Any ideas to get my 17 month ds to walk in the same direction as me?!

[LiegeAndLief]

Ds is capable of walking quite far and I would love to be able to go short distances without taking the pushchair - but he just runs off in the opposite direction wherever we go! Have tried cajoling, getting him to push his pushchair, "quick let's chase Daddy" etc, all work for about a metre. If I hold his hand or put reins on he just sits down in protest and I end up carrying him. Am I just expecting too much of a 17 month old?

[rookiemater]

Our DS is 22 mths and this direction thing has got a lot better over the past couple of months.

We tried reins but ended up with him throwing himself on to the road in a frenzied protest so gave up quickly. He just was so keen to see all the flowerpots of all the neighbours, and any rubbish on the ground and a passing leaf etc etc.

I think you just have to live with this one and understand that it gets better quite soon. Also whilst its good for them to walk at 17mths there is no shame in him using the pushchair for a bit longer.

[ruddynorah]

mine is only just vaguely going where i want her to go at nearly 20 months.

[elfsmummy]

I was going to say exactly the same. I could have posted your post myself 4 months ago and gradually over the past few months things seem to have clicked with DD (now 21months)

[rookiemater]

Oh and the particularly annoying thing is that apparently DS loves wearing his reins for the CM and walks for ages holding the pushchair and has been doing so for months, gahh !

[ceebee74]

I have one of these aswell (18 months) who now thinks it is funny to deliberately run off in the opposite direction so we have to chase him.

No advice but I have bought some reins to try and see if that makes any difference - he refuses point blank to hold my hand! However, as it has p*d it down for the last 2 weeks (or so it seems) the reins have not had their debut yet

Glad to hear it gets better!

[deaconblue]

We struggled to get ds to walk in the right direction and so used reins (which luckily he doesn't mind) but he's now 21 motnhs and walks with me really well so I think your ds will get it soon

[deaconblue]

we practised at the park by kicking a football straight ahead and then he would follow it and so keep on the path we wanted him to be on. Obviously that idea is a bit useless for roadside journeys though

[Sooootired]

I persevered with using reins until he clicked that reins meant going out, which he likes, therefore reins were a good thing! Mind you, he is 26 months now and will still run off from time to time given half a chance...

[LiegeAndLief]

Thanks a lot for all the speedy replies! Very glad to hear it seems to get better on its own. Will just have to be patient. Good idea shoppingbagsundereyes, he loves balls and we live near a big park so might give that a go if it ever stops raining...

No shame with pushchair, would just be nice to go out without it occasionally!

[hattyyellow]

Wow, you don't realise a phase has passed until much later! I remember having exactly the same problem with my girls, complicated by the fact that we have twins!

I agree with the others, if you persevere they will realise that if they want to go out and do fun things they must either hold your hand or go on reins...mine eventually clicked to this...

I used to do the opposite at the park when it was quiet and let them toddle off (luckily in the same direction most of the time!)whilst keeping a close eye on them..they realised that they could have spells of freedom and going where they wanted if they stuck to holding my hand when I wanted them too..

[emmaagain]

Why not go the way he is going?

[mistlethrush]

I've used the throwing/kicking the ball in approximately the correct direction - except that it can be modified to include throwing the pine cone or whatever other object ds has found... Some days have returned exhausted after throwing ds's item and dog's frisbee.

On roads we found that getting ds to hold dog's lead was fantastic - often had 2 leads on the dog so that he had one and I had one, and also insist on hand holding on the road - but its easier getting the dog to go in the right direction and getting ds to follow.