them properly.

Agreed, if the choices are made with the child's best interests at heart...

 

[MsDisney23]

I saw a Mom got nuts on her child in WDW near Casey's. Within minutes security was chasing after her. Sad what some children have to go through.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I never take my eyes off of my boys

**********

Famous last words.

I know a family who NEVER let their child near water. So my encouragement to do Infant Swim lessons fell on deaf ears. 5 minutes before leaving the state of Florida forever, their son was found dead floating in a swimming pool. The keys were in the moving van ignition and they were literally ready to close up and move on out.

I'm not judging them, but too often parents snub their noses at techniques other parents utilize as if it is some form of God awful child abuse. Then they use the famous words "I/We Never...." and don't think it would ever be an issue.

It certainly is their right to parent as they see fit--but it isn't smart to say "I Never..." b/c then certainly never has a funny way of becoming reality.

And blaming lack of control on a child due to numbers or spacing is ridiculous (as implied by your post on how you responsibly only had 2 children and spaced them 3 years apart so as to avoid lack of control).

Are you saying tragedies of a lost or harmed child only occur in families with 3 or more children?

 

[2binak]

What horrified me about the video was that the mom was dragging this child at all! I immediately thought, "If she does this in public, what does she do when no one is looking?" Whether she dragged the child by the shirt, a limb or the harness is not the issue for me, it's the fact that she dragged him at all.

I saw more of this story on CNN last night and she claims to have medical conditions which make lifting her child difficult. In my book, that does not excuse dragging your child across a store like that. If she can't lift her child, she needs to look into getting someone to help her. I don't know if disability or a city or state-run program would pay for a helper or not, but it's definitely worth looking into if you can't properly care for your own child because of a medical condition.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Agreed, if the choices are made with the child's best interests at heart...

And that is what some parents who use harnesses are doing.

Who are you to judge?

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I never take my eyes off of my boys

**********

Famous last words.

I know a family who NEVER let their child near water. So my encouragement to do Infant Swim lessons fell on deaf ears. 5 minutes before leaving the state of Florida forever, their son was found dead floating in a swimming pool. The keys were in the moving van ignition and they were literally ready to close up and move on out.

I'm not judging them, but too often parents snub their noses at techniques other parents utilize as if it is some form of God awful child abuse. Then they use the famous words "I/We Never...." and don't think it would ever be an issue.

It certainly is their right to parent as they see fit--but it isn't smart to say "I Never..." b/c then certainly never has a funny way of becoming reality.

And blaming lack of control on a child due to numbers or spacing is ridiculous (as implied by your post on how you responsibly only had 2 children and spaced them 3 years apart so as to avoid lack of control).

Are you saying tragedies of a lost or harmed child only occur in families with 3 or more children?

ROTFLMAO - get defensive much? I said that this is what worked for us. Get it? I did not attack anyone else for their choices or suggest that our choice was the best choice for anyone else.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

And that is what some parents who use harnesses are doing.

Who are you to judge?

When, in this thread, did I judge anyone? I choose not to use a leash, but I would never tell another parent what to do. I have not even said that I though that using a leash was wrong - just that we chose not to use one. I am not sure why you feel attacked by my post saying that we didn't need to use one???

As parents, we all do the best that we can (well, not everyone )...

 

[goofyernmost]

Oh boy, I hate those things too. I can not stand to see a child attached to a leash. Leashes belong on dogs, not humans.

Spoken by a person that either 1) never had a child or 2) never had a child get loose in a crowded place and be unable to find them. My sister was a wanderer, she would be there with you one second and the next would have completely disappeared. She was on a leash for quite awhile. Something she tends to remind everyone about whenever she can. Well, at least she is still here to complain about it.

To my knowledge she has never started barking due to the trauma.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

I don't think the problem is with the leash. The problem is with the parent and how she used it.

The parent is definitely the problem. I have concerns that the leash facilitated her ability to abuse her child.

We never used leashes with our kids. Instead, we wore coveralls made of velcro. That way we could just stick the kids to us when we got into crowds.

I think that there are certain behaviors or shortcuts or accessories that parents use to try and skirt behavioral issues rather than solve them.

I've totally been guilty of a few. I totally look down my nose at people who are guilty of other ones that I don't do.

I've yet to meet anyone who hasn't done some of them. Personally, I don't like leashes at all, and I don't tend to hang out with moms that leash their kids because it bothers me. I know people that won't hang out with me because of some of my beliefs about child raising. That's cool.

 

[cinmell]

Spoken by a person that either 1) never had a child or 2) never had a child get loose in a crowded place and be unable to find them.

I have 2 kids. An 8 yo and a 2 yo. Luckily they've they've never gotten away from us. As it was with my oldest, the youngest stays in the stroller or holds my hand. If she doesn't want to hold my hand, back in the stroller she goes. If she throws a fit, back to the car we go.

Leashes aren't for my family. As I stated earlier, I don't believe they are for kids. But hey, what works for me may not work for others and vice versa. If leases on kids works for others then great. It's just not something we would use on our daughters.