Young Child on a Leash!

[subdivision]

I'd love to know how many people in this thread are actually parents.

I'm fortunate enough to not have to tie my son up with anything (he'll be 2 years old on Halloween!) but he can be a handful. Sometimes I'd like to be able to tie him up, but usually he's pretty easy to deal with. He held my hand and walked with me for an entire grocery store trip the other day which was great.

Reasoning with a 2yr old is pointless, their brain has not developed enough to comprehend their actions.

Precisely this. They don't do the whole logic thing.

[chucky chuckaluck]

beats locking them in the basement for the first eighteen years.

[Tipped OuT]

You clearly have minimal exposure to small children. They are by nature spontaneous, and learn to walk long before they can be understand reasoned explanations about traffic safety. A small number are particularly bad for this and can be quite old before they start to gain basic control over their impulses. (it seems fashionable for parents to self-diagnose this as ADHD, but I think this is usually wrong). If you are the parent of a child like this, not taking precautions such as a leash to keep you child safe is negligent beyond belief.


I'm not suggesting that leashing your child is a replacement for discipline and training, and is certainly not neccesssary on the vast majority of kids, but don't judge the parents until you know the nature of the child they have to deal with. It may look a bit upleasent, but not as unpleasent as a toddler that's been dragged along the road trapped under a car.

Why is it that everyone else in this world can live a normal life without keeping their children on a leash, like a bunch of animals, but you can't (not saying you do)?

See the problem here?

It's bad parenting.

Precisely this. They don't do the whole logic thing.

Once again, you use a stroller, not a leash.

[subdivision]

Once again, you use a stroller, not a leash.

I don't even need a stroller, my boy does just fine walking. I would never even think to put him on a leash since he is (for his age) pretty well disciplined.

[Patrick Snyder]

The leash is not a discipline tool, it is a tool available that will allow little ones to wander and get exercise in a very public environment while not becoming lost or, worse, kidnapped.

I was probably one of the first children to have a leash (almost 30 years ago), so I'll pipe in. They weren't being sold at that time, but my mother saw the need in a few select public environments. So she attached a dog leash to a harness. My mother tells me she would get the most awful looks from people =p

It was not around the neck, and she did not use it to drag, pull, or even move me. It was used simply to give me a specific range where I could run around and play, when she couldn't devote her full attention to me.

I don't remember it, meaning I was probably around the right age (1 or 2 yrs old). I would argue that older than 3 is not appropriate, because then a child has complex enough speech (so we can reason with them), and is usually past the sensitive period where they naturally practice the act of walking and running (by going all over the place).


While it's easy to see the possibility of abuse in this, I abhor banning tools because some people that use them are idiots or simply bad parents.

[subdivision]

It was not around the neck, and she did not use it to drag, pull, or even move me. It was used simply to give me a specific range where I could run around and play, when she couldn't devote her full attention to me.

That's one of the tough things about being a parent. You can't watch the little ones all the time.

[Tipped OuT]

I don't even need a stroller, my boy does just fine walking. I would never even think to put him on a leash since he is (for his age) pretty well disciplined.

Well good for you and your child.

[Chilli Bob]

Why is it that everyone else in this world can live a normal life without keeping their children on a leash, like a bunch of animals, but you can't (not saying you do)?

See the problem here?

It's bad parenting.

You've answered your own question. MOST people can. SOME can't. Sometimes it may be down to bad parenting, but some kids are quite simply more of a handful than others, no matter how good the parenting is . You clearly havn't had much exposure to children if you have not met any of these children, and it is short-sighted and insulting of you to classify a parent as a BAD parent because they use a leash.

Disclaimer: For the record, I have no children myself, but know many people with children, including a couple with the difficult types I have described, who are forced to use leashes to keep their children safe. (Only one child in each family, the other children are fine and can be trusted without the leash) Also I have studied child development at university as part of a teaching degree, including doing work experience with young children, and have experienced first hand how hard it is to reason with kids who are old enough to know better.

[tsali]

Interesting.

I wonder how many of these comments were made by people who have raised small children?

A safety harness is an act of love. It allows the child to have FREEDOM to experience parts of the world in a way they wouldn't get to otherwise.

Small children are not so developed that they ALWAYS behave exactly as you'd like them too.

And, as every PARENT knows, we aren't perfect at looking out for them. If there's a simple tool like a harness that will prevent MY brief lapse from turning into a tragedy, I'm thankful for it.

Now, let's talk about why you leash a dog that's perfectly capable of being trained to stay with you...

Added story: When I was 4, my Grandma sewed a ring in the back of my overalls. My PaPa would tie a small piece of rope to it. Because of this, I was able to go to work with him and experience the wonderful sights and smells of a cotton gin without fear of falling in the machinery. I treasure those memories today.

[shadylookin]

My mom used one on me except it wrapped around the wrist. It was rather long and I would always stretch it out to the max. This essentially turned it into a trip hazard for anyone else walking. It's use was quickly discontinued.