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

[BumblBeee]

I think they are horrid?!

Mr Hab is 6" 3, and LittleHab is about 2ft tall, so holding her hand for him is quite uncomfortable risks him walking into lamposts bent double. Think reins might be just the thing (if you hadn't all put that flaming LittleLife backpack into my head).

i was anti-reins until my dd spontaneously did an acute angle and ran towards a car. now i love them.

and also (but probably been mentioned), reigns are useful, if not essential, for...

highchairs if you have a houdini (DS1 and DS2[resigned to it now emoticon])
pushchairs for the same reason, and you need them beyond tha age of 2yrs like I did for most of mine due to illness or broken legs (DD1)
DH to use when he is out and not used to their running skills
car seats when they have a habit of unclipping on the motorway(DS2)

and even to help them get the jist of sitting on the stairs when they have bitten their sister, and I was not aiming to hold him down and squish him! ( I did this once for all of 10secs tho until I realised it was backfiring cos he thought it a game)

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Would you like to borrow my DS so he can demonstrate why reins are A Good Thing?

[wry]

i have no opinion on reins

My DD is 17 months and hates her buggy so we walk or use slings a lot. When we walk she is very independant and will not hold hands. If we're not in the freedom of a park then we'll be near a road and she hasn't yet worked out the difference between a road and a footpath. Using reigns doesn't mean you neglect the teaching of road safety it just keeps them safe whilst you do. If I didn't use reigns I'd be constantly moving her out of the road whereas with reigns she gets the relative freedom of moving independently whilst staying safe.

I call it my 'baby lead' anyway.

I bought reins for ds when he was about 14 months, but he didn't take to them. He'd just spin around like a whirling Dervish. I've never been good at the Yo-Yo.

I've no objection to them, though. It depends on the child.

For those of you who ditched their buggies, how do you walk them a mile to the shops when they're two?

Oh, ... I guess you must take the car

When you have a "bolter" you'll change your mind. It's not like they're a farking choke lead is it?

Babydragon loves them. She puts them on herself. DSs also think it's hilarious to take her for a walk with them when we're out.

Actually, I've always been tempted to buy one of those retractable dog leads to attach to the reins for added freedom.

We use them as a threat to our 20 month old. 'hold my hand to cross the road otherwise reins' He normally is then muttering ' no reins, no reins ....' whilst holding my hand across the road.

the funniest things spark a right old kick off on mn

Why? As a CM with previously 3 children aged 15-21mths it was the only way to keep them all safe. Could hold onto them whilst loading in and out of the car etc, while pushing double buggy.

How old is baby? I would personally rather have an alive child looking silly, than slipping his/her hand out of mine and going under a car!

Spoo you threaten your 20 mo with reins?
what the hell?

Tend to agree with tori. I have bought reins for my DD and now she can walk to the childminder without me worrying she will run off!

Better safe than sorry I say!

cod are you drunk?

That very correctly and carefully typed post reminded me of someone driving their car at 10 miles an hour cos they've had one too many

I love knowing that you have no opinion on this matter

I had some for DS whan he was at the unreliable stage (before he was 2 but can't remember exact age) and I was heavily pg. He liked to walk a lot and I was terrified that I would not catch him if he ran off. I just wrapped the strap around my wrist as a back uo and made him hold my hand though. Once he discovered there was a rein attached to him he loved swinging from it - v annoying! This phase didn't last long and I haven't yet needed to use them with DD. She's not so much of a 'walker' so maybe will have reached a more obedient age before she wants to walk more! Think it depends on the child.
My in-laws didn't like them though and on the odd occasion when they looked after DS for a couple of hours, I would give them the reins to put on him when they were out. I was just so worried that he would run off and they wouldn't get to him on time (they are quite old!). FIL used the old 'makes them look like a dog' line.
The straps are quite handy for other things - restaurant high chairs etc.

Lucky I didn't come on mumsnet when DS was using them - hadn't realised with some people that they were such a no-no!

what's wrong with telling a child if they don't hold your hand they will have to wear their reins?

I had a set of reins for dd1 which I never used as she always held my hand and didn't run off.

Dd2 was totally different though and would run off at the drop of a hat, so we bought some reins and used them a lot. They were especially useful in restaurants for tying her into the highchair as she was a houdini when it came to climbing out.

And they were invaluable when we went to Florida when dd2 was 16 months old. It was so busy in the parks and she had to get out of the buggy and walk some of the time and they were a great way of not losing her in the crowds.

If you don't like them though, just don't use them.

ds1 walked loads as soon as he was able, could easily do a mile to the shops and back by age 2, and had/has NO roadsense whatsoever.
Reins let him stay happy walking without zipping off into the distance/road.
He gave up his pushchair to ds2 no problem - he says it is a "babyseat" with much derision (but still has changing mat envy).
Reins were good for us.

Reins - don't you mean leash? Pack them away if they don't appeal. I have resisted till now but I may have to rethink when I have a newborn a three and a five year old to control.

nothing wrong with reigns per se you snobs -g et over yourselves

IMO reins are outdated and not needed now thee is that FAB invention you stick ont heback of a pram with wheels on

tell em to hold on tight - if they fall off once they won't doit twice.
if they arnt old enoug for that they should be in the pram wit the buckle fastened.

i dont see the ned foran inbetween but wouldnt do the constant mumsnet looky down nosey at a mum who did

yes well I hate the look of them too but I have a bolter and a baby and have to use a wrist strap on occasion. couldn't give a shit if someone disapproves of them TBH. DD is getting much better, learning road sense, and can now be trusted to hold on to the pram/my hand most of the time, but a few months back she was dreadful - including running out of a friend's driveway and across a road (she was running along the pavement but failed to notice the road joining the one she was running along). and she's bloody fast and unpredictable

obviously this could all have been avoided by me going at her pace . which I do do most of the time anyway.

the spelling 'reigns' does really get on my tits though

I'd rather have a baby that looks like a dog than a baby that looks like roadkill/