wrist strap or reins for 2.5 year old?

elaine373

I bought the wrist strap the day jamie bulger was abducted for my son who was the same age at that time. I believe there was an increase in sales at that time as well. I have used reins and a wrist strap since then with my other children.

kittiej

I found both useful but I did tend to favour the wrist strap once they were better at walking.

thinkginge

personally my little boy is on a wrist strap and hes just turned 3, we tried a month just holding his hand when walking, and this resulted in him getting loose on a number of occasions and me having to run after him and on one occasion stop a car from almost reversing over him.

dont feel bad about using one, i felt bad for all of two minutes when i thought what could have happened to him with that car!

i admit i get some funny looks taking him to nursery as hes a tall lad. but who cares, keeping safe is all thats important to me

tiamai_d

My DS2 is almost 3, but has mild cerebral palsy affecting his right side. So, he walks with a slight limp, gets tired easily and he is a [strike]little !!!!!![/strike] very independent child.

I tried a wrist strap, but for various reasons it didn't work out, I have to be able to switch from side to side when he is walking and such.

I also tried reins, but, what happens is when he falls (which he does often) the reins make him fall on his face (he can't get his arms out to stop the fall), the last time he hurt his chin and forehead and got a bloody nose (in the hospital car park too!) I think this is because the 'lead' is not long enough to allow him to fall down unhindered.

So, do any of the back packs have longer 'leads'???? One that I can hold and if he falls, he is falling without being 'saved' by the lead? In his case, you have to just let him fall, he can manage to throw himself to one side which is better than on his face.

Then again, I could always get one with a 'doggy' style lead and replace it with a longer one!

Dazi

awww this thread has taken me back in time (DD is 24, DS 22) Used reins for DD but she was really good, would hold onto DS buggy most of the time so the reins for just for my piece of mind. DS, well he was the original 'won't walk on reins' he used to hang like a puppet on them. No matter how often I tried, as soon as I strapped the reins on he hung, he told me they stopped him breathing lol. He was also a nightmare when walking round shops. So that was him strapped into the buggy till he went to school lol.(only when we were walking along busy roads, shopping etc I did let him out to run around in the park, and on safe walks honest!) Mind you was in a shop once, turned round and DS not in buggy, he had undone the stiching on the strap holding him on, dunno how, but he did it, he was eventually found sitting under one of those round display units with skirts on. After that, always used a separate harness to strap him in too.

Maybe i was over protective but i cringe when i see little ones running ahead of their parents. Last week was waiting to cross busy road when tiny girl came running up, caught her before she ran out into the road. Mum just sauntered up and told child, thought I told you to stop at the road. She was only about 3, at that age the other side of the road is much more interesting than anything that mum says!

I love that backpack thing, wish they had had them back then, I am going to be a granny in June so that is another thing I can add to the to-buy list !

Horace

I saw a mother with a tot on one of those silly wrist leads today - well, I say the child was wearing it but after fiddling and wriggling her wrist she soon gave her mum the slip. Mind the mother didn't seem too bothered about the fact that she was standing on a main road waiting for a bus and the child was toddling free.

I can remember having reins when I was small - I used to love them, I can see them now - cream with a little black scottie dog on them:o

At least if a child is wearing reins they can't give you the slip so easily.

Carmina_Piranha_3

that brought back memories! mine had scottie dogs too i was always running away. in family photos i'm always a blur as i give my mum the slip. once i hit 2 all the photos were taken in the middle of a beach, so i wouldn't come to much harm if i legged it i don't know what my face looked like, all you ever see is the back of me, with my reins trailing behind me.

crossing a busy car park with two toddlers today i put roo into his pram. his cousin can be trusted to hold my hand and do as he's told but roo's a tearaway :rolleyes: