Reins????

[shirleycat1]

My 16 month old wants to walk walk walk, but he WILL NOT hold my hand. I live in a busy area where people drive like maniacs a lot of the time. I'm considering reins.

I had reins when I was little, but you never see anyone in them these days. I told my friend I was thinking of getting them and she said "what, like a dog, can't you just teach him not to go in the road". The short answer to that is no, but I don't want my little boy to look like a dog.

Any thoughts on this?

I used them with DD (3.5) and saw loads of others using them. IMHO, having a problem with a safety device such as reins is parental judgey-ness (sp??) at its worst.

Use them if it means you can keep your child safe while still letting them use their arms to balance and at the same time allowing you to stand up straight instead of having to bend sideways to reach their hand.

Teaching a 16 month old not to go in the road - does your friend have children?? I'm sorry but I could never leave the responsibility of not getting run over in the hands of a 16-mth old.

We have had exactly this discussion. DP wanted them and even though I had them as a kid I didn't want DD to have them for the exact reason your friend gave. Unfortunately, there is no reasoning with a 16 -18 month old and she will not hold my hand either. So I relented, bought some reins and we tried them out. DD was happy to play with the buckle but as soon as we tried to get her to walk she refused and has had a massive tantrum each time we've tried them. At the moment I only let her walk where it is safe and she has learned 'stop' (although she now likes to keep saying itand stopping all the time so it takes ages to walk anywhere! :) ).
Will be keeping my eye on this thread for ideas!
I'd give them a go and see how he responds to them - you can get cute little backpacks with reins - you might be luckier than me!
Good luck!

I used reins on my DD at abou this age - the advantage being that I didn't have to keep bending down when heavily pregnant to hold her hand.

Alos, if you don't like reins - have you seen the little rucksacs that have "leads" attached, here .... quite cute and practical too (they get to carry their own nappies/toys!

I don't like seeing children in reins, and one of mine was a bolter.
Just be vigilant.
It's no way to treat a human being

I think they are great. I did not use them with mine when they were with me, but for when they were with my mum who could not have run after them quickly enough. They are a great safety device for when you have other hands full or are in a busy spot.

In response to others who don't like them I would say that I bet Jamie Bolgers mum wished she'd had them.

Anyway, you keep a dog on a leash because you love them and don't want them to get hurt yeah? So how is it ok to take care of a dogs safety with reins/leash, but not a child?

i find the dog lead argument a daft one - so you'll happily keep your animal retrained and safe but not your child?

Both my DD's had reins, mainly because they were very early walkers, 9.5 months and 8.5 months and were therefore competently walking reasonable distance before 12 months old and age were trying to reason with a child is very difficult and i didn't want them run over.

x-posts still - great minds!

It is perfectly possible to teach your child road safety from a very young age.
If they run ahead of you on the street, really, what harm is there in it?

"no way to treat a human being"

There are all sorts of things we do to toddlers - for good reason - that we wouldn't do to adults (eg removing dangerous items from them, wiping their face, picking them up when they might not want to be picked up, putting them in bed when they want to stay up, etc etc). I'm not sure why reins are any different.

If they will keep your child safe, and your child doesn't hate them, what's the problem? (As long as you're not still using them at age 15 )

My son walked at 8 months and was running ahead of me from a very young age. I taught him to stop at roads.

What teach a 10 month old (say) about road safety? Don't make me laugh. People are far too precious about this sort of stuff. Reins are fine, if needed (and I think there are some children for whom they are).

That's your chooice.
I thought the thread title asked for opinins and I gave mine. I like my children free range, to explore and discover and above all learn these skills through practice. I don't think reins teach the children about risk, it's a false security.

i used reins for that bit befre they can comfortbly hold hands but are still walking enough to go to the park out of the buggy. Also because i tend to have a baby in a sling and a dog on a lead as well as the toddler.

very very useful.

stops them falling over so much - saves alot of tears and banged heads. Stops them wandering into nettles, putting their feet in poo, and diving headlong into puddles.
Also makes it possible to get to the park in less than half an hour.

"If they run ahead of you on the street, really, what harm is there in it?" - mrsruffalo I don't think running ahead is the problem, is it?! Well done you for teaching your son not to kill himself. But don't have a dig at others who choose a sensible piece of safety equipment to be absolutely sure.

And for everyone else, Little Life animal daysacks are super cute! :)

Lady Thompson, I would be shocked at a 10 month old wearing reins

X posted mrsruffalo - "I don't think reins teach the children about risk, it's a false security." - better they learn about risk by getting run over then, is it?!

I'm not saying you shouldn't have offered your opinion. Of course you should. And in my opinion, the point you make about teaching them about risk is a good one. But I do think that reins have become one of those things that it's not 'right on' to have and it slightly irks me.

Sorry, Edgar, but all of those things are part of childhood
How do they help you get to the park quicker?
And falling over helps co ordination to develop
Diving into puddles might actually be fun

Reins are awful, gives off all the wrong messages to the child and to others, but sometimes they are unavoidable (but mostly, they are avoidable in my unreasonably held opinion).

And what is shocking about a ten month old wearing reins? what do you mean?