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 use reins with my Ds ,trying to teach him to stop but at the moment he turns, looks at me and grins and then runs away as fast as possible.We are working on the stopping thing but until then its reins ,Hes too gorgeous for me to let anything happen to him.Ihave however managed to train the dog who walks quietly by my side without reins !!!

Reins are evil, I find that they only need to be knocked down by a car once and they soon learn to hold your hand and stay by your side. Mind you if you were allowed to smack them in public when they ran off they wouldn't have to be hit by a car to learn roads are dangerous.

@ Libra.

If you want them, get them. If other people want to look down their nose, let them get on with it. Everyone's happy!

Must admit I am rather envious of all these children who can be fairly easily taught to hold hands ... It's another of those things, isn't it, like sleep, toilet training, feeding, all those other hot button issues - if your kid(s) have done [whatever it is] fairly straightforwardly, it's hard to get that other children might not actually do what they're supposed to, even if the parents are doing everything 'right'. If only a few grumbly trips in the buggy had been enough to get my two willing to hold hands nicely, our life would have been a lot easier all round!

I would have a heart attack without my reins for DS. I let him run mad in the park and the like, but he's on the reins for walking in the street or shopping malls. And, like other posters, even if his reins are on, I still insist on hand holding when crossing the road. The dog argument is mental.

I love this place. it really opens me up to some random and bizzare schools of parenting.

So, a device that is designed to:

1 - stop a child smacking into the floor with the full force of hier bodyweight, should they trip,

And

2 - stop a child running in fron of a car and killing themselves,

is now a BAD idea?

Honestly, the risks some people will take with thier children just to prove themselves to me a modern, right on, forward thinking mother scares me.

activityApple - will you protect me from the rotten tomatoes when they start coming my way? :o !!!

you can still teach your child about road safety whilst keeping them safe on reins. all you have to do is set a good example. mine all had reins and loved them.