Adventurous baby - halp!

Tom is just delightful, he's funny, smart, charming, and an absolute terror. He is twelve months old and has been walking for two of those. Well, running for one of them too!

I really struggle to keep him contained. I can't read him a story because if he's awake, he's got to be off and running around the house. He hates being in his pram for extended periods of time and I have to get him out sometimes, and he just tears off. I've got him one of those monkey back pack things but he can't figure it out and just hurtles off, then yanks himself over, and then has a tantie.

Church is a nightmare - if I leave him in his pram he screams, but if I let him out he goes tearing up the front to visit daddy (who is the minister) or wants to explore the very unfriendly space. I am thinking of setting up a big play pen there but I will meet Stiff Opposition. (We had a carpet for the kids to play on and someone tripped on the edge so they made us remove it.)

He won't hold hands.

Any good ideas? He is totally unafraid and just charges off into life with a big silly grin on his face!

my only suggestion is to really run him around before you need him to be still - oval, park, somewhere relatively safe.
For going out - have you tried a baby carrier on your back - sometimes the view from up there is different enough to distract (but it also means that he can reach all sorts of new things.....)

Could you put your playpen in the side of the front of the church - somewhere where the congregation isn't likely to go, and where Dad is visible??

not much help but plenty of sympathy. I've got one of those....the only time he's still is when he's in a deep sleep. He could climb the bunk ladder at 7months old so you get the idea....
I usually have lots of snacks, and lots of little toys he likes for when I need him in the pram and still.
Am a huge fan of the carrier and he's generally quite content in there as he feels a part of it. Mine doesn't do hand holding or the leash thingo either - he's just too little to understand reasoning as yet.

Is there somewhere up the front you could set up the play pen? So he could still see daddy? Now I think about this I guess it would depend on your congregation as to how they would take that.
Is there someone who can run around outside with him while the service is on?

If the congregation objects to a play pen, then I guess they won't mind a toddler amusing himself up and down the aisles. ;)

Seriously, my DD was walking at 10 mths too, before she was capable of managing all that freedom! Everyone had to adjust at church, she wasn't disruptive, just active. I couldn't leave her in creche as she didn't like being without me. After a few months she got better at staying in creche and the situation was resolved. Nobody complained (if they had I'd have been surprised, we go to the family service and the people are really understanding as they mostly have kids themselves). Our minister would have backed us up, Jesus and the little children and all that! :D

I had to give up on the pram, DD basically just kept trying to climb out (which wasn't safe) and then I'd end up pushing a pram and trying to hold her hand as well, which was even more hassle. We persisted with learning to hold hands. It took a little while, but she got the hang of it quickly. I would leave the pram in the car and tell her if she couldn't hold my hand nicely, we'd go back to the car and get the pram out (or Daddy would carry her). There were a fair few struggles, but she was still walking nicely holding hands much earlier than many babies.

Grocery shopping I used the HAB and DD always liked that. It lasted us until 18 mths, when she would sit nicely in the trolley and not try to climb out!

GL! I bet he's a complete charmer and everyone adores him. ;)

I know how u feel i have a 1yr old exactly the same the only thing that helps me sometimes is bringing lots of snacks and food to chew on. Hopefully yours is as interested in food as mine is!