Kid "leashes"??? help

[cycyk]

PLease forgive me...i dont know the corect term..harness, connector?

I have been going to Disney all my life but now that i have a 2 year old and we are going in lss than a month i am getting a bit freaked out about losing her since she is totally fearless and likes to get up and go.

THEREFORE i am looking into getting one of these contraptions that doesnt look to much like i am trying to pull my kid along like an animal or I am some type of dominatrix.

Can you guys please help.

(i will also add, i always said "oh, i will never have one of those when i have kids!" )

 

[caspersmom83]

I got one at walmart with ELmo on it that attaches to my childs wrist. I haven't had to use it but got it just n case of large crowds were I figured my son might try to go off on his own a little because he is very friendly.
They also have ones at Walmart that look like back packs .

 

[jennilouwho]

I was also one who always said "I'll never do that to my child." We are going when DS in 17 months and he is 11 months now and completely fearless, so I think I'll get one of those backpack animal ones from Walmart, just in case. ,

 

[write2caro]

My post from another thread you might be interested in...
child id thread
_________
AuntSusu... just one other thing I came across on another thread. Someone posted the following as something they got for their very independent toddler and loved: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4532497 - a little backpack/harness with a tail/dare-I-say-leash. Now, before having kids, I thought these harnesses were awful - I have to admit. Now that I have a 2yo who could outrun just about any adult I know, I'm considering it!!

The link above seems like the item might be a bit warm to wear. I did a bit of searching and found this one other backpack/harness:http://www.the-baby-boutique.com/tottether.html.

I have some sort of mental block to get over about a harness, and I think I might end up buying one of these. Thought I'd add it.

 

[all4fun]

We use the harness type for our ds in the parks and it worked wonderfully. Whatever people have to say about them - they are safety tool and nothing more. I may have gotten a few looks, to be honest, I never really noticed and no one ever said anything but positive things about it when ds was wearing ie "where did you get that?", and a "I wish I had one of those when my dc was little!", and once said, "Hey, we should get one of those for dad!" LOL

Just like with any other item, they can be "misused"... ie allowing too much slack between parent and child can create a tripping hazzard for another guest and/or your child, using the rein as a "babysitter" and not paying attention to your kid (not saying you will do this but it has been noted on other threads about this subject).

We used it as an "extra" measure meaning it was secondary to having ds hold our hand usually but if he let go, he wasn't going far. He was a runner and loved "the chase" (still does actually!) and at that age, did not understand what "stop" meant, but with the harness on, he had a physical boundary that he could see and it litterally stopped the running away behavior altogether. So for us, the harness/reins worked very well and as he's gotten older and more mature he understands to stick with us now or he gets put in the stroller.

I wouldn't recommend the wrist kind though as they can pose the risk of yanking the childs arm hard enough to cause tennis elbow or pull the shoulder joint. The harness type really is much safer, especially for toddler or preschool age kids.

hth!

 

[jcc0621]

We used a harness for our DS since he was 2. He s just not a hold you hand and walk kind of kid Anyway, I thought we;d get all kinds of comments at WDW about having our kid on a leash. I pleasantly surprised. I only heard one negative comment and anyone else who approaced us asked us where we had gotten it becasue they were looking to get one. They had thought we had bought it in the park, but we had gotten it at onestepahead.com

 

[Hannathy]

I just have to say of course people aren't going to come up to you and say negative things, it doesn't mean they aren't thinking them. It is your right to do what you want but don't totally disillusion your self. I hate them and won't use them but as I said you have every right to use them and I'm sure I do things with my kids you don't like. The only time I will say anything is if you are letting the child be a tripping hazard and then I will. (and I have seen this)

 

[all4fun]

I just have to say of course people aren't going to come up to you and say negative things, it doesn't mean they aren't thinking them. It is your right to do what you want but don't totally disillusion your self. I hate them and won't use them but as I said you have every right to use them and I'm sure I do things with my kids you don't like.

I could say the same thing about Crocs (or any number of things I don't like)

The only time I will say anything is if you are letting the child be a tripping hazard and then I will. (and I have seen this)

The same thing I warned about in my pp. What we did was shorten the rein so that it barely touched the floor when dropped. This way it was really so short that if ds had been a "tripping hazzard" the the "trip-er" would have had to have been totally not paying attention and would have run into us anyway. Plus, that never happened to us btw.

 

[nextidiot]

I am in the "use it, or loose him" camp. We bought one for my DS2 for our 2004 trip (the one with Elmo). Worked great. DW had taken the harness off once during the trip. He was able to sneak away while he and DW were at Mickey's Toon Town. He hid from her and wouldn't respond.

After a few verbal threats, he snickerd, which gave up his position.

Had the park been more crowded, there would have been trip to the hospital involved for DS by the time DW got her hands on him.

Anyhoo, get one, use it, and worry not about what the adults with no children to case say.

 

[jagruti6]

I went back and forth on this last year. We didn`t end up buying one, and it turned out we didn`t need one. DS spent most of his time in the stroller, plus there was two of us and only one child. I would say use it if it gives you peace of mind, who cares what people think as long as he is safe!

 

[cycyk]

I am completetly positive i will need one..my daughter HATES to hold hands...hell i may even use it to go get the mail!!

I have no problem wi/ comments or looks, if they want to lose their kids let them, its a safety measure for me.

I have heard the backpack ones can be kinda heavy/ hot in warmer weather, so i may choose one of the nylon stappy ones.

thanks ladies.

 

[serene56]

my son was a runner.. and in a place like Disney when we as parents can get caught up with the views-- I used a harness on him most times out.
I kept him safe- Son is now 22 and has a child of his own now. I dont think the harness did him damage emotionally-- I did keep him safe and didnt care about peoples opinions.
Safety was my first priority.

I found the harness type worked better. For one the wrist strap could hurt a child if he ran away fast and you were not ready-

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

I just bought the animal backpack one at Walmart last night & DD23mths responded fairly well to it. We have not put it on yet she carries it around w/her. I did also buy one from www.smallplanetkids.com. DD did not like it because it was pretty obvious what it was but its the nylon type of harness but is covered w/colorful padding. I got the one w/kittys all over it...I couldn't bring myself to get the puppy one . Its more expensive but very nice.

We're going in May and I thought that would be good one to have...padded but not too hot but DD doesn't think so. So I'm not sure which to take...DD really has a mind of her own. And its something that you can't force on her.
Good luck!

 

[southernbella]

Hi, we used the Walmart backpack kind for 2 trips. I wouldn't go without one. Never really got any bad comments, just a few strange looks. The funniest was the group of Germans that just stopped in their tracks & stared! I guess they aren't common in Europe.

I DID have several Moms asking me if I bought it at the Parks. They wanted to get one too. One day, we forgot "monkey" in the car & didn't realize it until we were walking past the castle. Keep in mind, it's President's week, huge crowds. I told my DH, I don't care how long it takes to get back to the car, somebody's going!

I like the walmart kind because you can unhook the strap easily for pictures. You can unhook it with one hand as they are walking up (no strap hanging for pictures, just a cute monkey hanging over her shoulder), then hook it back before she can run off. Sbella

 

[Katiebell]

Just a note of reassurance...I had three boys, the oldest 2 were 2 1/2 years apart, and the oldest one was extremely ADHD -- wouldn't sleep, had to put him in a little bed very young because he would climb out of the crib and we were afraid he'd hurt himself, he'd sleepwalk and wander the house at night, taking food out of the fridge -- we'd find him passed out on his bed in the morning, surrounded by a carton of eggs, a can of soda, usually a container of leftovers, a jar of jam -- most unopened, just...around him in bed. We had to throw away a lot of food that had sat out of the fridge for maybe hours, and were worried he'd drop a glass jar and break it, so we started tying the fridge shut with bungee cords at night. When we went places, he would get overwhelmed by crowds, and just run if he saw something that interested him, even climbing out of the stroller if my back was turned for an instant. It got to where I didn't want to take him anywhere with a lot of people. Then one time we were at an amusement park in bleacher type stands, and I turned for a moment to take care of his infant brother, and he pitched himself head first into the aisles below us -- maybe he was crowd surfing, I have no idea!!! But it was only the quick reflexes of the people sitting two rows below us that kept him from breaking a bone or needing stitches. That day, on the way home, I stopped at a store and bought what they had then -- a little yellow vest with velcro, had a mama duck and baby ducks on it and said "stay close" and a detachable rainbow leash that hooked to the bottom of the vest in the back. Not exactly subtle But it worked for us, and I didn't care if people looked at us funny. If they came up and made a rude comment, I just told them my busy, busy boy was too precious to lose or get hurt because I couldn't catch him in time.

He is now 23 and in the Air Force, and relatively well adjusted, so I don't think the tether we used once in a while on an outing stunted him emotionally or mentally Moms, you know your kids best, and you love them and only want for them to be safe. You do whatever you need to, and don't let people give you a hard time or hassle you about it.

 

[Cory's Gal]

To each their own! We bought one for DS when we went in January and he is 2. He only wore it a couple of times but he LOVED his "puppy backpack". We use it w/o the harness now at home because he can fit a couple of cars in it. It might be hot for summer though, it was fine in January because it was much cooler. I don't think it would be much a tripping hazard because the "tail" isn't that long, we would have him walk next to us and even held our hands sometimes too while wearing the pack, it's just that extra safety barrier. I am glad to see everyone respectful on this thread so far!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

I have no problem wi/ comments or looks, if they want to lose their kids let them, its a safety measure for me.

Good for you! While some people might not approve of these devices we would never even think to criticize someone for doing something to keep their child safe.

Whenever we see someone with one of those devices I tell DW I need to get one for her when we're shopping at World of Disney (she then replies that actually she needs one for me).

Seriously though, here's a trip report that really emphasizes how quickly accidents can happen:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1408713

Just in case the link doesn't work, what happened was this person's 5 y/o son got excited walking from CR to the MK and while at the crosswalk bolted out into the busy street and got hit by a car. Fortunately the child survived and the story had a happy ending but it could just as easily have ended tragically. Just to tie it in to this particular thread, if the parents had been using some kind of device like you're considering the accident could have been prevented.

 

[MomOf2DisneyKids]

do what you've got to do! When I used one at Hershey Park once, I had a BUNCH of frazzled looking parents lmao: ) asking me where they could get one.

 

[shelemm]

Any parent who has a child that bolts needs one of these devices.

Our son was very, very cautious when he was little (still is), yet he would sometimes bolt. Didn't seem to be a reason for it, and it was completely out of character for him. Our daughter, who is a real daredevil, never bolted, so we didn't need it for her. Go figure.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

We went to DL the last week in March and used the backpack kind (a puppy) and it worked wonderfully for soon to be 3 DS. He is a runner, very fast at that, so I usually keep him in a stroller for these instances, but I knew he would be getting out alot to ride rides and this made things so much easier. He was willing to wear it because we called it his backpack and he would tell us to hold onto his tail, but he would usually either hold our hand or put his hand on the stroller that we still took with us.

He is the youngest of 5 kids and the first that we ever used one on, I always said they were awful and I would never use one, but I know my children well enough to admit when safety has to come first and with this child I really have to be careful, he's so active, it was necessary.

At DL and DCA we would let him walk all morning with his "backpack" and ride rides, then at lunch he would go in the stroller and be so worn out from the morning that he would take a good afternoon nap in the stroller and be ready to go again later. But it wasn't that hot,around 75 during the day and cooler at night. Any hotter and it would've been really uncomfortable, a nylon harness would probably be better in those temps.

A CM walked up to DS while we were in line for DCA and put a Chip pin on his harness and he was so proud!

ETA I bought mine at Target for 9.99.