My MIL just bought my baby a set of reigns and I am horrified. What to do?

[BumblBeee]

I think they are horrid?!

[mrsruffallo]

I have a very active toddler and I would never use them. I have never found it necessary- even when they are both with me.
BB- I hate them too, and if someone bought me them I would give them away

[Carmenere]

They are very good in dangerous situations such as waling along busy roads, they are perfect for that short phase of total lunacy where the child has no sense what so ever but enough strength and speed to get away from you particularly if you have other children or loads of bags ect.

Before dd reached that stage I thought I didn't like the look of them, as soon as I realised how each and every day could contain a near death experience I soon changed my mind.

[TheMadHouse]

Oh yes - I make them carry all their provisions, leaving my handbag a child free zone Child labour everytime

[mrsruffallo]

I have taught him road safety and he knows to stop at kerbs. Other than that he runs in front of me down the street or holds onto the buggy

[perpetualworrier]

They also save your back if you're tall and DC walk young, as you don't have to bend to hold their hand.

[Carmenere]

emotionally scarred for life-unlikely
physically scarred for life -less likely if you use reins.

[ELF1981]

trust me, you may be grateful of them one day.
I have a set for my dd (she is two and been walking since 9 months) and trust me, they are my life saver sometimes!

[yurt1]

Wait and see if you need them (they can be useful for strapping into highchairs). Whether you will or not will depend very much on the personality of your child. I suspect the child will decide whether you need them or not.

[yurt1]

And if you don't need them with the first child -you may when you have 2. Sometimes its the combination of trying to deal with 2 at once that's hard.

[nappyaddict]

you people that hate reins - do you also hate the backpack ones and wrist straps?

[scottishmummy]

uesful on highchair, and agree with Yurt the temprement of child will determine their use (or not)

[mrsruffallo]

I don't understand what is so great about them..I really don't.

[yurt1]

Or belts? DS1 has a belt with a strap attached. I rarely use it now, but do if we're going somewhere where I need 2 hands free (like shoe shopping although I usually just guess his size) so I can pay and hold onto him.

[ThePettyandIllinformedGoat]

normally at this point the rein fight descends into telling the non reiners that they are bad mothers and their child is liable to die in traffic and the non reiners talk about dogs alot and retreat to knit lentils.

[Eulalia]

Reins are my lifeline, or ds2 perhaps! Being extremely small for his age meant that normal straps on highchairs and pushchairs were far to loose for him so I HAD to use reins to tie him in. I know this isn't perhaps the use you are thinking of but they are great for safety. A child may be cross being tied in but they are cross at just about everything at the toddler age. And they probably won't even remember it in years to come.

[mrsruffallo]

Yes, nappyaddict, I find it unnecessary to use anything like that. I can anticipate when he is about to make a break for it and as I said he stops at curbs.

[nailpolish]

yes i do nappyaddict

but i realise everyone is different - i do think i was lucky with my 2

[nappyaddict]

is it the whole treating them like a dog on a lead thing?

[nailpolish]

neither of my girls has ever made a run for it. they love to hold hands. either that or they walk to heel

[yurt1]

"I can anticipate when he is about to make a break for it and as I said he stops at curbs."

But not all children are like that. Hence my earlier statement that the child (or combination of children) will dictate the need for reins.

[nailpolish]

nappyaddict i just think its restraining and i dont like that

i ditched the buggy too on the 2nd birthday

[belgo]

nailpolish - car seats are alos about restraining to a certain extent, do you disagree with them as well?

Reins are for safety. Not all kids will hold hands and walk nicely.

[cory]

IMO much less restrictive than either holding child by the hand or keeping them strapped into pushchairs. I had a friend whose dd was still in a pushchair aged 4, because she couldn't be trusted with traffic- now that horrified me! A big girl like her being treated like a baby, because her mum hadn't felt safe enough to train her when she was little. At that age, my childrenhad outgrown their reins long ago. I only used them for the training stage, between 1 and 21/2. I found before my dc's turned 2 1/2 they really weren't very amenable to traffic training, but still needed the exercise of walking and hated being stuck in the buggy all the time.

Funnily enough, they are very popular in Scandinavia, though you do get some funny looks here in the UK.