would you put a leash on your child?

No, I would not put a leash on my child. However, I would perhaps use a harness.

We use leashes to keep our pets safe, so why not use the same concept to keep our children safe? Safety is much more important than what anyone thinks.

The harnesses allow the children a small amount of freedom, but prevents them from wandering off-perhaps while Mom is helping sister tie a shoe and he sees a butterfly and wants to follow it. Children are FAST, and it only takes a split second for something terrible to happen.

Where I live, it is HOT-holding hands is not only restrictive in the sense that you only have one hand to use for other purposes, but it gets uncomfortable (younger children, who are more likely to be ona harness, have to keep their arm raised to hold a parent's hand) and HOT.

They serve a purpose. I have never used one, but I would certainly not look down on someone who is using one, or has. If it can prevent tragedy, GREAT!

Well if you were some where like a carnival or the mall some where that might be crowded and your child preferred to walk and not be in a stroller . It might not be a bad idea to have a harness on them . Children like to play hide and seek . Would you want your child to run off hide under some thing . Or even be grabbed up by some one when you perhaps looked away for one second . If you had the harness the child couldn't go to far without you knowing . With the way this world is today you can never be to safe . Look at all the missing children . If a harness saves your child from being snatched up by a pedophile would you use it ?

They are not leashes and yes I would/will. When it comes to the safety of my child and having more than one to look after, I will do what I have to do. My daughter is hyper, she does not listen and will take off running as fast as she can and I would rather be safe than sorry. I am not lazy one bit but when you are in a crowded place with a toddler who will NOT hold your hand or sit in a stroller and a baby that youre wearing with the help of a sling... it is what is best.

Well they really aren't leashes. My two year old has a harness and lead system that we use in large crowded places. It's a neat little back pack that has arms and legs and a little monkey head that buckles around his waist and comes over his shoulders like a back pack. He loves it! The tail is the "lead" part. He has about 3 feet of slack to roam free. It's better than being strapped in a stroller all day. He gets his exercise and I feel safe in knowing that he cannot be snatched so easily from me.

And for the record, dogs have leashes attached to collars around their necks. My son has no collar around his neck and I don't jerk him around with his harness and lead. Most of the time he doesn't need it because he will stay close by. But in places like amusement parks or Zoos or the State Fair it is great to keep him close by but still allow him to roam "free". And anyone who wants to tell me I have no control over him.....I have to laugh. You've never even met my son or me and you make that assumption. Even the best behaved child can get lost in the crowd. Even the most watchful parent can have their child snatched from them.

Also you never know if the child has a disorder such as Autism or ADHD. And think of this: how comfortable would it be to have your arm straight up for hours all day long to hold a hand? Not comfortable at all! A harness and lead allows freedom to roam some without your arm or their arm going to sleep.

Okay, I never did. But honestly, I really think people only have a problem with it because that's how we keep our pets nearby and under control. However, I can think of circumstances where it would be helpful...at a street fair, for example, where there are lots of people, lots of distractions, lots of things for a child to want to dash after...that kind of thing. I do not think it is wrong or should be judged. Honestly, it probably depends on the child. Megan loved her stroller...some kids hate being in a stroller in which case it would probably be an appropriate and viable option...

Some kids are just runners. My daughter will take off running in an instant --in crowded stores, in parking lots, in the street, etc. Keeping a constant hold of her is tough. I literally can not take my hand off of her to even lock the car door or anything. If she is in a playground without a fence, she runs. She has to be in a fenced playground to even play on the equipment. Some kids are just like this. I haven't yet used a tether, but I might. I do use a backpack carrier to strap her to me and that is very helpful. I always thought the tethers were strange and made the kid look like they had something wrong with them. That was before I had a kid and learned about runners.

Once when I was in charge of 6 month old and two three year olds I used two leashes. I just couldn't hold everyones hand and carry a baby and do my shopping. I had to keep them leashed as I got the baby out of the car because they were both a couple of wildmen. So, yes, it seems weird but I felt much safer with them attached to me than I did just an eye on them.

I have before...I don't anymore because she doesn't run off anymore tho. When my oldest(who is 4 now) was about 2 she was EVERYWHERE and I got pregnant with my youngest(now 14 month) and it become rather difficult to run after her in a store being big fat and pregnant and tryin to chase down a skinny VERY FAST 2 yr old! I had to leave the cart behind and ocassionally left my purse behind to chase her down. She is not a bad kid...just very curious and wanted to be UP CLOSE to everything.And when my youngest was born it was even more difficult to run after her and grab the baby seat with our youngest in it and my purse and chase her down so I bought one of those kid leashes at Walmart that looks like a monkey and the tail was the leash part.It fit like a backpack and harnessed around the chest and waist,and when she outgrew the leash part it become a nifty little backpack purse for her.She didn't mind it at all and stopped running off after the second time she tried and failed due to the leash being on her. I don't think there is anything wrong with using these when needed.I do however disagree with the use of them just because the parent is too lazy to chase after their child and have no excuse not too. I'm not saying my excuse was the best but when you are pregnant or have an infant and have to constantly chase a toddler down it comes in handy. I loved it when we went to festivals and fairs with her because I could just put that on and let her roam around,but she was still close to me.So she got her freedom of walking by herself and I got the comfort of knowing she wasn't straying too far from me.

Edit: that Daniel idiot needs to get a life. Upper class people use them be cause they are too lazy to watch their kids! Lower class uses them because they don't have the luxury of having some stranger holding or watching their children while they do whatever they want to and not have to worry about taking care of them themselves! LOSER!

yes yes yes, they make harnesses with cartoon characters. as a child i was lost at a very busy gathering. it was very hard on me and my mother. as a parent i have used this item with my small child. as adults we go to these gatherings to look at things and holding your childs hand doesent always work. if you want to consider it a leash than it sounds like a bad thing. just remember thousands of children go missing every day simply because they walk away from there parents. these children are often found rightaway but not always. i think it is responsible to do anythig you have to to keep your child safe.

ah! a very contriversail question. most kids you should not need one but in rare cases i've seen a single mom with 3 toddlers who for some reason they just would not stay put she didn't have a leash but i think that day she should have. its a case like that i would say yes use one not cuz u can't handle just cuz it prevents an accident before it happens.