Tips for this?

[familypyjamass]

So DS is 2 this month, he’s a very strong willed little boy and we’ve reached lots of tantrums if even the most minor thing isn’t what he wants

A few months ago we started doing more walks, trying to teach him to hold our hand stay close etc. it’s only today I noticed he walks a lot better when he’s got his dummy in and when I say better I mean will walk with us,
hold hands and not try to run etc!

do I just need to try our walks without the dummy and work through the little kick off he has?

He normally walks quite well to nursery (15 min walk but 25-30 for us haha) as it’s the route he knwos

were still working on lots of places like staying close not darting off etc

or is this normal for his age? Sometimes we just carry him in certain areas as he wants to bolt and won’t stay near us

Your expectations for how far he should walk age 2 are unrealistic. I definitely wouldn't start using the dummy as that is a habit you don't want. It will probably be at least another 6 months before you can confidently and consistently cover a meaningful distance so go back to having the buggy with you as back up and invest in a pair of reins.

And yes, what you're describing eg bolting etc is entirely normal, hence the need for reins or buggy if you are near a road.

I do think a walk of that length is a lot.

I don’t see anybody using reins, but they seem quite popular on here. I think the problem is children who aren’t compliant with hand holding also refuse reins so I’m not sure how much of a solution they are.

@Strawberrypeachlime you just have to ride out a few tantrums and then they are fine. We had a couple of days of resistance but stayed firm that it was either walk with reins on or go in the buggy. Message received and she now holds her arms out for them before we go out the door. I'd rather ride out a few tantrums than risk having a dead child. She is now quite good at hand holding anyway, but they were a good interim for when she wasn't but wanted to walk.

That’s fine if they don’t want to go in a pushchair but if they do, then that doesn’t work!