Reins for toddler for park

[catsofa]

DS is 15 months old, I've got some reins to stop him getting too far away from me in the park. Not letting him out of the push chair anywhere else outside yet.

I usually have a pushchair full of shopping which I have to push along with us and I struggle to steer the thing, keep up with him and not run into him. The reins are only about 1 and a half metres long, and I am tall - I feel like he can't get far enough away from me! It's a big open park so it'd be fine for him to get say 3 or 4 metres away from me.

Are there any brands which have a longer rein? Or what do other people with speedy little one year olds use?

Thanks!

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[Ferguson]

I don't know anything about brands of reins, but over thirty years ago, when our DS was on reins, I used to make a game of it, pretending he was a horse, and I (Dad) would say "Walk on!" and "Whoa!" to stop, so he never objected to being on the reins, as we made it fun.

[AnnieOnnieMouse]

Just buy a couple of metres of webbing maybe online, and tie into an extension loop. Or buy a retractable dog lead, and clip that to the back of the reins (half joking)

[catsofa]

LOL I can't wait until he's old enough to understand daft games like that, it'll make everything easier if we're creative enough! Unfortunately not quite old enough yet but I'll try it as soon as he knows what a horsey is :)

Good idea re: buying webbing... actually a retractable dog lead would be bloody PERFECT - can I get away with it in public do you think?!?

[Ferguson]

At 15 months he ought to know what a horse is!? We have the possible advantage of living in the country, so did occasionally see horses being ridden down the lanes.

At the moment you can see various horse events on TV at the Olympics.

[catsofa]

I don't think he does! Haven't been watching the olympics, and we live in a city so don't see many real life ones. I'm still trying to convince him that the squirrels in the park are not cats or doggies - I think maybe he disagrees because squirrel is so difficult to say!

[strawberrybubblegum]

Using one animal's name for all types od animals is called 'overextension' and is absolutely expected at this point of language development It's actually very clever, since it shows that he's grouping animals together. I love the insights that you get from children's mistakes: because it's a mistake you know they're not just repeating without understanding, and you get a glimpse of some impressive thought processes!

[strawberrybubblegum]

Oops, posted too soon! If a retractable dog lead works for you, then absolutely you can get away with it!

You might find that it doesn't take too long before he's able to more or less go in the same direction as you, and if it's a big park you might be able to let him go freely along. That's definitely something they learn a bit later than the actual walking remembers some frustrating early attempts at walking along a road with DD on reins but completely incapable of walking in a straight line

[DropYourSword]

Does he have to be on reins in the park? I totally get it when near roads etc, but maybe the park could be a safe area for him to roam toddle free.

[woodenmouse]

I used to use the little life backpack for ds but felt the strap was too short so I bought a plain black dog lead and used that instead it looked like it belonged to the backpack and no one ever questioned it.

[strawberrybubblegum]

Oh, but just in case I've set expectations for walking freely too high (!) do be aware once you get to that point that toddlers aren't able to follow until much older. They simply can't do it.

When they refuse to walk and hold their arms out to you crying seemingly trying to wind you up, since they have spent the last hour running non-stop it's an instinctive behaviour which is seen in young monkeys too. Probably an evolutionary thing to stop them being left behind when the group move on (ie get into someones arms at the start rather than risk falling behind)

[Believeitornot]

How on earth can he get that far from you in a park? Seriously my toddlers weren't that fast.

Maybe get a better push chair. You won't use reins much longer given his age.

[KP86]

I agree that it's probably not needed in the park itself. Or, you should be able to leave your stroller and follow him around anyway.

Have a bolter of my own (now 2.4) so try to go to fenced play areas as much as possible which means I can relax a bit. He has really gotten better in the last 4-6 weeks but a long way to go!

We use the mothercare green/blue harness for everywhere.

[Lifeisontheup2]

I used to carry 4 dog leads in the car when mine were small, only one was for the actual dog. My idea was if we broke down then I could get everyone out of the car, attach a dog lead to each of their clothes and keep them safe even on a motorway.

[catsofa]

Thanks everyone!

He's fine running free in the fenced off bits of the park, and I do leave the push chair propped up on a bench to stop it tipping over and just follow him around, or run away from him, or hide (really badly) behind a tree and jump out at him when he comes to find me.

But then we have to walk right across the massive open middle bit of the park to go home, and he's started to want to walk that bit rather than go back in the chair for it. Which is fine apart from all the dogs off leads and odd bits of rubbish and people playing football etc that I need to stop him running into the middle of.

So I want him more free-range than the short reins allow, but retrievable without dropping the pushchair and having to cover ten metres or so faster than a dog that's belting towards him. I have a bit of SPD so can hurt myself trying to do stuff like that!

He does more or less go in the same direction as me, but doggies are much more interesting than I am. As are bigger kids doing bigger kid things, especially slightly dangerous things involving speed and noise and footballs!

Using one animal's name for all types of animals is called 'overextension' and is absolutely expected at this point of language development grin It's actually very clever...
I knew he was a genius! Yeah I'm pretty sure he would call a horse a doggy (and look very pleased with himself )