To leash your children or not in the parks

[DVC4bestvacations]

My daughter got that by the time she was 3 but my son just turned 2 and you could say that to him and it would mean nothing to him yet. He's just getting old enough to start understanding small consequences in the moment - you hit you get removed from the group, you throw your toy you lose it. An abstract punishment like "going back to the hotel" (which could have been a fun place to him before) wouldn't help at his age. Let alone when he was just walking at 12 to 18 months.

Start walking to the exit see how he reacts. First priority teaching your children even at the loss of time in the park. In the long term it will make for a enjoyable vacation for you and the people around you. A 12-18 even 24 month walking at not in a stroller? in WDW? not.

 

[DVC4bestvacations]

Children doing things "without question" is not them listening to reason or logic. It's doing what they are told. Which is fine and valid.

I should have phrased it "they knew the consiquenses"

 

[RandomPrincess]

Start walking to the exit see how he reacts. First priority teaching your children even at the loss of time in the park. In the long term it will make for a enjoyable vacation for you and the people around you. A 12-18 even 24 month walking at not in a stroller? in WDW? not.

We are getting there he just turned 2 and he is holding hands now and getting better at listening he's just hard headed and wants to do whatever his big sister is doing (she can walk without holding hands except crossing streets). Trust me he's been carried kicking and screaming from many a store in the past few months for not listening.

 

[Britt]

I should have phrased it "they knew the consiquenses"

The thing is....these are (generally) 2-3 year olds. They're not older children that you're going "If you do that again, we're leaving", it's usually just scooping them up and going. These are very young children who RARELY intentionally try and wander off from parents/family. It can be as simple as stopping to check the map and toddler see Mickey or someone. Or little one is walking a bit ahead in the clearing and a large group exits a ride. It's very simple to get separated. Full grown adults get separated from their parties all the time, it's not abnormal for this to happen to a toddler as well if they're being allowed the freedom to walk.

Many parents don't want to take the risk and are doubling up on protection. Preventing the separation in the first place as opposed to allowing it to happen at all.

Of course, it should be stated that, if you're going to let your young toddler walk, you should be holding their hand or right up their butt. There is nothing more important then their safety. However, we see it ALL the time, with young kiddos getting separated from their group.

 

[DVC4bestvacations]

We are getting there he just turned 2 and he is holding hands now and getting better at listening he's just hard headed and wants to do whatever his big sister is doing (she can walk without holding hands except crossing streets). Trust me he's been carried kicking and screaming from many a store in the past few months for not listening.

been there done that don't care to go back. Besides at 16 and 20 they would be the ones doing the draging.

 

[Hakunamatata]

You'd be surprised. A strict/rule-enforcing parent will make it work. There were four of us growing up and none of us were angels all the time, but a quick "If you do that one more time we're going back to the hotel" always worked!

I'm going to call BS. I'm about as strict as they come, just short of caning. We had to use a monkey backpack tail thing when he was younger because he just would not do the hand holding thing and I didn't want to have to use corporal punishment in public.

 

[Britt]

I'm going to call BS. I'm about as strict as they come, just short of caning. We had to use a monkey backpack tail thing when he was younger because he just would not do the hand holding thing and I didn't want to have to use corporal punishment in public.

Right? Im pretty strict myself. My boys don't dare throw a tantrum in public, they're never disrespectful to others and rarely ever to my husband or I. They never hit friends/classmates/other people. They're great about sharing/eating and what not. They know how to behave. However, if my 2 year old was keen on disappearing, I'd use one in a heartbeat!

WDW rarely has fences around fountains/bodys of water and goodness forbid a baby/toddler find their way to one on accident.

 

[draybook]

Strollers, highchairs, pack and plays, car seats, bouncers, walkers, baby swings, etc are all "restraining devices" used with babies and small children either to keep them safe, entertained or just make things easy for the caregivers.

Ok, when someone rolls a baby swing, walkers, bouncer, pack and play, highchair, car seat or stroller out in the middle of the pathway between the Brave M&G and the castle, then we will compare all of these. Until then you are just nitpicking at my statement about restraining devices and I'll just choose my wording better. But until then maybe you guys can find better words to bolster your claim.

 

[Britt]

OOOOOOOOOOOO! I LIED. We did use one!!!!! We used it at Gatorland! My MIL had bought it for just in case and I felt it was the perfect place to use it for my newly climbing toddler. HAHA I had no idea what the enclosures were like (turns out it was unnecessary because the enclosures are up to my neck).

We carried him most of the time anyway!

He was a brand new 2 year old. Only 2 years and a couple weeks. (just enough to need his own seat on the plane. haha)

 

[DVC4bestvacations]

WDW rarely has fences around fountains/bodys of water and goodness forbid a baby/toddler find their way to one on accident.

I beg to differ on the no fences around water in WDW. Disney does a great job limiting its liabilities including fencing water from accesss.

 

[Britt]

I beg to differ on the no fences around water in WDW. Disney does a great job limiting its liabilities including fencing water from accesss.

Absolutely possible. I remember a few times thinking a child could easily fall into this, but can't remember exactly where. So it's absolutely likely that it was properly fenced/roped and I just overlooked it. It couldn't have been overly obvious if I can't remember. lol : )

 

[riverscu0m0]

My mom tried to leash my brother, it took him about 2 minutes to figure out how to rip it off. He hated it, he'd try hiding it. We just stick with the strollers now

 

[riverscu0m0]

@Britt Your son has amazing eyes! He's adorable!

 

[George]

*psssttt, everyone in here, meet me in the corner*

Are we all here? Good. Look, i have two kids (7 and 9) and they have friends. My parents and my wife's parents come from big families and there are a LOT of kids on either side of the family. Anyhoo, all the kids are different. I'm actually convinced that a lot of parenting and our views on parenting (strict, not strict, leash, no leash, etc.) are somewhat determined by the kids. My wife and I won the lottery with respect to temperament. Both of our kids are calm. But, we have friends and relatives who have kids where a leash when they were younger probably would've helped and been fine. I'm not going to tell them that they should be stricter, etc. because I think they do a pretty good job. They just have very active kids. One of my son's friends is a very well meaning kid, but also very hyper and I've disciplined him (with the blessing of his parents) and in his case I would guess that full body duct tape would be the best bet if you wanted to have him with you in theme parks and not lose him. The big picture - other people aren't going to take your advice anyway, and you won't take theirs. Why? Well, you're different and have different kids.

 

[Britt]

*psssttt, everyone in here, meet me in the corner*

Are we all here? Good. Look, i have two kids (7 and 9) and they have friends. My parents and my wife's parents come from big families and there are a LOT of kids on either side of the family. Anyhoo, all the kids are different. I'm actually convinced that a lot of parenting and our views on parenting (strict, not strict, leash, no leash, etc.) are somewhat determined by the kids. My wife and I won the lottery with respect to temperament. Both of our kids are calm. But, we have friends and relatives who have kids where a leash when they were younger probably would've helped and been fine. I'm not going to tell them that they should be stricter, etc. because I think they do a pretty good job. They just have very active kids. One of my son's friends is a very well meaning kid, but also very hyper and I've disciplined him (with the blessing of his parents) and in his case I would guess that full body duct tape would be the best bet if you wanted to have him with you in theme parks and not lose him. The big picture - other people aren't going to take your advice anyway, and you won't take theirs. Why? Well, you're different and have different kids.

Well said buddy!!

 

[Britt]

@Britt Your son has amazing eyes! He's adorable!

Thank you mucho!! He's a total sweetheart <3

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Something about a leash...on a kid...has just always struck me as wrong. I think it depends on the kid, but overall, keep an eye on your kids and get a stroller. I have a younger brother who was a runner, and we never needed the leash for him.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

OK- not to backtrack, but I saw earlier posts expressing sadness over people being more inclined to protect their dogs over their kids. While the leash is a training tool, leash laws are in place in most areas to protect YOU - not the dog. Hence why I couldn't even think of the leash in that same mindset... i.e. it's just backwards from why dog owners are commonly required to use a leash. I used to volunteer to help train shelter dogs and while I know parents who swear by the leash, I like to think that I don't need to resort to canine training methods for my children. My kids were far from perfect at that stage, but we enforced the rules and used experiences like the larger local parks and the zoo as humanistic training tools before bumping up to big theme parks.

 

[Runmyhorse]

We nvr used them on our kids but never needed to. Our kids have always stayed with us. If they wanted to go somewhere we took them. I kept a very close eye on the kids. They are now 12 and 13.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

First, to the mom with the tantrum thrower who goes limp in public, I had one of these, too. Of course it was around the time son #2 was born. At first I was clueless & beside myself. Then I had a new baby and no time to play games with Mr. Opinionated. The last time he pulled the limp noodle act with the screaming I had a newborn in one arm and no way to wrestle the kid with the other. So I bent down, took a nice fist full of his hair, stood him up, and we walked. Never did it again. Not saying everyone should lead their unruly toddlers about by the hair. Try different things, find what works, & go with it. In my case, I had enough of it. I had a newborn. I arrived at a mindset that if he was going to act miserable then I was going to do everything in my power to ensure he always got the exact opposite of what he wanted. My spiteful side created consistent negative reinforcement....which worked!

I think all kids are different. I've certainly known others that were easily distracted. If a leash for a toddler of child with extenuating limitations works for you then do what you must. I'm not raising those kids so its not for me to say what's right or wrong for others. Thankfully, I never needed the leash. When the boys got big enough to be out of strollers we would walk them in front of us holding onto them. If we stopped for something and wanted to ensure they stayed close we had them hold our pockets or hold onto something we were holding. But then again, we could tell them to do this & they would. Some kids are just easily distracted, I guess.