Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

My toddler can run faster than me. Aibu to not have expected this?

34 replies

reneaa2 · 02/04/2013 09:20

My 22 month old can now out run me and has no sense of danger.

I am struggling with tantrums about this on a daily basis and am upset that no friends have ever mentioned this!

Am I the only parent who has this issue?

(I am not a particularly slow runner in te first place, although I am getting faster now).

OP posts:
HeySoulSister · 02/04/2013 09:21

Your upset nobody mentioned it to you??

TastesLikePanda · 02/04/2013 09:23

Reigns or a cage are your friend.

Twinklestarstwinklestars · 02/04/2013 09:24

Little life back packs are fab my ds is a very fast runner and I fractured my hip so couldn't chase him for a while!

DIYapprentice · 02/04/2013 09:25

Well, to be fair he probably can't run faster than you, he can just get away a heck of a lot faster than you can!!! Grin

Definitely reigns, if he won't hold your hand out and about.

TheUnicornsGoHawaiian · 02/04/2013 09:25

Wait for them to get to 3! I feel like an Olympic sprinter some days. Youre not alone.

Its not one of thinks that you would necessarily mention to other mums I suppose, unless it cropped up when chatting.

My 20 month old has reins. This helps a lot around busy places. Fortunately my 3 year old is pretty good and walks well by my side but if he decides to leg it, I know it's going to be a workout to catch him Grin

PointeShoes · 02/04/2013 09:26

Wait until your toddler gets a balance bike... Then you have run! ... I use reins, hand straps and a cow backpack with a rein on it....not all at once!

HollyBerryBush · 02/04/2013 09:26

The little darlings can change direction on the turn of a sixpence as well!

ShatnersBassoon · 02/04/2013 09:26

He can't run faster than you. You just need to be braced for a standing start at any moment.

CadleCrap · 02/04/2013 09:26

YANBU - they can be speedy little buggers sometimes!

PickledInAPearTree · 02/04/2013 09:27

Bloody hell, YANBU.

Look on the bright side he could be the next bolt!

HollyBerryBush · 02/04/2013 09:31

This is what gated parks were invented for. Take one toddler to park. Release toddler. Sit down, open flask of coffee. Watch toddler vaguely whilst enjoying your ears freezing off. Collect toddler when collapsed in heap and exhausted.

This may take at least 2 hours. On the bright side, they sleep a lot better Grin

Lovelygoldboots · 02/04/2013 09:33

God this has upset you. Youve posted it twice Grin

FrustratedSycamoresRocks · 02/04/2013 09:33

Yabu for expecting friends to have mentioned it. Not every child is a runner. (Dd1 never ran, dd2 is still a runner at 4)
You need to be constantly aware of the posibility that he will run, you might even find that there are triggers (standing still talking for too long),
You have 2 choices, invest in reins, or put your trainers on and ride out the storm.

LindyHemming · 02/04/2013 09:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

propertyNIGHTmareBEFOREXMAS · 02/04/2013 09:36

Yabu and unfit. Get training! A toddler should not be able to outrun you. Compare the length of your legs to his. Join a gym.

Original poster
reneaa2 · 02/04/2013 09:40

I have reins, he hates them and behaves like a puppy straining to escape, screaming at the same time.

We live in a rural area at the moment and he has plenty of open spaces to run in. We will be moving to a city in a few months and not sure how he will be without the chance to run free. Although I can't help but think that maybe all the space here has helped him get so fast.

OP posts:
PickledInAPearTree · 02/04/2013 09:54

My ds writhes around like gollum hissing with reins on. I tried in a shopping centre and he writhed in circles on the floor until they were off.

It was very embarrassing!

TastesLikePanda · 02/04/2013 09:56
Wink
TheNebulousBoojum · 02/04/2013 10:01

Mine had reins with bells on and loved them.
But if you are moving to a city, then I'd definitely go for reins and make sure I was ready to sprint. Be grateful, DS has AS and I was having to pursue him on occasion when he was 10. He could really shift. Grin

CitrusyOne · 02/04/2013 10:02

pickled I am bf dd and have just spat with laughter at gollom.

crazydrunkevilhamster · 02/04/2013 10:02

Gollum Grin
I can't take my Ds4 anywhere without his little life back pack & he hates wearing it but I gave him no choice as he loves to run in to on coming traffic

SolomanDaisy · 02/04/2013 10:04

I've amazed myself with just how quickly I can sprint small distances when I spot DS running towards danger. If he gets any faster I will need some sort of fitness regime.

JamieandtheMagicTorch · 02/04/2013 10:05

If it is imperative he doesn't run off and he won't hold hands, warning that he must hold onto you/the buggy, and then into the buggy of he doesn't comply. Be consistent.

I had one who was a runner, and the other who was a dawdler, stopping to inspect every dog poo and discuss it in great, loud detail.

Notquite · 02/04/2013 10:06

Lassoo.

If he keeps it up, get him into an athletics club when he's 8.

Mumsyblouse · 02/04/2013 10:06

I had one runner (the other had to be tipped out of her pushchair aged 4). It was awful, I used to look at the other mums with children trotting nicely beside them and think 'how do they do that?' In the end, I went with reins when near busy roads, or being in the pushchair nicely then let out in park and then when a bit older I let her hold onto the pushchair and walk, with the penalty that if she let go/refused to behave nicely, she went back in the pushchair. We walked everywhere and she still loves running/cross-country now. It is not necessarily a bad thing to have an active child but it is tiring.

Swipe left for the next trending thread