I’ve got a runner on my hands!

[EmJay19]

Any advice appreciated.

DS is nearly 2 and a half. Lately he’s taken to running off at certain intervals of the day. He can be relied on to run off:

*At handover time at nursery when I’m trying to talk to staff. He literally runs into other rooms
*When getting in the house from the car
*When trying to get out of the house in the morning
*Anywhere near a road when not strapped in the buggy

I’m 6 months pregnant and it’s wearing me down physically and emotionally. I’m holding him where I can but he’s getting big and I’m often trying to juggle getting stuff in and out, getting keys out etc and he finds a way to slip off.

I’m trying to meet him half way where I know he’s going to act up, e.g.
*At nursery I’m letting him run around on the ramp outside 3 times before getting in the car to save me having to drag him out
*He walks down the front path in a funny way

In doing all of this he most often still refuses to go where we’re headed and runs off resulting in me having to pick him up and him screaming like I’m a stranger abducting him.

When I do try and talk to him he seems a bit wired, especially after nursery and just wants to run.

He has lots of opportunities for burning off steam throughout the day.

Any ideas???? 🙏🤞🙈

Nothing helped either of mine but they did grow out of it

🙈 thanks I’ll get a firmer grip then

My DD was the same. I had a 2.10 age gap so pretty active second pregnancy keeping up with her. Reins and pushchair when near roads. She grew out of it eventually after she lost me a couple of times and scared herself.

@GougeAway I don't know why but this made me chuckle and made me think whether I should hide behind a tree next time when dc runs off to make dc panic and not run off next time. I still have a runner at 3, although we stopped using reigns for about a year now. I still put dc in a pushchair when we go out and about next to busy roads but dc's recall is a lot better in open space in parks although getting dc out the park is a nightmare still but a whole lot better compared to last year.

@doyourselfafavour wish you were using the same park as me so I wasn’t the only one carrying DC out under my arm screaming

Haven’t used reins since about 18 months but might try again

Might also try hiding behind a tree

I feel your pain as I have a 3.5 year old who only very recently chilled out on the running away front. I found it frustrating as my partner claimed he only did it with me and that he didn't with him because my partner was more trusting/less panicky about him wandering (he used to sort of try the 'call your bluff' approach) but I refused to be cavalier about it as in my mind he could have (and nearly did) run into roads etc

My honest advice which sounds a bit weird I know but was the only thing for me was to start using reins again even when he was a bit old for them. I think he realized that they were babyish and stopping him having more freedom so eventually he calmed down. But until you can trust him for peace of mind in some situations (walks near big roads or hazardous places) I would use them (sparingly) where needed to help you on a practical level. We used the hand to hand ones that felt less like baby reins so a bit more grown up for older toddlers

Thank you @teekay88 didn’t think about more subtle reins.
He’s going to kick up a stink about it but good advice will look into hand to hand ones