Reigns for toddlers?

[Lochie]

My 17 month old is walking pretty steadily now and I am thinking about reigns. Yesterday I lifted him out of his car seat onto the pavement whilst I retrieved my bag and he took one step onto the road and it gave me a bit of a shudder!

I've just looked online and there seem to be loads of options. Are there any that are better than others i.e. are the backpack ones better than the wrist ones for example? I can imagine putting a back pack on my son and him having none of it!

At the moment I am just holding my son's hood or hand when walking on the road to stop him bounding off, but it's starting to do my back in! Are reigns any good?

[Fuschia]

Ours like the backpacks. The handle can be useful to grab.

[ratty]

Jojo Maman Bebe do a great back pack.

[marscapone]

We were advised by our nursery that wrist ones were better as it was a less sudden stop if you pulled the reins. The first time we used them, my toddler started running, realised the reins were there, stopped, undid the velcro arounf his wrist, and kept running. A real design flaw (and from mothercare!), and needless to say we never used them again. Couldn't comment on other varieties...

[Belle]

we use the bog standard ones - about ?8 from soup dragon or jojo, find them really good though less so in winter over a padded jacket!

[The Nappy Lady]

I like the old fashioned harness, if they stumble you can stop them going face down - it can mean they look a bit like a circus act whilst briefly suspended, but it's saved a lot of tears on the school run.

You have to start quickly though, otherwise they will refuse to wear them!

[ludoscotts]

hi until they are really steady on their feet the traditional ones are best as the back pack ones tend to ride up if they fall over. the ones from boots are great as they come with adapters which we used to use a lot. You can put the adapters on chairs and fasten them to the reins which works as a highchair harness if there is none available.

once our little one got to 2 we switched to a back pack as it only has a restraining strap that clips on the back so she felt she was carrying her toys snacks etc in a bag rather than being put on reins.

the wrist strap didnt work for us either, after 5 mins she had undone it and it was just hanging there as she was running off to the other side of the shop we were in!

[civilservant]

I disliked the wrist ones because of the possibility of jarring or spraining the wrist when the small wearer rushes off suddenly, which they tend to do such a lot at that age!

IMO the harness-type reins are the best in terms of keeping the wearer upright and distributing the stress load (both for children and dogs :)))

Reins seem to be a British thing, though - when we were on holiday in France, we attracted a lot of bemused attention everytime we went out for a toddle with Junior Civilservant in her reins!

[regalia]

When I put reigns on my youngest she lifted her feet up and swung so that I would be carrying her, which she found great fun so I never bothered trying to use them after that.

[pommie]

i just bought the usual standard ones from mothercare.