Worried about getting seperated from kids

[moosebug]

I really don't want to use a leash but I know my son and he is prone to running away. He is only three. Is there any product out there to help prevent this?

 

[eliza61]

I really don't want to use a leash but I know my son and he is prone to running away. He is only three. Is there any product out there to help prevent this?

Unfortunately, I'm not sure. I used the leash. It actually help my older son. He hated the thing so it was a deterrant. I told him the first time he ran away it was put on. (I know alot of folks hate to do things that will make their kids upset but I live in a big city so this is a non negotiable issue with me). My youngest son did not mind it at all so in crowds he happily wore it, no problemo.
This was 10-14 years ago so some of the newer moms maybe able to help you a bit better.
Good luck.

 

[DawnM]

You can use a sticker or tag and put your cell number on it and his name in case he actually does run off, but honestly, with all of our worry, we only ever had ONE problem at Disney with this.

We were at Disneyland and I took the boys when they were 3 and 5 over to Tom Sawyer's Island. We were going through a cave and they boys ran ahead through a group of other kids, and I lost them.

I was worried sick, mostly because of the surrounding water.

15-20 min. later (a LONG time to sit and worry!) a CM came over holding my son's hand and helping him find me.

Dawn

 

[LadyShea]

You can use an electronic locater type device, this is just one example but there are many...just Google "Child locater alarm"

The leashes work well, though, I saw a lot of those animal backpacks where the tail was a leash on my last trip. Whatever you need to do to keep your family together.

 

[all4fun]

You will not feel out of place using a safety harness (aka "leash") at WDW, lots of people use them. The popular ones are the backpack style ones that look like a monkey or puppy. You can find those at Wal-mart and Target I think. The down side to those is they can be warm to wear to consider the weather at the time of year if you use that. We used the simple nylon kind. It worked really well. My ds thought that it was fun for us to "play chase" at that age and wasn't too keen on hand holding either, so the harness gave him a physical boundary and he would happily stay right by our side when wearing it for the most part. I shortened the rein so that if I let go of it, it barely touched the ground and wouldn't be a tripping hazard. He couldn't wander far enough from us to be a tripping hazard to another guest as well. Also, we preferred the body harness over the wrist strap because there's a risk of yanking the arm w/the wrist kind if the child pull hard or falls. Since we kept him close, and he had some motor skill delays that caused him to be on the clumsy side, we also were able to save him from many a scraped knee as well.

hth

 

[CampbellScot]

Do NOT let people make you feel badly for using a "kid harness". They are very cute little things nowadays. They allow your child a bit of freedom and you some piece of mind.

LOTS of people use them at Disney. TONS...seriously.

The cutest one I've seen lately is a little monkey that fits on like a back pack. The tail of the monkey is leash part.

VERY cute...very practical!!

 

[DISNEYFOS]

Do NOT let people make you feel badly for using a "kid harness". They are very cute little things nowadays. They allow your child a bit of freedom and you some piece of mind.

LOTS of people use them at Disney. TONS...seriously.

The cutest one I've seen lately is a little monkey that fits on like a back pack. The tail of the monkey is leash part.

VERY cute...very practical!!

I think the monkey harness thing is adorable. I also have a friend that has a child that tends to wander and did in WDW. She had the child locator alarm but wouldn't you know it, the battery had died, they didn't realize until they actually had to use it. They did find her a few yards away looking at something in a window..but how scary is that !!

I say if you are worried about it..go for the harness..

I've been lucky..My DD always liked to be strolled around..I swear she'll be 10 by the time she's willing to walk around on her own

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

In all honesty I would rather have people gawk at me then lose my child. We have ALWAYS used a kid harness at Disney and malls and amusement parks alike. It gives them freedom to look and you peace of mind. My children were/are runners. So peace of mind comes first and the heck with everyone else.

 

[mousebymarriage]

I really don't want to use a leash but I know my son and he is prone to running away. He is only three. Is there any product out there to help prevent this?

It's called a stun gun!
Seriously, I used the "leash" type things for my kids when they were toddlers. For my kids I used one that looked like a little kids fanny pack and just went around their waist and then had a stretchy leash attached to it for me to hold. I ordered it from One Step Ahead catalog and I am not sure if they make it anymore, my DD is 11 and my DS is 6 but, I used the same for both of them so I purchased it probably 10 years ago.
My sis uses on for my nephew who is 2 years old and it is a brown stuffed puppy that looks like a back pack with a leash thing attached to it, I think you can buy it in most baby stores like Babies R us.

* The only problem we had was when my DS was little my DD wanted to hold the leash but, then she would say"come on doggie, let's go for a walk". She would try to make him "beg" for animal crackers and used to get him to bark sometimes. That was GREAT. Talk about getting some weird looks, when you kid is on a leash and barking!

 

[WDWorBUST]

If using a harness makes you more comfortable by all means use one. We haven't used one for several trips to Disney now since DD does really well where we just don't need it. However she's 4 now and I'm digging the harness back out when we go to Yellowstone later this year. I don't think I'll need it.....but since it can be literally life or death there I'm not taking any chances.

 

[DevilDuckie]

I really don't want to use a leash but I know my son and he is prone to running away. He is only three. Is there any product out there to help prevent this?

A lot of people are going to encourage you to walk the kid on a leash anyway. I applaud your desire to NOT do so. Good for you! We did a lot of hand holding and started the training early, but three is not too late. It is completely possible to keep your kid safe and happy without resorting to leashes.

We established a set of verbal instructions for different occasions. We started young and loosened the parameters as our boy grew up. One of our best is, "B---- A----, Line of Sight!" This is less restrictive than "come here." It requires that he place himself where I we can make eye contact but not come running back to where I am. Great for playgrounds, etc. where he does get to roam a little. We figured out what our rules and needs were and made calls for those things.

At three we had a "tag in" rule. To keep him from going too far I would periodically see him drifting to the far side of the playground and yell, "tag in!" requiring him to run over and touch my hand. It was a game and a safety feature and worked well.

Three is old enough to understand that there is either handholding or stroller but no running off. This is a completely attainable goal and a great one!

 

[nwolak]

We are going this month with our 2 year old twin boys and we bought the puppy and monkey backpacks to use. They have a strap you could hold on to when they are out of the stroller. They don't have harnesses or anything like that and they are very cute. I got them at Walmart for $10. I never thought I'd use a leash on my children, but I'd feel more comfortable with these knowing they couldn't run off while in line or looking at characters, especially in busy areas.

Good luck!

 

[truedisneyfan]

Before I had kids I always said that my kids would never be wearing a lease. While never say never. DS likes to run and loves to play chase. Playing chase does not work so well when you are trying to shop, in the parking lot or putting him in the car seat. I wanted to buy him the monkey or the puppy. He did not want either one of them, but instead wanted the Elmo one. He liked wearing it because he liked seeing Elmo on it and showing it off. It can stay on him in the car seat between stores, but the monkey and puppy can not because of the stuffing. He does well now without it, but we'll see if DD is going to have to wear it in a few months.

 

[Gokstate]

My family is going to the World later this year and I have two backpack / leashes in my "to go" pile already. My toddler loves her little doggy so she thinks it is a treat to wear it. I'm not worried what other people think, I would rather get stares than lose my child, even for a few seconds.

 

[mdurette]

We took our dd at 22 and 24 months. I wasn't sure about the leash - I bought one of those plush dog backpack ones - but never used it. BUT, I did go to our local pet store and had a tag engraved on one of the machines that had "Mom's cell 555-55-5555" on it. I received many approving nods from the CMs when they saw it.

 

[skmommy]

We went in January with our 4 and 6 year olds. They did tend to stray from our sides, but never out of hearing range. We also had "dog tags" engraved for the trip-- we used 3 line tags: Contact and both cell numbers so we could be contacted, but didn't feel that anyone would have "risky" personal info about the kids. They wore the tags laced onto their shoes.

 

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

On Jon & Kate plus 8 - they used the cutest thing I ever saw. And believe me w/8 kids, 6 of them being 3 at the time, they needed something.

I don't know if it was home made or not - but easily done.

You know those (sorry for the bad description) plastic sticks that you put the plastic rings on & the rings are big at the bottom & smaller at the top.?. They had large plastic looking rings attached together by ribbon or rope. Each kid had a ring to hold on to. One had blue, orange, red, etc. You could easily sew ribbon or something around them (long enough, but short enough). You would be able to tell if they let go & you don't have to use the "leash".

Although I agree the monkey ones look really cute!

 

[mickey&minniealways]

As they get a little older the don't quite appreciate the leash. "It's to babyish". A direct quote from all three of mine. Of course it was said with quite a bit of "wine". DD is now a young 12. A few disabilities and a medical condition, along with a typical pre-teen additude. So she feels that she has a right to wonder off on her own. We use a luggage tag decorated with scrapbooking supplies. It has our cell phone #'s on it, her medical condition, the meds she takes, etc. We tie it to a belt loop. She leaves it there partly because she helps to decorate it. It is personalized with papers and stickers of her favorite disney characters.