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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Aibu to not want my dc being strapped into Walk o dile

268 replies

Castleheights · 30/11/2016 12:40

Im prepared to be told I am being silly but, I feel uneasy about groups of children being strapped together.

At my dc nursery they have arranged a trip into town using a walk o dile. (Sorry don't know how to link). It's a so called safety device for keeping children safe when there are not enough adult hands available.

Aibu to think it looks unsafe because if one child falls so will others? Furthermore there are plenty of parents who would help if asked, nursery have said they don't want any parental help.

OP posts:

Thread gallery

butterfliesandzebras · 30/11/2016 18:38

So is strapping my child into a car seat dehumanising and humiliating because it's like strapping them into an electric chair?

Or locking my front door at night like locking my children into a high security prison?

People asking what happens if they all bolt do realise the toddlers aren't strapped in and sent off alone, right? There will still be adult carers holding hands and watching over them, just not the hands of evey child.

A child doesn't have as much 'autonomy' strapped into a car seat, either, but it's a temporary safety measure while we do something dangerous (driving). I don't see the problem in temporarily strapping kids together while they walk alongside busy roads to get somewhere.

Much healthier to walk than be in minibus - and they'd all be strapped in in the minibus anyway!

thisisafakename · 30/11/2016 18:47

I have much less of an issue with reins tbh. Having them individually under the control of a carer seems so much better than having them attached to each other

Well, it's exactly the same kind of concept so the only reason you don't have an issue with reins is because YOU use them/would consider using them. Must be nice to be able to look down on people because they don't have the financial means to stay at home. By the way, more progressive societies than ours (such as in Scandinavia) have very few SAHPs and the majority of children go to nursery/daycare from a very young age. It doesn't appear to fuck them up, so I wouldn't be so smug that being a SAHM is always the very best for kids. Your choice if you want to do it, but don't judge people who want to/have to work. Encouraging people to be economically inactive (with a massively high divorce rate) isn't a great direction for society to go in either.

I am also shocked at the poster who said her Swedish friends were shocked at the walkodile given the large number of nursery groups with walkodiles that I saw last time I was in Stockholm.

helterskelter99 · 30/11/2016 18:49

They are brilliant, the nursery my child goes to because I am an evil working mother has no outside space so this means that they go out at least once a day.

They go to the park and are let off, they go to the library, they may have been in Waitrose this morning ! , they've been to the fishmongers
.
They still see it as holding hands and it means my child knows our local town inside out

I think they are genius but am also open to the chain gang suggestion as a way of reducing fees 😭

corythatwas · 30/11/2016 19:30

OP, while volunteer parents are fine for the occasional trip, many of us would actually like our children to be in the kind of daycare where a walk out was a daily and natural occurrence that did not have to be planned weeks in advance. It is hardly healthy for young children to stay indoors all the time apart from special trips. For me, the solution was a childminder, but that isn't going to be right for every family.

TiggyD · 30/11/2016 19:42

Nice idea. My nursery should get one.

Is this some kind of stealth advertising thread?

sparechange · 30/11/2016 19:57

SeamstressfromTreacleMineRoad

No, by tethering another child to me like a dehumanising exploiter of spare legs...

JennyPocket · 30/11/2016 20:15

thisis maybe the friend from Sweden was from a more rural area where there was far less need for walkodiles. Same for those posters who don't like them much.

I live in a busy town on the outskirts of a busy city and right near the nursery is a main, busy B road. We are not talking village traffic, there's a great number of cars, buses etc and the pavements are not wide. Walking nursery children there (which is the only way of getting anywhere - parks, shops, public transport etc) without a walkodile would be very dicey.

I wholeheartedly approve of the walkodiles from a safety point of view.

PersianCatLady · 30/11/2016 20:23

Agree completely about the awfulness of the James Bulger comment
Thankfully, it has been removed now.

Jackiebrambles · 30/11/2016 20:28

Last time I was in Sweden I saw a man with a cat on a lead taking him for a walk. This was in the country too

Original poster

Castleheights · 30/11/2016 20:58

Thank you for your comments. I had not considered the impact of staff costs or that free parental help was actually abit naff when childcare is expensive, parents want trained staff not soandsos mum.

Definitely not stealth advertising! An honest dislike of the idea actually.

However, everyday's a school day and I can see some of the pros now.

OP posts:

GnomeDePlume · 30/11/2016 21:28

There's an adult version!

look!

TrishanFlips · 30/11/2016 21:33

I think it would be nice if they could have a crocodile head at the front with a presspad to open its mouth and a tail at the back with some bumps along the body that the children could press to make musical notes - an octave's worth or so. Then they could learn to play simple tunes as they walk along.

GnomeDePlume · 30/11/2016 21:33

Actually we could do with a grown-up version for work. It would be very useful to stop visitors bolting wandering off when being shown around the work areas.

DixieWishbone · 30/11/2016 21:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PersianCatLady · 30/11/2016 21:47

I think it would be nice if they could have a crocodile head at the front with a presspad to open its mouth and a tail at the back with some bumps along the body that the children could press to make musical notes - an octave's worth or so
You need to get on Dragon's Den with that idea, I can see that being a really popular invention, seriously!!

NotCitrus · 30/11/2016 22:53

I'm sure the one at my dcs' nursery had a crocodile head to go with its green handles (plus harnesses). They shared it with another branch and the kids were hugely excited when it was their week to use the 'crocodile'. It meant they could easily get eight 2-3yos from the front yard, along a bit of main road, along a minor road crossing 3 junctions, to a lovely enclosed park, quickly and safely so they could do it daily.

Funny how no-one ever compares being strapped in a buggy to being restrained in a bad way such as in a mental hospital. It's keeping kids safe just like if you go climbing you have a harness to stop you getting hurt.

sparechange · 01/12/2016 06:44

Gnome!

SeamstressfromTreacleMineRoad · 01/12/2016 11:47

sparechange LOL - I once spent a day trying to get DD and her BF to grasp the principle of how to win a three-legged race (leg tied to other person is 1, other leg is 2 and you shout 'one, two, one, two' as you run...)
They overcame their shackles and won...!

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