Kids on leads

[Aperitif]

Kids on leads, dogs on reins, queens on reigns, rains on plains, parks on Raynes.

Reynes on pores, paws on carpets, pause for thought... my Dad used to lasso me - look how I might have grown up!

 

[Zoiders]

Kids aren't pets, but on the other hand they aren't adults either.

The biggest nightmare is mummy's little darling running around your place of work because the parents think you have to reason with kids and justify everything you say to them.

"Please dont do that Oliver...mummy/daddy doesn't like it" delvered in a timid pleading tone never ever works.

 

[rich p]

Reynes on pores, paws on carpets, pause for thought... my Dad used to lasso me - look how I might have grown up!

Olivier used to wear a hat made from rope apparently, it was known as a Larry 'at.

 

[twobiker]

Don't often get kids on leads round here but one of our neighbours does walk a goat,and another one a donkey with one, I just found attaching their hand to mine with my fingers was enough with my two.

 

[Crackle]

Are you lot not talking about reigns, rather than leads? Reigns stop kids falling, I used them on ours when they were toddling, particularly on rough ground. I never needed them to keep them from running off but these leads look like that's all they were designed for, in which case it surely increases the amount of time it takes to impress into a child that they shouldn't run off. I wouldn't say it was lazy, perhaps misguided but I remain to be convinced otherwise, we are all different.

 

[rich p]

I've not seen it down this way Crax. Is it a regional thing?

 

[summerdays]

Hmm just remembered that I caused one of mine to end up in hospital when I held their hand and kept hold of it when they tripped and fell - they dislocated their elbow - I felt so guilty. If you are making a difference between reins and a lead, I found they could wander further on a lead and it was elastic and soon went back to the reins. (You'll be pleased to learn I don't use them now they are aged 10 - 16 )

 

[Crackle]

Dunno Rich, I only consciously noticed them recently.

Interesting Summerdays: Mrs Crackle once went shopping with our two, one a toddler and one a babe. Anyway, she was strapping in son1, got in the car, began to drive off and realized son2 was not there. She found him were she left him, at the end of the conveyor belt, still asleep in his car seat.

 

[Arch]

I don't think it's lazy at all, I think it can be a valuable stage between having them strapped in a pram, and trusting them to walk alone. My sister used reins on Oli, and is doing so on Max now he's walking. Both she and I had reins on as toddlers. I remember ours had a white leather harness, I think it had a baby deer or a duck painted on the chestpiece.

A really neat idea is the little rucksack, with a lead attached. The kid can have their own little bag to carry their bits and bobs in, and walk with a feeling of independence, while Mum keeps them quietly under control.

Just because some parents who use them are lazy, doesn't mean they are a sign of lazy parents generally. I defy anyone to call my sister lazy. I go and stay, and come back knackered!

The long curly wrist straps were in fashion for a while, I think it was partly to avoid losing a child in a crowd, and possibly a hint of hysteria about kids being snatched. They got bad press after a few instances of kids getting stuck on the wrong side of doors, lifts etc. A short webbing strap is better, so that the child can't get too far separated from the parent.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Used leads on both of mine partly because holding their hand whilst walking in a crowded area was uncomfortable for both parties as they were too small for me to hand-hold without either me breaking my back, or them having their little arms stretched.

When I say 'leads' I mean wrist straps.. asuming this is what you're referring to.

 

[snorri]

Olivier used to wear a hat made from rope apparently, it was known as a Larry 'at.

You've be forgetting to take your meds haven't you? Now be a good boy and do what the doc. tells you.

 

[MontyVeda]

I have no doubt's that you are not a lazy parent Summerdays. And if you feel that your children are safer using them then that's your choice of course

But I do see parent's using them as a be all end all to controlling their children. Akin to animals on leads. That's how I see them.

I think that says a lot more about your perception than what's actually going on.

A decade ago some relatives of my half Danish GF were here in Blighty and expressed their abhorrence seeing toddlers on a lead of some sort.... fact of the matter is it wasn't too long after Jamie Bulger was murdered and many parents wanted to make sure their kids didn't wonder off or couldn't be abducted as easily as that poor lad was. I explained this to the Danes but they felt it was no reason to use a leash of some sort on a child. I thought they were pig headed idiots... for this and several other reasons.

 

[Aperitif]

Olivier used to wear a hat made from rope apparently, it was known as a Larry 'at.

Another crack from CycleChat's Chief Whip!

 

[funnymummy]

I detest child reins and leads I really do.
My first child never had them and my latest one wont either. It's pure laziness on the part of the parent.

My middle son who is 8, he is Autistic aswell as having multiple physiacl disabilities, one of which is being blind in one eye. When out in puiblic especilaly in crowds I kept him on a wrist rein for his own safety.
There is a compnay, LittleLife, that makes a child sized rucksack which have a rein attached to them, most of the parents I know with Autistic children use these.
So plaese don't make assumptions on parents you know nothing about

 

[Aperitif]

My middle son who is 8, he is Autistic aswell as having multiple physiacl disabilities, one of which is being blind in one eye. When out in puiblic especilaly in crowds I kept him on a wrist rein for his own safety.
There is a compnay, LittleLife, that makes a child sized rucksack which have a rein attached to them, most of the parents I know with Autistic children use these.
So plaese don't make assumptions on parents you know nothing about

Ian would be the first to acknowledge a particular need for the use as you describe funnym - and his words certainly shouldn't come across as a 'sleight' to your example...where a risk exists to the safety of a child. Be kind to him...he's only just been let off the lead!
PS - I enjoyed the video of BMX fun BTW - luckily, you didn't get rich p in the frame. That would have been a disaster.