Rein/harnesses for children

RosieBee_2

Before having twins, if I'm being honest, I thought reins seemed a bit harsh. But that was ignorant and judgemental of me. My two are 22 months old and those backpack reins have really helped me out in many situations. I agree with all the moms on here who use them not only for help in offering the little ones some independance without fear of them getting in harms way, but also for having some leverage in helping break their inevitable falls.
I chose the cute little animal backpacks with built in reins as they seemed less archaic but I really think there is a design flaw in that the rein clips to the top of the backpack and whenever the kids turn around, the strap can easily choke them. it is a shame because I really like the bags but if I had to do it all over again, I wouldnt buy them. Anyone else have this problem with the littlelife packs?

andygb

I think that a reins and harness are a great idea, then when you go out for the day you can put a little saddle on your youngster and let the family pets have a ride on him/her - that would solve so many problems - pets - youngsters - tied at home all day:)

sweaty_betty

It looks like I'm in the minority! I don't really like reins TBH.

We tend to use hand-holding instead and try to stick to quiet roads (fortunately we are able to do this as there are alternative routes to most places from our house). We've not had any incidents yet - the worst that happened was when he disappeared when playing with toys in a cafe - turns out he'd gone to find himself a better table! - and this was a time where we wouldn't have been using reins if we'd had them:)

HOWEVER, we only have one child at the moment and I can seriously envisage the need for reins when trying to control more than one small person with an under-developed sense of danger (someone told me once that children don't really understand danger until they're about 7+), so never say never

valk_scot

I remember going out with my then 6 year old nephew and my own son of 6, plus DD in a buggy. DS was well trained by then to walk beside me and put his hand on the buggy when we were going to cross a road, nephew on the other hand was racing around all over the place, jumping on and off the pavement, into people's gardens and refusing to stand with me when we were going to cross the road. (His mum was one of the ineffectual bleating types when it came to discipline.) I gave him one warning. I gave him two. On the third he said "...and what are you going to do about it?" I'll put the toddler wrist strap on you I said, it was still in the changing bag. So he pushed the limits one more time to see if I meant it and sure enough, he spent the rest of the trip on a wrist strap tied to my wrist. I don't think much of kids mucking me about when we're crossing a main road, nope.

He's 16 now and we both still remember and laugh about it. He's never disobeyed me since though, which is more than I can say for him with his parents.

Make-it-3

We have standard reins not the backpack kind, it is really rare these days to see other toddlers on them, so surprised that so many people here are pro-reins.

Funny I got asked today where I got mine, as a mum was struggling to find some.

My LO will hold my hand if she wants to, but loves her reins as she can explore a bit more as we walk along, if she chooses. She's like dog bringing me a lead and asking for "walkies".

I really don't see why they have gone out of fashion, if I wasn't using them my LO would be permanently in her pushchair as she just isn't self aware enough to understand the dangers of the road.

valk_scot

Perhaps reins are less popular because so many folk drive these days rather than walk as their regular form of transport? It would be easy enough to do without them if you're just picking your toddler up from his car seat and popping him in a trolley, for example, rather than walking to the supermarket.

Thogh that reminds me of the other really useful thing you can use standard reins for...it's an ideal harness for things like a supermarket trolley or a cafe high chair with only a lap belt. You can wind the long handle strap through the back of the trolley or round the back of the high chair and clip it in securely on the other side. Far more secure than a lap belt only.

pigpen

I had my now 14 y/o in reins until he was about 6.5years old.. he was a nightmare for running off, I had 3 younger than him, he wouldn't hold hands so it was the only way I could keep him safe.. better than him being run over because he ran off or getting lost. I don't like them but they definitely have a place for some children.

We have a butterfly backpack with a lead on it for Squeak, she loves the independence of walking but OH is too tall to hold her hand so this is a compromise.. she loves them and often holds hands too.

BAGGY

We used the back packs with the twins. I would've had a permanant stoop otherwise. And they enjoyed carrying ther drink in the bag.

zippybungle

I used them on all 3 of my kids, mainly the backback style ones. Just felt safer using reins than just holding their hand (not always practical to hold their hand all the time, especially when supervising other kids as well), plus it's good to get them walking around instead of being in pushchair all the time.

Zippy x

pollypenny

I still have nightmares about a time I had to pay in a shop, so asked DD to hold her brother's hand. He pulled out of it and belted out of the shop and on to the road!

How he wasn't killed I do not know!

I have just sent some reins to DIL in the USA to keep grandson safe. He was running full pelt at 11 months.