Holding hands with toddler

[Noopypappy]

How do I get my toddler to hold hands with me in the street? Firstly he won't take my hand and if I insist on holding it flings himself to the floor, regardless of puddles. Then if he does deign to hold my hand then the same happens if I happen to want to go in a different direction to him. He goes down on his knees then flings himself backwards and I'm quite worried he'll hurt himself. He is 15 months.
Should I a) persevere and just take lots of changes of clothes b) use reigns to try and prevent him hitting the deck in the first place c) give up and use the buggy d) tell him off and carry him when he does it whilst explaining he is being carried as he wasn't behaving or e) another idea that I haven't thought of!

I'd go back to the buggy tbh!

15 months is too young to reason with, so make your life easier and simpler!

At 15mo I'd be using the buggy.

Have to say i wasn't brave enough to try this on my ds as he was too headstrong. Still is.

If I ever walked with him, I would put the reins on and then hold his hand and hold tight. He still says I hold his had too tight.

Mostly though for being on Main streets etc it was the buggy for me. Safer and quicker IMO.

Oh he's so young... don't take it personally. Pop him in his buggy. He's really too young to walk very far and will not yet understand the concept of walking with an adult holding hands. I've just given up the buggy for my 3.5yr old DD, who is sometimes happy to hold hands and sometimes just wants to bomb off on her scooter.

All fair comments. I am not walking him far and just on a quiet cul-de-sac or to and from the nursery (enclosed). Maybe I will leave it a while longer and save myself the extra washing!

My DD wasn't keen on the idea of walking while holding a hand at that age. Six months on and she's not bad at all, although still asks to be carried a fair bit. If she and I disagree about the direction we're going in or whether she should be holding my hand at all, she gets carried whether she likes it or not. I let her walk again when she asks and she's usually fine when she goes back down (until the next altercation!)

I usually try not to force her to have her arm up too high or drag her or clutch her too tightly by the hand so she won't feel too uncomfortable and she's usually fine.

Be patient, keep trying every so often and you'll find your DS will soon get into the swing of walking while holding your hand.

I would go for a, but when you do hold hands make sure it's not too tight, and make sure you walk at his pace, no dragging. And I think when you ditch the buggy that really should be it. And I hate reins.
Never realised I had such a strong opinion on this

i would use the "two choices" technique here (ie where you let him choose, but give him two options, both of which are fine by you - they think they are in control!)

i say ok NoopyPappySon, you have two choices, you wither hold my hand and walk nicely, or you go back into the buggy - you choose. If you don't chooe, then i will do it for you. if he says he doesnt want to do either, then firmly tell him there is no other option.

they get the gist pretty quickly as long as you are consistent.

I agree with PoppadumPreach-and make sure you carry through.

Yes, I say "MiniIC hold hand, or Mummy carry?" - that seems to work well.

Far far too young. DS walked from 10 months and only now at 2 do we walk holding hands. Before then it was reins or buggy.

He also wouldn't have got the choices thing at 15 months.

Agree with two choice thing although think would not be doing this until he was over 2yo.

My dd was not great at hand holding, so her choice was hold my hands or have the reins on, don't negatiotiate!

She is now 5yo and likes holding my hand

Appologies for my terrible spelling!

DD stopped wanting to go in the buggy at about 18months, was another screaming session. So that's when we moved to reins, again for a few months. Now she just holds hands (2.6) freely as she understands the need, i.e. not to go running off in case of cars etc.

I never thought about how uncomfortable it must be for small children to walk while holding one arm in the air (ie attached to/holding an adult's hand). Ouch!

My ds is 16 months and we have been walking him up and down the road to the shops and the park since he was about 12 months, he can walk about a mile now before he gets tired. Dh and I like going for long walks so he needs to learn to keep up .

As for holding hands, he will hold dh's hand for a little while but I suppose it must hurt after a while with his hand up in the air. He's not too keen holding my hand but I am encouraging him to hold the side of the pushchair and he seems to be loving that - plus he can climb in and out as he pleases if he gets tired.

The only thing we have to watch out for is when he gets distracted by passing bicycles or dogs as he will do a quick about turn and be off in the other direction and of course he gets carried if we have to cross a road.

Ds is just 17 months and I agree its too young to understand a choice like that (or perhaps he's just thick...)

We do holding hands (or I firmly grab his coat) for very short journeys but tbh honest it hurts my back after a while. I was so against reins but the neighbour gave us some with a load of baby stuff and the advantage is it does give them more freedom. Plus I think catching them when they are about to fall / hurtle off must be more comfortable than having your arm yanked out of its socket.

Still use the buggy and sling sometimes too.

I don't think its misbehaving, think how exciting it must be to have your first outside walks and get to nosey into all those things you haven't been able to reach / chase before.

Get a zip up all in one waterproof suit to save on the washing.

I realised after a few weeks of getting incredibly annoyed that DS (20 months at the time) wouldn't hold my hand for long that a) his poor little arm was probably aching from being held so high and b) there were just so many exciting things for him to touch/see that he just couldn't help himself and it was useless and unfair to scold him.

He's almost 2 now and still doesn't hold hands for more than a few seconds so I use reins or if we're going into town on the bus shopping he goes in his buggy.

My DS is 15 mo too and I'm going with reins, he is a really confident walker and it seems a shame to restrict him to the buggy. However he won't hold hands and has no concept of danger, so it seems a sensible middle ground. I still plan on using buggy where it's busy though, reins are for quiet paths on way to local park/ shop etc

while we do mostly the rein or buggy choice now at that age for quieter roads I let her walk along side me and didn't have the buggy for short walks. Now she often wants to hold my hand.

I also give dd two choices, either holding hand or sitting in buggy.
took a bit of traini g, though, the hand holding.

OP, to put this in perspective, remember that there are plenty of babies who haven't even learnt to walk by 15 months. My own son had just learnt at that age, but his preference was still to crawl if he wanted to get anywhere quickly.