I don't know if they make these any more, but I know I have seen them in the past. They are the harnesses that go around the child's chest and shoulders that attach to a leash-like thing so that children cannot walk away (or in my son's case, run). Are these still used? If so, do they work? My son will be 18 months old when we visit DL in May and I know he will not be content in the stroller all the time. I am just trying to think of a way to keep tabs on him in the crowds.

There is a thread about this somewhere.......

But, I haven't ever used one of those. I did use the handheld leash, giving them the handle part and having them 'walk us'.

If you have never used anything before, you may be up for a fight.

It might be best to use your personal judgement to let him out when it is safe for him {an uncrowded area or where you can follow right behind him, say in Toon Town?} and make him stay in when it isn't. He might be able to pick up on the difference. He might feel more safe in his stroller in a crowd, know what I mean?

If all else fails, take a little backpack of treats or a bottle of water for him. Make sure he gets his naps and enough time out of the stroller and I think you will be fine.

If you are going during the week, you may not have to deal with so many crowds. And, going to the kiddie places early on will help.

Have fun!

Click here for the first child harness thread. (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5455) I read what I typed there last year and I'm still in agreement with myself.

Just my 2cents, since I wasn't around for the first discussion (thanks for the link)...

I used one with my son. I never wanted to, but then I ended up having to take a trip that had me alone at an airport for 6 hours with my then 16 month old... :eek: I felt I had no other choice. I loved it. It made that layover doable without losing my mind! ;) While I agree it DOES NOT replace parent attentiveness, it does make it easier when you have a child that is exremely mobile, but still too young to really grasp the concept of getting lost. Just be cautious if you use it around crowds. There will be people who do not realize you are tethered to your child and will try to push between you and the kid. I suggest if it is that crowded at any particular moment to hold hands or carry him, (since I know it is neary impossible to keep them in the stroller if they are determined to get out!)

As I said in the older thread...

I would have loved a harness when I was a little kid. Your arm gets a bit bloodless after a while of having it over your head, it's not a pleasant feeling. Put yourself in your child's shoes- try walking around for 20 minutes straight with your hand straight up in the air and don't put it down. Hurts, doesn't it?

Besides, harnesses free up that hand for a little exploring (and of course, that makes parental attentiveness just as important, lest they get into something they shouldn't).

I'm less approving of the handcuff-like devices, though I've seen parents hook them to the back of overalls, etc, instead of a wrist, and use them as they would a harness. That's pretty cool.

I mean it about the hand-holding. Try it. It may change your opinion of harnesses.

I can't remember if I posted this in the other thread or not, and I'm feeling too lazy to go look:

The wrist leashes didn't work with my son. He was ok with the harness around his chest, but on his wrist, it bothered him and I was worried about hurting his wrist because he was fighting it.

But the wrist leashes are elastic. The harness style weren't. I would do one of two things: attach the elastic wrist leash on his overalls or to the harness style leash instead of the non-elastic "handle." It gave him more range and felt more comfortable for both of us.

Adrienne K

Originally posted by Morrigoon
Put yourself in your child's shoes- try walking around for 20 minutes straight with your hand straight up in the air and don't put it down. Hurts, doesn't it?

I don't think the child's hand being straight up in the air is how 95% of parents and children hold hands. It can be for some parents, I guess, just not something I see much of or have much experience with as a parent or uncle.

I think, whatever method she chooses {as far as restraints go} that she might meet resistance if she hasn't gotten him used to it up to this point.

But, another thing to consider, his clothing. We would put bright clothing on our kids~ flourescent green, orange, and blue shirts we had at that time. It doesn't have to be what is hot for the kids right now because then every child will be wearing it. Just
something bright and maybe a hat {if he'll wear it}.

And, just in case he does wander, remember what he is wearing!!
And, again, just in case, {and others might have an idea more to your liking} put a card from the hotel with him with your cell number {if you have one} and your names in his pocket, shoe, or what ever is available.

We have NEVER had to use that but it gave us comfort.

Thanks for all the comments - I really do appreciate it. It took me quite a while to go through the other thread, but appreciated the discussion there as well.

As I mentioned before, my son will be almost 18 months old when we go. He is not into holding my hand when we walk now, and I don't see that getting better in 3 months. If we could just hold hands, that would be great, but I don't expect him to cooperate with that all the time.

Also, if I do decide to try a harness with him, it would definitely be the one that goes over the shoulders and around the chest. the wrist ones have never looked comfortable to me. My son wears overalls a lot, so the idea of just attaching something to the back of them when I need to really apeals to me. We will be at DL/DCA for 3 days, so I'm sure I can come up with overall outfits for him all 3 days.

Thanks so much for all your imput!

This topic came up in a special needs support group a while back. A general rule: when using a tether with a child, whether it is on the wrist, a harness or attached to the clothes, don't use it to pull the child back to you. Use it to move yourself toward the child and manually guide them back to you. A bungee cord or strong elastic works great because it gives them enough sensory feedback to know they have reached a limit, without being jerked.

Jerking a kid on a tether, to the point of causing them to have to move, is never appropriate. Giving a little tug to get their attention is OK.

Heidi- you will find a nice harness here www.onestepahead.com Its a product called The Kid Keeper.

Heidi,

My wife, son (then 3) and I went to DL last summer. He is very inquisitive and where we live, that isn't a concern. However, LAX and DL presented some new "fears" for us. We chose to get a harness, something I said I would never do. We laid the rules down a few weeks in advance for him and even tried it out around the house a bit. Once we got off the plane in LAX he took the harness out of "his backpack" and we put it on. It is the best thing ever. No handholding, he just got to run wherever he wanted. He had a free reign and didn't pull on the tether because he still wanted to stay by mom and dad, just didn't want to hold hands. We are planning another trip and when he heard about that, he dug out the harness himself!

Also, I picked up another tip to help parents (I think I got it here). We took pictures of our son in the clothes that he was going to wear each day and brought them with us. I used my digital camera and then printed them from my computer. That way, if for any reason, your child is "missing" you have a very recent photo with the exact clothes he/she is wearing. Scary to think you need stuff like that, but I felt it was a good idea.

We traveled to France with our daughter at 18mts and recently went to WDW with our 18mt son. Both times we used a good backpack for holding them. We had a "hikeing backpack" with padded shoulders that distributed the weight onto the hips. I'm not sure if I would buy one for just one trip, but especically if you or friends have one it is an option. My husband "trained" some because our son is huge, so we took walks in the neighborhood. The advantage of the backpack is visablity for the child. (not the butts eye view of the crowd). Both my kids loved being up high, and there were times where it was great to have them contained when we traveled and they were happier in the backpack. They could see the parades (although we had to be considerate that we didn't block people's view). We had no trouble taking the backpack on all the rides that would take an 18mt old. It was a nice alternative to a stroller for us. One other unasked for advice :) We also packed very light for the parks themselves, making good use of the lockers. I assume DL has them. The day can get so tireing even for adults and the extra weight of a change of clothes, warm layers, extra film, extra goodies (those chewy fruit candies saved me!!) can really add up.

No matter what you choose to do you will have such a great time!!! I'm envious and can't wait to get back!

PS yet another unasked for idea--I recommend "it's a small world" as a first ride. It got my son use to being in a boat and being in a darker area with music and movement, without the sudden movements and darkness in some of the other kiddee rides. I think it helped him adjust happily to the other rides.