who has put their kid in a backpack harness?

[chimommy]

My son is 3... he is a wild man and loves to run off. Im thinking about getting him a backpack harness for our upcoming trip... my husband thinks its ridiculous and he will just not let him out of his site. any experience with them? i agree they are a little ridiculous but i guess it beats him running of in a crowd.

 

[smitch425]

My son is 3... he is a wild man and loves to run off. Im thinking about getting him a backpack harness for our upcoming trip... my husband thinks its ridiculous and he will just not let him out of his site. any experience with them? i agree they are a little ridiculous but i guess it beats him running of in a crowd.

The only experience I have had with them is getting tripped or tangled up in the leash. So IF you decide to use one, please keep the leash extrememly short.

 

[Missy13d69]

Here's a thread that can answer and and every question you may or may not have about baby harnesses and how good they are and aren't. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2923250&highlight=leash

 

[LuLuO]

More trouble than they're worth. Seriously a pain. I'd rather just hold hands, bring a stroller and use safetytats with our phone numbers written on them.

 

[michellejed]

When my DD was 4 I used a scrungie kind of cord and attached it to a wrist band for both of us, it was light weight and gave her a bit of freedom.

I was more worried about her getting lost in a crowd then running away!

She did not want a stroller and just holding hands is no safeguard that some one wont knock into you and she get swept up in the crowd.

If DH doesn't like the idea then let him be in charge of DS. Bring one along just in case.

 

[littlebit0863]

I have used the monkey one once or twice and it worked out ok, however, if your kid is like mine and tries to run off anyway and screams at the top of his lungs "LET GO OF MY MONKEY TAIL!!!" be prepared to be a little embarrassed.

 

[Pesky]

I have used the monkey one once or twice and it worked out ok, however, if your kid is like mine and tries to run off anyway and screams at the top of his lungs "LET GO OF MY MONKEY TAIL!!!" be prepared to be a little embarrassed.

LOL! We used the monkey one too (which has a relatively short leash anyway) and it worked great. Clearly my kids didn't know about yelling this phrase. I will say it worked better for DD than DS. DS hated it and just refused to move if it was on so we moved on to other strategies (stroller, holding hands, etc.).

 

[TheRatPack]

We used the monkey one and the doggy one for our youngest two. No problems at all...the tails that you put around your wrist are short enough to not really get in the way and not trip anyone.

Our middle son has attachment disorder so he would seriously go home with anyone that said he was cute.....he was too big for a stroller and too active but the harness worked out GREAT! It even has a little pocket in the animal to put small stuff in.....so it didn't look bad or like you were 'leashing' your child

We have some sweaty handed kids too, so holding hands the whole time would have gotten icky and I'm sure their little arms would have gotten tired holding them up all the time to meet our hands.

We didn't get any strange looks or negative comments. We actually had a few people tell us how much they liked the harness designs and how smart it was.

 

[Hannathy]

Never did, never will, hate them and hate seeing kids in them.

 

[Jillba]

Never did, never will, hate them and hate seeing kids in them.

Totally agree! It actually makes me sad to see

 

[jillianjigs7]

I personally feel like they are leashes that shouldn't be used. I get that they give comfort to parents knowing their child can't take off - but there are definitely other ways of doing that. When our DD doesn't feel like riding in the stroller, and wants to do some walking, we have a "hold on handle."

http://greaterthanonekids.com/hold-on-handles

 

[Suzy8383]

I used one for my son when he was little anytime we went anywhere with a crowd. He actually wasn't a runner at all. He wanted me to carry him or ride in the stroller all the time. But I was sort of paranoid and thought someone was going to kidnap him and it made me feel safer.

If you feel more comfortable, I say get one. But practice using it. Let your child wear it around the house. Because there's nothing worse than watching a child run and then fall on their behind because they don't understand the concept of the "backpack leash".

I always held my son's hand and then held onto the strap. He never ran away from me on it so my child never fell down with it. But it is very easy to run to the end and then, BOOM, your kid hits the ground.

I will be taking one for my daughter - A huge crowded place is not a safe place for small children. They can easily be lost, snatched, etc. So when my daughter is walking, she will be tied to me in some form. I hope to find some kind of princess leash for her.

 

[Ariel on Land]

As a mom of twins-- yes I have used them, and they're a great thing when needed! I'd like to see any of you who say how awful, cruel, sad, etc... they are try to keep two energetic little toddlers by your side at all times when you're by yourself. You're going to need one hand for something and that forces you to let go of one of the kids' hands. We took ours to WDW when they had just turned two and it worked great for standing in line. They could be with us, we didn't have to hold them all the time and they could enjoy some freedom. My boys are 5 now and still play w/ their monkey and puppy backpacks. (We haven't used them in years, but the boys think they're fun toys!)

So if you have a bolter, or an independant little one and you think he'd enjoy the freedom from a stroller, don't think twice and don't worry about what others think. You're keeping your baby safe.

 

[waffles77]

I personally feel like they are leashes that shouldn't be used. I get that they give comfort to parents knowing their child can't take off - but there are definitely other ways of doing that. When our DD doesn't feel like riding in the stroller, and wants to do some walking, we have a "hold on handle."

http://greaterthanonekids.com/hold-on-handles

I have never used the leashes myself, and probably never would. When out of a stroller, we used to have the kids hang on to the side of the stroller, but I really like these Hold On Handles! Great idea!

 

[smitch425]

OP, are you also planning on taking a stroller? Even if you take a backpack leash, I would still recommend a stroller, even if it a simple umbrella stoller. There is a LOT of walking to be done at Disney. Odds are, your little one will not want to walk, much less run, at some point.

 

[disneyfan123]

Never did, never will, hate them and hate seeing kids in them.

It makes me more sad to hear about a lost child. You really cannot judge what other parents need to care for their children. Sadly I used to put the same judgement out there until I adopted my first two children and felt the gut wrenching terror go through me when I turned around and he was gone at 3 years old. He also has attachment issues and would go home with anyone and hug anyone. We used it on our first trip, but found it was only needed during crowded areas. We mostly used a stroller and kept him in it when walking. He had to be buckled in or we could easily stop for a moment and he would be out and gone.

Don't worry about others think, just worry about keeping your child safe. My son is now 5 and we still need a lot of safety measures as he is a very active boy. He gets double baby gates at night to keep him safe in his room, some people think we are cruel, but heck, if you find your 5 year old outside at 5am in the morning you would do the same.

 

[LazyDaisy]

We used them and didn't care one bit whether onlookers disapproved. Our kids liked them, they weren't as cumbersome as strollers. Though at Disney I like the strollers since there's so much walking involved.

 

[twinboysmom]

As a mom of twins-- yes I have used them, and they're a great thing when needed! I'd like to see any of you who say how awful, cruel, sad, etc... they are try to keep two energetic little toddlers by your side at all times when you're by yourself. You're going to need one hand for something and that forces you to let go of one of the kids' hands. We took ours to WDW when they had just turned two and it worked great for standing in line. They could be with us, we didn't have to hold them all the time and they could enjoy some freedom. My boys are 5 now and still play w/ their monkey and puppy backpacks. (We haven't used them in years, but the boys think they're fun toys!)

So if you have a bolter, or an independant little one and you think he'd enjoy the freedom from a stroller, don't think twice and don't worry about what others think. You're keeping your baby safe.

This exactly!!

Hi OP. We have used our monkey harnesses to varying degrees in our boys 5 trips to WDW. You will see some very judgemental folks here but I can assure you that people in the parks are not the same. We haven't received a nasty look or heard a nasty comment. We have heard a lot of "how cute" and "I wish they had those when my children were young". Personally, my boys safety comes first and until they learn how to hold hands and not bolt away, we will use them if and when we see fit. As they are getting older we rely on them less and less. One thing is for sure, if you choose to use a harness at WDW, your child will certainly not be the only one. They are quite popular and we see them used frequently.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Yep, my son loves that little puppy. He's maturing now and doesn't run off as much, but we still have it to use in certain situations. I like the hold on handles, but ds is not ready for that yet. He'd just drop it and go. I'll say I support what decision you make and recommend this type or another with a short lead (won't trip anyone) and run now before anyone types out what a bad parent I am for this like in the other thread on this subject.

 

[LazyDaisy]

Also I had both my toddlers in them at an airport once when we were waiting for DH. We were walking up and down for a while as his plane was late. (Incidentally it can get really tiresome for a toddler to put his hand up to hold an adult's hand for any length of time.) I had one security guard say something to me like how he thought they were the stupidest things - at this point I started bristling - until he saw a little boy's life get saved by one of them. He saw his grandmother across the street approaching them and tried to bolt to her - and the leash held him back from the path of an approaching taxi which would have totally killed him. Those leashes aren't super strong so I wouldn't count on them 100% of the time but I think that's a perfect example. I'd rather strangers think my kid looked silly if he was still at that age rather than have him be a pancake under a WDW bus. If my child hated it, that would be different, but both mine liked it until they were older 3's.