Rein/harnesses for children

jellyhead

dizziblonde wrote: »

To be honest - by the time you've had filthy looks from the other mums for breast or bottle feeding, traditional or baby-led weaning, what type of nappies you use, the amount of money you've spent on a pram... reins or no reins keeps 'em out of mischief a bit longer sending hacky looks to people.

:rotfl: Another mum tried to lecture me on the benefits of breastfeeding around 15 years ago in the Mothercare changing room. How rude! It wasn't even my baby, and the bottle contained expressed breastmilk. I can't remember the reason why I was looking after him, but his mum was a stay at home mum and didn't leave him very often (not that there's anything wrong with it if she had, but from this other mum's point of view the mother was probably a terrible person for not having the baby strapped to her 24/7).

The nappy snobbery was hilarious - at the NCT group I'm sure they hoped for girls, purely so they could display the outer of a cloth nappy under a pinafore :rotfl:

dizziblonde

jellyhead wrote: »

:rotfl: Another mum tried to lecture me on the benefits of breastfeeding around 15 years ago in the Mothercare changing room. How rude! It wasn't even my baby, and the bottle contained expressed breastmilk. I can't remember the reason why I was looking after him, but his mum was a stay at home mum and didn't leave him very often (not that there's anything wrong with it if she had, but from this other mum's point of view the mother was probably a terrible person for not having the baby strapped to her 24/7).

The nappy snobbery was hilarious - at the NCT group I'm sure they hoped for girls, purely so they could display the outer of a cloth nappy under a pinafore :rotfl:

It was the pram elitism that cracked me up - I went from a cheap and cheerful but you got a lot of bits with it in the package thing to a second hand dirt cheap "status" brand buggy (didn't buy it for the name - lack of parent-facing was driving me nuts) - and the looks up and down you got went from being like something they'd stood in, to "oooh she's got an X... nice" overnight.

The woman who almost walked into the wall at Starbucks as she was so busy passive-aggressively muttering vitriol under her breath but loud enough for me to hear about how horrid I was for having a bottle out in public was amusing as well.

coinxoperated

view wrote: »

Do people agree in using them?

Definately. They should come inside a new baby starter kit!

jellyhead

coinxoperated wrote: »

Definately. They should come inside a new baby starter kit!

There was a dummy in the starter kit I got ... that's a whole other thread :rotfl:

Saturnalia

Gosh I can't believe people give you attitude for using reins! They'd be the same ones who would be tutting and sneering if your child were running everywhere getting into scrapes though.

The sights you see - toddlers, being screeched at, sworn at and even hit in the streets, yet it's mums using reins that get the flack? Easy target I suppose.

I know there are comparisons with the child on reins looking like an animal in harness, but come on, reins aren't the same thing as neck and head collars are they? Besides which, I don't see a lot of difference between a toddler and a puppy in the sense that both have zero comprehension of danger, zero decision-making skills, and both think the world is for exploring (at top speed), everything is for chewing and everyone is their friend! As well as the ability to be halfway down the road in seconds!

jellyhead

They are harnessed into a pram anyhow, if they're not on reins.

I used to get dirty looks for having a gigantic child in a pram too (we kept it until he was almost 4, and he's a giant) but they were looks from people whose children rarely walked more than a couple of miles. There's a world of difference between walking to toddler group from the car park, and walking from a house 7 miles away.

The snarky comments were along the lines of 'oh it must be so handy to still be using a pram - I had so much shopping to carry the other day I wished I was still using one' ... from people who only had to carry their shopping as far as the car park

poet123

jellyhead wrote: »

They are harnessed into a pram anyhow, if they're not on reins.

I used to get dirty looks for having a gigantic child in a pram too (we kept it until he was almost 4, and he's a giant) but they were looks from people whose children rarely walked more than a couple of miles. There's a world of difference between walking to toddler group from the car park, and walking from a house 7 miles away.

The snarky comments were along the lines of 'oh it must be so handy to still be using a pram - I had so much shopping to carry the other day I wished I was still using one' ... from people who only had to carry their shopping as far as the car park

You walked 7 miles? I would have worn a sign, and been really peeved if I had been looked at or commented on because I used a pram.

valk_scot

Saturnalia wrote: »

Besides which, I don't see a lot of difference between a toddler and a puppy in the sense that both have zero comprehension of danger, zero decision-making skills, and both think the world is for exploring (at top speed), everything is for chewing and everyone is their friend! As well as the ability to be halfway down the road in seconds!

I found my childrearing days got a lot less stressful when I chucked out all the fanatically PC baby rearing magazines and started bringing up my kids the same way as I brought up pups. Lots of attention, fun, games, lots of praise when they did well, firm NO when they misbehaved. And a leash and click training, as I've said already. Seemed to work, they're remarkably well adjusted children. Apart from the barking, of course. Still working on that one.

suki1001

I wonder if those people who compare reigns to dog leads - whether they'd say using a cot was like an animal cage or prison - I mean you're effectively putting your baby behind bars

I once saw a lady at a dog show and she had her 2 little dogs in a pushchair! She was feeding them yoghurt like babies - it did look quite funny.

notanewuser

suki1001 wrote: »

I wonder if those people who compare reigns to dog leads - whether they'd say using a cot was like an animal cage or prison - I mean you're effectively putting your baby behind bars

I once saw a lady at a dog show and she had her 2 little dogs in a pushchair! She was feeding them yoghurt like babies - it did look quite funny.

Somebody did refer to a stairgate on a toddler's bedroom door as imprisoning them.