Putting your KID on a leash

WHY must everyone in here be soooo offended because they are being judged?? Why does it seem to surprise you that people judge other people?? HELLO!!! People judge people all day every day. If you say that you don't judge others, you're lying, or live in a hole. If you don't want to be judged by how you parent, the choices you make, what you look like, etc. then stay at home. Is it nice to judge? Maybe not. Are some people completely wrong about others when they judge, absolutely. HOWEVER, there are seem to be a lot of people getting offended that someone has a different opinion than you. That's not being judgmental, that's having a brain.

I have 5 kids (6, 5, 3, 2, and 2 months), and have never been able to get myself to use one, even when my om tried to convince me to when I had 3 kids 28 months and under. My mom used one on my free spirited brother, but they weren't cute back then..they looked like...well, a leash :P I understand some people using them...not b/c they are bad parents, or lazy, but as an additional security. I do think though that they could give parents a false sense of security ...kids can get out of them...someone can still take your kid if you aren't watching. I had one or 2 kids that were runners if they got the chance, I just taught them to stay with me. It made shopping stressful, but I just couldn't bring myself to put them on a leash..even a cute one. I agree with some of the previous posters though.... I DID SOME OF MY BEST PARENTING BEFORE I HAD KIDS!!!

Wow. Whole lot of eyeroll worthy superior parent poop slinging going on here.

I had a leash for my older son because he was a runner and I was a panicy first time parent.

I have but never used the backpack for my second son, who is a lot more content to hold hands or ride in a stroller.

I also knew everything about children when I had one child. I knew even more before I had kids. I would LOVE to be as awsome of a parent as I was pre-kids.... especially after I got a dog and really knew everything.

Being that I also said I raised my cousin.... he was 2 when he came to live with me..:) I didn't have to leash him like an animal because I respected him as a human and held his hand unlike the ignorant person you seem to be.

so you held onto him? you didn't rely on a firm tone of voice?

how is holding onto his hand morally superior to holding onto tether?
how is him having two hands free damaging him?
how is him walking with one arm held up over his head better?
how is the tether harness different to the straps in a stroller?
how is it worse than tying him into a car seat?

it is YOUR perception of a leash, not a universal truth.

I have safety plugs in my house, doorway fences, doorstoppers,, corner covers, and strap my tv/bookshelves. I must be an uber lazy and bad parent.

Please, please teach me how to be a better mom.

Why do you keep talking about kids being runners? If you are firm, and discipline that child, and train them well, they wond be running around all wild.

If I was a runner and my mother said "Do not run there", I did not run there. <--- parenting, try it!

(Runs to bomb shelter :bigsmile: )

Every time from the age of around 18 months until around age 4.5 we had this conversation with my son as we were getting out of the car:

Me: You can't run, what will happen if you run?
Son: I will get squished by a car.
Me: Yes, you will and we can't fix that once it's done.
Son: Yes, can't fix it, that's right.
Me: Are you going to run, you need to stay near us, remember, you can get hit by a car.
Son: No mommy I not run.
Me: A car can hit you if you run, don't run, stay right by Mommy.
Son: Ok I will not run.

Lets him out of car he starts to run.


Some kids ADHD is soo bad, they literally cannot control their impulses. This was the case with us. He *knew* he was not supposed to run but, he would do it anyways.

That's why we made the you must be holding onto some part of son's body while you are getting him unbuckled and out of the car and walking in and no amount of screaming would stop it.

The entire trip into the store as he was yelling I would be calmly saying "I'm holding you hand if you like it or not. I would rather you NOT get hit by a car because I love you and want to keep you safe."

No amount of telling him to NOT run was working.

I'm thinking that some parents in our situation would have used a leash, it just wasn't for us. I just don't like them because it makes your child look like an animal. I like to treat him with more decency than that.

I'm a teacher by trade. I knew at 2 my son had pretty severe ADHD. Only because I know pretty good co0ping mechanisms and behavior modifications have we made it to 5.5 without any meds.

We are fighting a losing battle and have a scheduled assessment soon with his Ped. He has a complex medical past which has made us all hold off as long as possible.

We are throwing in the towel.

I wonder if any of the "perfect" parents have ever used a playpen or a stair gate, or how about a safety plug? Pretty much the same idea as a harness which for the record is the only one of those things I have ever used.

I say do away with cribs. Cages are for animals, not babies.

bwah I think i love you.

I don't see how you can put a leash and a crib in the same category...However as a baby I slept on a bed not in a crib therefore a baby doesn't have to sleep in a crib so I don't know what that has to do with leashing your child. A crib is to keep the baby from rolling off when you are not in the room, you dont leash them to the crib...you are out you are there with the child, you train them to behave and watch them closely and hold their hand.

With a crib.. you are not in the room and the child is not restrained they are free to stand up and roll around, with a leash the child is retrained like a dog.

Crib--->baby...leash--->a todler old enough to take orders and listen!

My parents had 4 kids. we never were put on a leash backpack when we went to places like stores/amusement parks/anywhere for that matter. we never had problems with one of us getting lost or breaking away from the group.

but I do enjoy when people put their kid on a leash, it gives me the giggles.

I live in a busy city. I have always worked providing services to families. Many grandparents that I have worked with, care for their grandchildren while the parents work. Hopping on a busy bus, crossing busy city streets with fast cars, bike messengers flying by, people walking fast, and then add the slower moving grandparents with curious toddlers . . .

Some of the grandparents used leashes, and they were all using public transportation, I never blame them or judge them. It's an overwhelming task for the grandmas to carry groceries, keep an active toddler safe, while maneuvering through the city. I rather judge parents that beat their kids senseless, I've seen that plenty in the work I do. These grandparents that have their kids on leashes, don't love their grandchildren any less than the ones that don't use leashes.

Wow. Whole lot of eyeroll worthy superior parent poop slinging going on here.

I had a leash for my older son because he was a runner and I was a panicy first time parent.

I have but never used the backpack for my second son, who is a lot more content to hold hands or ride in a stroller.

I also knew everything about children when I had one child. I knew even more before I had kids. I would LOVE to be as awsome of a parent as I was pre-kids.... especially after I got a dog and really knew everything.

so true, I was a nanny and could rattle everything they were doing "wrong" and what my child would not be. :laugh: and then i had her and everything on my list of would nots came true and the little boy i watched was actually a much better behaved child.

You have your bundle of joy and you never thought you could bring something so beautiful into the world, so you spoil them rotten,by not giving them any structure. Then when they misbehave you say "he's just a baby,that's how he expresses himself" then when they don't know how to behave in public (because you say things like he's only 2) you slap a leash on them and steer them like you would a puppy, to save yourself the embarassment of people looking at you with your out of control child.

Being that you said you have no children you sound a bit ignorant on this little rant.

Being that I also said I raised my cousin.... he was 2 when he came to live with me..:) I didn't have to leash him like an animal because I respected him as a human and held his hand unlike the ignorant person you seem to be.

I wonder if you could do that pushing a newborn in a stroller. My daughter wore a harness once, when my son was a newborn at the zoo. Both are very well behaved and respectful children. But at that point I was a little overwhelmed and by myself with the two of them. I had no help, and the last thing I wanted is for anything to happen to my daughter.
It has nothing to do with lack of love, or respect or control of the child.

You need to get off of your high horse.
I don't have the need for them now, but I did that once and I'm certainly not going to judge anybody else who finds it works for their family.

I wonder if any of the "perfect" parents have ever used a playpen or a stair gate, or how about a safety plug? Pretty much the same idea as a harness which for the record is the only one of those things I have ever used.

I say do away with cribs. Cages are for animals, not babies.

bwah I think i love you.

I don't see how you can put a leash and a crib in the same category...However as a baby I slept on a bed not in a crib therefore a baby doesn't have to sleep in a crib so I don't know what that has to do with leashing your child. A crib is to keep the baby from rolling off when you are not in the room, you dont leash them to the crib...you are out you are there with the child, you train them to behave and watch them closely and hold their hand.

With a crib.. you are not in the room and the child is not restrained they are free to stand up and roll around, with a leash the child is retrained like a dog.

Crib--->baby...leash--->a todler old enough to take orders and listen!

so its like jail? in jail you can roll around and roam in your cell. (im a co-sleeper although i do not have a problem with cribs)

I wonder if any of the "perfect" parents have ever used a playpen or a stair gate, or how about a safety plug? Pretty much the same idea as a harness which for the record is the only one of those things I have ever used.

I say do away with cribs. Cages are for animals, not babies.

bwah I think i love you.

I don't see how you can put a leash and a crib in the same category...However as a baby I slept on a bed not in a crib therefore a baby doesn't have to sleep in a crib so I don't know what that has to do with leashing your child. A crib is to keep the baby from rolling off when you are not in the room, you dont leash them to the crib...you are out you are there with the child, you train them to behave and watch them closely and hold their hand.

With a crib.. you are not in the room and the child is not restrained they are free to stand up and roll around, with a leash the child is retrained like a dog.

Crib--->baby...leash--->a todler old enough to take orders and listen!

justify it all you want but if you put your cousin in a crib you were being a horrible, horrible parent. Or if you weren't with him 24/7 & never let him leave your sight .(that's sarcasm by the way, I have a feeling you wont get it unless I make that clear)

I wonder if any of the "perfect" parents have ever used a playpen or a stair gate, or how about a safety plug? Pretty much the same idea as a harness which for the record is the only one of those things I have ever used.

I say do away with cribs. Cages are for animals, not babies.

bwah I think i love you.

I don't see how you can put a leash and a crib in the same category...However as a baby I slept on a bed not in a crib therefore a baby doesn't have to sleep in a crib so I don't know what that has to do with leashing your child. A crib is to keep the baby from rolling off when you are not in the room, you dont leash them to the crib...you are out you are there with the child, you train them to behave and watch them closely and hold their hand.

With a crib.. you are not in the room and the child is not restrained they are free to stand up and roll around, with a leash the child is retrained like a dog.

Crib--->baby...leash--->a todler old enough to take orders and listen!

you're missing the big picture.

The thing is: Part of being two years old -- three or four, whatever -- is that you don't have restraint. Something exciting happens, you get excited, and all discretion goes out the window. It is part of being a baby. It is like a dog. You can have the best trained dog in the world, but a squirrel comes by and he forgets himself in a moment.
You can say 'my child behaves.' But he or she doesn't if a distraction comes up. They simply do not have the capacity yet.
Unless, they are in mortal fear of you.
I have two boys, both teenagers, by the way.