reins.... are they terrible and why didnt i know this?

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Ive been using reins for my dd who is 2yrs 4 months for about 6 months now. She was out of her buggy before xmas and she does well with her walking. But being a stroppy toddler does not really want to hold my hand. I tried her with a wrist strap and we did not get on with it at all. So i brough her some reins. She calls them her pink lead! but shes very happy with them. I hadnt really thought anything about it until i was inthe libary yesterday. The libraian (spelling??) said to me that you dont offen see children on reins anymore but she think it is much safer and saves the mums chasing after the children. The lady standing behind me piped up saying she thought they were very old fashioned.
So is it completley terrible to use them?? and what do i do instead as she really will not hold my hand the whole time we are out.

thanks

Morloth - LOL at woof!

Better to use reins than to watch them run under a car.

Can't see the problem myself. I loved reins and dc's were fine with them. Reins IME gives a child more freedom to move around than holding hands. And as Kewcumber reminds us, can actually be more comfortable if child is short and adult is tall. More freedom generally because you're not constantly shoving them in the buggy.

And as for chasing round; if your daily walk has to take in a narrow pavement along the access road to a fairly large city, then chasing might just not cut it.

Road safety training is good- but by the time they are old enough to remember training, you would have put away the reins anwyway. Reins are good for while you are doing the training. "Firm but clear" sounds good in principle, but remember that some children walk very well by the time they turn 1; their longterm memory does not necessarily develop at a similar rate.

I used them with ds1. If they're lively and impulsive reins are very sensible.

Reigns are fine, ignore the old busy body. Johns I get your point but if like me you have an unpredictable toddler who runs like the wind, and you are also pregnant, doing a mad dash after them every 2 minutes is not really an option.

Reins are fine imo. I used them for a couple of months with dd1, by which time I was confident enough that she wasn't going to hurl herself under a lorry.

is it reins or reigns?

We used reins and they were a godsend tbh. Dd forgot I was holding on, so thought she was free to go where she chose, but mummy was always on the end to catch her when she tripped (which she did regularly!)

Friends of ours gave us no end of grief about them until one day their ds suddenly darted into the road and was hit by a car Fortunately he wasn't too badly injured, but they went out and bought reins that day.

Ha ha its reins...went all royalist for a minute there!

my four year old still uses them sometimes!! she goes through phases where she seems determined to get herself ran over, no matter how much road sense i try and drum into it just goes in one ear and out the other.

she actually really likes hers they are not the usual ones they are a liitle back pack that straps onto her back and there is either just a short handle that i can grab when we are near busy or a long detachable rein.

the come in usefull for us when going to large unfamiliar shopping centers as she has a tendancy to run off and get lost. its not a problem in our local shopping center as it is only small and snhe knows it well. she also knows that if she loses me she is to go to the info desk by mcdonalds and wait for me.

she doesnt wear them all the time a couple of days is long enough to remind her that she has to watch the roads, for a couple of weeks anyway. id rather see a child in reins than a dead or lost one.

It's not a case of use reins OR teach road safety. I do both.

Poeple who think reins are a bad idea either never let their small child walk anywhere (preferring car or pushchair instead) or have an unbelievably well behaved child who never runs off.

If you find them good, use them.

And of course you teach road safety as well as using the reins.

I don't understand people who do not like reins.

My daughter will be three in Oct and I use reins with her, and pack them in the back for the CM to use.

It doesn't matter HOW many times I tell DD about cars / roads etc, it isn't worth the hassle for a moment where she'll forget what I have told her and run off.

And FWIW, it isn't just cars on the road you need to worry about and teaching children to stay on the pavement, a month or so ago, my daughter (on a day I'd left her reins at home) was running on the pavement and turned the corner, I ran after her, and LUCKILY the twat who was driving on the pavement saw her and stopped, he could quite easily have hit her and killed her, driving fully on the pavement

He's not a dog, you know....some knobwad in the park thought he was being witty.
Yeah, because he'll be considerably harder to replace after he's gone under a car, now piss off.
Maybe the old fashioned comment wasn't meant to be unpleasant, as they haven't been used much of late, but i think they're making a bit of a comeback.

Yes I also assume you are kidding starlight. I have seen so many children run into the paths of bikes and even into the road, who are clearly not being controlled by who ever is with the. Reins would undoubtably prevent this from happening, by keeping the child under control and safe.

they haven't been used recently because children are often bundled into prams / pushchairs and dont walk anywhere
Or at least, that is how it seems to be around here!!
DD hates the pushchair, and is very independant, but the reins are a good compromise, she'll walk for hours (good exercise) and I get peace of mind.
Obv if we are walking in the country parks, she doesn't have them on.

exactly ruby.I just think it's great to see small children walking rather then being cooped up in a pushchair or car all the time.

phew starlight