Child Harnesses

[EsmeCullen]

Hello! My whole family including me, my mom, my two brothers, their wives and kids will be visiting the Mouse at Disneyland mid March. Three of the kids are under four and I KNOW they will be far to excited to listen to us and stay put. We will be renting strollers and we will be attaching contact information to each child in the event they get lost. The four and three year old know how to break out of a stroller and holding their hand isn't enough as they struggle to the point where we have to let go of the hand or they could get hurt. We want to do everything in our power to keep them safe. What do you think about tethering the child via a harness, to an adult at all times? I know this can cause debate and I am not looking for that. I just want to know if in Disneyland, if it is common to see a child in a harness. Thanks!

 

[starshine514]

I've seen it at Disneyland, mostly with 2-3 yr olds. I used a harness on mine when they were about that age, so I don't think much about it.

 

[jory29]

It is a fairly common sight to see; you will hear some good and bad about it from others. Personally I don't have any issues with it, I can see some kids are a lot more prone to wandering off than others, and only you guys know and understand the needs of your family. To each their own, I feel. You may see some people staring, or commenting aloud as you walk by, but I doubt it. Parents understand that you are doing that to ensure the child's safety.

On a second note, please make sure ID is hidden somewhere where someone won't see child's name and call out to them by name, etc. The idea is for the child to know where the ID info. is, in case a cast member needs it. They should also be told how to identify a cast member, to ask for help, or told to go into a store and ask for help. I would ask that if get lost, to stay put as the number one rule, then to seek help from a cast member if they need it.

 

[aristocat65]

Hello! My whole family including me, my mom, my two brothers, their wives and kids will be visiting the Mouse at Disneyland mid March. Three of the kids are under four and I KNOW they will be far to excited to listen to us and stay put. We will be renting strollers and we will be attaching contact information to each child in the event they get lost. The four and three year old know how to break out of a stroller and holding their hand isn't enough as they struggle to the point where we have to let go of the hand or they could get hurt. We want to do everything in our power to keep them safe. What do you think about tethering the child via a harness, to an adult at all times? I know this can cause debate and I am not looking for that. I just want to know if in Disneyland, if it is common to see a child in a harness. Thanks!

I've seen children in harnesses. I respect a parent's attempts to keep their children safe. It is so easy for kids to get lost, I think it is a great option. There was a funny episode on Modern Family about their visit to Disneyland, where the "leash issue" was brought up.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

I used one on my daughter when she was 2 at Disneyland. It was fairly practical but make sure you stay close to them so that they can't cross in front of people. You could get tangled up pretty easily depending on the crowds.

I had one person say something nasty to me but I also had a ton of parents with toddlers stop and ask me where I got mine at.

It was great for my daughter who wanted to run everywhere and was having absolutely nothing to do with the stroller.

 

[smallblackstars]

When we go to WDW in November I am taking a harness for DD who will be 4 when we go. Its one that wraps round her and my own wrist. I really don't see an issue with it, Id rather my child was safe. She wasn't keen on it when I tried it on her last week but we have put a few pins on it and told her she can get more to add to it when she is on holiday if she is a good girl and wears it. She loves it now and will wear it on the walk to nursery and grocery shopping etc. The main difference with my DD is that she always takes my hand so not sure if this would suit your family. I don't see any problem with harnesses of any kind, others don't know what your child is like (a wanderer, a bit hyper, a tantrum specialist) so I would say definately go for it!

 

[HannaBelle]

My DD (now 15) was a runner. If she had a moment to escape, she took it! We used a harness when we were in big crowds and never regretted.

I strongly agree with a PP:

...make sure you stay close to them so that they can't cross in front of people. You could get tangled up pretty easily depending on the crowds.

They cannot just wander free while tethered or they will get hurt when someone trips over the cord.

 

[Rubygoose]

My friend has a really cute pic from Disneyland of her son (20 months old at the time, I think) with a dog backpack with a leash and Pluto is holding the other end of the leash!

It's common to see harnesses on children in the park. If it works for your family, don't worry about what other people think.

 

[kangamama]

We use a "leash" on our toddler at DL, but wrt to the kids in your group, I would leave it to their parents to decide how to corral/contain them. I may have misread, but these are other people's kids, right?

 

[RavenRequiem]

We used a monkey backpack leash for my nephew (5) when we went in October. It was wonderful. It helped keep him with us but also helped keep his excitement down to a manageable level since he couldn't go very far away from us. It also provided an awesome picture in Space Mountain/Ghost Galaxy. He loved the ride but the "ghosts" (looked more like space aliens) were just too scary for him. When we saw the picture, he was ducked so far down that we couldn't see him at all but we have a wonderful shot of the monkey's head. One of my favorite ride photos.

 

[CaliDisneyMama]

We've used a monkey backpack/harness with our son in DL (he was two). It works really well. It's hard on them to have their little arm up all the time, holding someone's hand (not to mention the sweaty hands that inevitably come with that lol). This allows them to be more comfortable, gives them a *little* freedom, and preserves your peace of mind (so long as, like others have said, you keep the lead short so they can't trip people or anything).

 

[scchristo]

We used a backpack leash for my daughter at WDW when she was 16 months old. It was a pink mini backpack with the removable "leash". Worked fantastic, she walked most of the parks! (My DH'a biggest complaint is that he spent the entire trip looking at the ground.). It also prevented some spills on her part. She called it her backpack and wore it with or without the leash. We had no negative comments that we noticed anyhow . Good luck!

 

[nikkislaght]

I would put my son in a harness just to go to the Mall.. so if he was still young enough for one at Disney that would be one of the first things in my bags...

Keep em safe anyway you can is my motto...

Have a great trip....

 

[Carolynleanne]

I'm planning to get one for our next trip! We'll have a 1 and 2 year old and the 2 year old is a total flight risk haha. He has no fear and gets excited when he sees characters, balls, anything that interests him.

People can say whatever they want, my child's safety comes first.

 

[OnTheRoadAgain]

The best time I've seen these work is in a long queue or thick crowd. The child either has their arm up in the air for an hour, or the adults are breaking their backs carrying the toddler. It prevents the child from scooting off around someones' legs and the adult being prevented from grabbing the child back.

The worst time I've seen these used is when a child tries to run off while wearing one and instead of scurrying after the child and reminding them not to run off, the care-giver stands still and lets the child struggle for more than 3 seconds - or worse pulls back on the tether.

I've also seen these used with older pre-schoolers, but I would weigh that decision carefully, for example if the adult is to some degree disabled or dealing with more than one hyperactive child... or a child who has a significant history of running off despite the best efforts of the adult to teach them to stop.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I've used one on past trips with DS, now 5. We have two cute leash backpacks - a monkey where the tail is the leash, and a sea turtle with a clown fish riding on the shell (Crush and Nemo! ). When he was 3.5 (just a few months from his 4th birthday), we brought it with us, but he didn't want to wear it. I told him that as long as he stayed next to me and was always touching me, he didn't need it. But the minute he ran away from me, he had to wear it. Sure enough, we were in the park less than 10 minutes and he dashed away. He was upset when I put the backpack on him, but he understood why he was wearing it. After a couple rides when he had settled down, I said we could try again without it. And after that, he did great. He even asked me to put it on him when we were watching a parade, because he said "I might get distracted and want to get closer to the parade and go away from you." DS is now self-aware enough to know that he wants to run and will ask for the backpacks if we're going to be in a crowd, but most of the time he stays close to me. Once when we did get separated, he scolded me and told me I would need a backpack leash if I got away from him again!

Honestly, I think if you have a kid that you know is prone to running away, then you do what you need to do to keep that child safe. Ignore what anyone else says, and do what you know your child needs. People who don't have "runners" won't get it, and that's fine. I confess that I wasn't a fan of child leashes until I had a runner myself, and then I finally got it.

 

[aleighc1]

Whatever keeps them safe! Normally I'm of the mindset that if my child can't behave enough to stay by me in public, they don't get to go. HOWEVER, we don't really ever go to crowded places and it wouldn't be fair to my other kids to miss out because they happen to have a hyper toddler sibling, so I'm absolutely going to do a harness for my two year old when we go to Disney. (might even stick one on my three year old too!) I've seen Mickey and Minnie backpack style harnesses on ebay, which is what I'm planning to get for our trip. I think the fact that they are Mickey will make my kiddos much more agreeable to wearing one since they never have before.

 

[Stitch35]

I use a backpack leash on my DS4 any time we go somewhere with crowds. He's very easily distracted and can easily get "lost". He loves it. It gives him the freedom to look around and the security of being close to mom. I do shorten the leash when crowds are thick and loosen it when there is more room. I even used one with my DS7 (6 at the time) in August at Disneyland. The crowds were thick and he asked to put his on so he could stay close without worry and have a place to carry his water. A plus on the backpack leashes is you can put all the buttons on it and you remember them each day and you don't get holes in all their shirts!

 

[rainyday77]

We used a cute dog backpack with a leash when our youngest was 2. It was around $10 at Walmart in the baby isle. The leash part was removable and my daughter loved wearing it. The only concern I had was that the leash part attached to the bottom on the bookbag so if the child trips and they fall over it is not as easy to catch them. We tied the leash around the dogs neck ( or put it on upside down) so if she tripped the leash would help prevent her from falling over as it was attached higher up. We never heard any comments about it and it was both cute and practical.

 

[taylor3297]

I have seen the "leash" used in many different situations not just at Disney. That tells me that the parent is concerned about their child's safety. Also, my sister is a PT and she has worked with many a kid whose arm and shoulder has been messed up from being yanked while holding hands. She thinks the "leash" is a better alternative.

Something we do in case our children get lost, we take a picture of them each morning. That way we can show a CM what they look like and what they have on that day.