A neighbor lady just walked by with her 1 yr old son on a kid leash.
He was crawling down the side walk on a leash with her dog beside her WITHOUT a leash. Everytime her son crawled in the grass a bit, she would pull hard on the leash and bring him up to standing.
Absolutely horrible. To me, that's a form of child abuse. My kid will NEVER be leashed like that....he's not an animal.
Re: Are you kidding me? Kid on a leash.
That is absurd.
I was one of those people who though leashing was just horrid. Now that I have 2 little ones, there are leashes in our future - not for taking walks around the block but airports, malls, etc. Haven't met to many moms of multiples who don't end up doing it - esp. boys.
I am sorry, but IMO, it is NEVER ok to put your child on a leash! You treat them like animals, they act like animals. If you want your child to behave in public, teach them to. If you are in a crowded place, hold their hands, put them in a stroller, carry them, etc.., but do not treat them the same way you would treat your dog. As a matter of fact, I don't even put my dogs on a leash because they were trained to do the right thing!
It's not about the child behaving. It's about A. getting accidentally separated and B. strangers misbehaving. I don't trust people out there and it has nothing to do with my child's behavior.
This is exactly how I feel for myself but I am very big on to each their own. So I won't be using it but if you feel like it is necessary for you then go for it!
Carter James
My husband used to work at Disneyworld and would strongly disagree with this. It has nothing to do with how well-behaved your kid is... some places are full of shiny objects to distract them, and it only takes a second in a really crowded place to lose them. Parents with this attitude were inevitably the ones that ended up at the "Lost Parents" booth... That said, the behavior described in the OP is completely inexcusable.
To each it?s on. My mother reared 3 children and my MIL reared 14 of her own and 3 grandchildren, which totals 17 children. Both families went on trips every year, including Disney World and the children were never put on a leash. Our parents have NEVER been to the lost child area either. Somehow they managed to keep up with their children. DH has 29 nieces and nephews (DD is grandchild number 30 on that side), and I have 3 nephews, and the same goes for them. I don?t think you NEED a leash to keep up with your child, but everyone has different parenting styles.
There are leash laws for a reason - to protect you AND your dog. It's very different from putting a leash on your child.
this. and i wouldnt start judging rhitch.
My ex is a guest relations manager at Walt Disney World, the guy that people come to complain to whenever anything goes wrong, and you have no idea how many people he gets who have been tripped or otherwise harmed by a kid on a leash.
Joseph will NEVER be on a leash. I'd sooner strap him to a gurney and wheel him around like Hannibal Lecter. We hold his hand, we hold him, or we put him in a stroller. MoMs, I see where it would be necessary for you. I mean, you only have two hands. But seriously, I think Newlywed's story completely shows the problem with leashes. People will take the time to train their pets properly before they teach their children how to behave in public.
Pretty much.
I'm wondering if half of you realize how 'holier than thou' you sound. The whole 'my child is NOT a dog and those who put their kids on a leash must think they have dogs, not babies' attitude is NO BETTER than those who incinuate that formula feeding is poison. Or that disposible diapers are evil.
My kid isn't walking, I don't own a 'baby leash' and I STILL think you're coming off as jerks. Please step down off your high horse and find something else to snark about.
(and for what it's worth, no, I don't agree that the OP sounds like she saw a very nice mommy ... but thats not the point. Writing off ALL MOMMIES who use leashes in the proper fashion because your mom was super mom and didn't have to use one is farking ridiculous. So glad others in society aren't as great, this way you have something to feel good about).
The Mouse ~ 06.12.08 | The Froggy ~ 02.23.11
totty said it perfectly.
and whoever said "mil had 100 kids, brother has 100 kids" or whatever the scenario you said - that doesn't mean that they have that 1 kid who runs. the 1 kid who can be an 100% hand holder, but you take to disney and they jet off for no reason and out of the blue. those parents who have a kid on a "leash" are being safe rather than sorry later. they know their kids - and they know that no matter how you "train them to hold your hand or stay with you", there is that chance that something could happen.
hey, i judged and judged. then i got a 2 year old who will hold hands all the time, but is the sneakiest thing i know. would i walk her around the neighborhood like that? hell no. but would i/did i use it once when we went to the fair? yes. but i think it depends on the kid, too. 95% of the time she just wore it as a backpack (which she adores), but when we got to realllllly crowded areas, it was a leash, then we took the thing off and it went back to a backpack. i know her well enough to say that something could catch her eye and she could run off in a flash - even if the rest of that time she was a compliant hand holder.
Totally understand. I'm just saying I wouldn't do it and I think it's laughable. Except in the case the OP described, that's not funny, just wrong.
Saying it's not your style is one thing. Saying someone is a bad mom, or that they're treating their baby like a dog, or that it's 'disgusting' is another.
The whole leash thing to me is now just like FFing was in 3rd Tri, or CIO was in 0-6 ... don't knock it until you've been there with your own kid and circumstances.
The Mouse ~ 06.12.08 | The Froggy ~ 02.23.11
Well, as a formula feeding, disposable diaperer, it's about damn time I had something to be holier than thou about.
Kids learn as much by what they are allowed to do as how they are limited from doing it. If you treat a child like something that needs to be tied up, they will need to be tied up. Restraints create anxiety and rebellion. It's why nursing homes aren't allowed to use physical restraints on patients anymore. (In Pennsylvania, at least. Not every state is in the same place on that.) Patients are always more likely to hurt themselves in restraints because the very act of being tied up creates an almost primal need to attempt to free yourself.
That said, I do think the backpacks are a nifty way around that. It's something the child enjoys wearing to feel like a "big kid," but gives the parents a measure of control. I still wouldn't use it myself, but I can see this one.
You put a dog in a stroller, you're treating it like a baby. Why wouldn't putting a kid on a leash be the same thing?
And I'm not saying anyone who does it is a bad mom. I think it's ridiculous, but I think auditioning your child to get into pre-school is ridiculous, too, but I'd never say it made them a bad mother.
I'm just saying, if you put your kid on a leash and say there's nothing doggie-like about it, you're kidding yourself. Own it.
This is exactly how I feel. I said to each it's own and that everyone has different parenting styles. That's why I started my sentence with IMO because it was strictly in my opinion. Like you and Katt (whom described it perfectly), I too laugh at it.
ITA that a leash is so not a good look for a kid, definitely not my kid anyway.
To each her own, go ahead and put your little bad as$ kids on a leash if it will keep them the hell out of my way. Morgan and I will be over to the side pointing and snickering at them!
I completly agree...keep this mind.
A coworker took her 4 yo to Disney world with her parents...so 4 adults, one child. all of them were looking at the map and discussing where to go next and everyone thought someone was paying attention to lexi. When they looked up from the map, lexi was gone...maybe within 30 sec she thought. They started to scream for her and a DW worker heard them, rushed them to the control room, asked what she looked like and told the workers at the front gate to stop all traffic in and out. They luckily found her, druged, over this guy's shoulder, with a wig and a jacket on(to disguise her). For this reason, a leash is good.
No, I don't know your co-worker but that has been an urban legend since the beginning of time.
https://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/kidnap.asp
So I am calling BS on it.