DS won't hold my hand - can't trust him to walk!

[mabel1973]

I am 36 weeks pregnanat and at the moment, I cannot trust my 20 month old DS to hold my hand, so I have to carry him everywhere or use the pushchair. When I get him out of the car in a a car park, I can't put him down for a second as he will not hold my hand and if i just keep hold of him he does that 'legs won't work' thing and collaspses on the floor so effectively I would be dragging him along!
I have tried telling him about the danger of cars, but he doesn't realy understand. Obviously it is getting incresingly difficult for me to carry him and will be impossible when I have a newborn. I would like to encourage him to walk, but not sure what I can do to keep him safe. My mum bought me some reins, but DH refuses to use them and I am not keen on them.
Any thoughts?

[hana]

if he won't hold your hand then I'd say you need the reins for safety reasons. I have a 19 month old dd who mostly will hold my hand but when she won't she goes in the buggy, it's just not worth taking risks.
does your dh have any better ideas? I assume it's mostly you with the problem as dh can pick him up a lot easier than you can!

[hana]

mabel is my all time fave girls name - would love it for dd3 (am 32 weeks preg now) but just can't get dh on board!

[mabel1973]

I agree with you about the reins thing - I haven't actually tried him with them, but I saw a little girl wearing them the other day and basically screaming to get out of them and pulling to get them off. I just thought - that'll be him.
But worth a try I guess.

[liquidclocks]

Hi mabel - wasting another morning here when I should be working! DS was the same for a bit - we offered a choice, reins or hand, guess which one won?! Though now he actually goes and gets his reins and asks me to out them on if he wants a walk (like having a puppy!) but if I hold them he doesn't like it, I think he just associates wearing them with going out - and they give me something to grab if he makes a break for it

[yorkshirelass79]

Message withdrawn

[mabel1973]

I guess I really ought to try him with reins - before writing them off.
I like the rucksack idea though.
Now Liquid - get some work done for goodness sake