Harness for toddlers?

Sooo.... has anyone used a harness for their toddler??

Bumpto3 have a backpack buddy harness which I am seriously considering ordering for Aidyn. (it is comprised of a cute monkey/puppy backpack that is worn on the back and clipped up at the front, with a strap (tail) that runs from the backback to my hand/wrist)
When my next uni semester starts, there will be one day a week where I have to catch a bus with Aidyn and walk for 10 mins in the CBD to DP's work to meet him.
Our little portable stroller is just too little & uncomfortable for Aidyn now, but there is no way I can take him anywhere if there is the risk he will tantrum and refuse to hold hands with me. Especially if we are in the city.

So has anyone used one and found them to be useful?

TBH I would much rather be overly cautious by using one, than risk my little boy getting seperated from me...

Also, I would be interested to hear if anyone has seen these for sale at the shops somewhere?

Me too. We are trialling one that goes on teh wrist, but Matilda can get it off. So we put it around a back belt buckle instead. We are starting during shopping trips where we will walk to the trolley or walk around the shops at the mall & then jump in a big red car or something along those lines. We tell her that if she is good on the lead she gets to ride in the big red car & we have had a few really messy tantrums with her flipping around trying to get off the lead, but then when we tell her that she gets a treat like the ride in a car she is great. We take the stroller with us too and put a bag in it so if we need it, its there. We figure we can build her up to trips on the train etc....

We bought one of the monkey ones from Bumpto3, Ambah. Unfortunately we haven't been able to use it yet, as Jacob freaked out at it! We put it on him, but he got really upset about it......

Since then, we've left it lying around the house for him to play with in the hope that he will get used to it, so that we can start using it. It will be handy if he does come onto it, because it has as little pouch in the back of it that you can maybe put a dummy or small snack in etc.

Jacob is another one who wants to get down and totally break free (and can run DANG fast) and starts to get upset if we ask him to hold hands at that point........he's way too eager to explore!

I used a wrist strap for Kimberley and she ended up getting out of it or running in to ppl with it on.

I'm going to get one of those backpack buddy harness. I saw one on a little girl at the shops and asked her mum were she brought it and they also sell them in Toys r us.

I saw them at toys r us & a baby shop in Mt Gravatt & thought they were great, but I didn't want to spend the $$ and never use it... so I thought I'd try the cheap wrist strap first.

Those ones sounds like a great idea Ambah and hadn't realised that you could get them with a toy type of thing on them. I think these things are brillant and have been looking in shops for even the wrist straps to give Matthew a break from the pram as he is at the stage where he is flipping and whinging to get out and walk. Although I have noticed I haven't found any on the shelves? I am off to Chadstone tomorrow so I can widen my search...

My Mum used the old fashioned leather strap and buckle one for my brother because he would always wander off. I used the wrist strap ones for Lindsay and Erin when they were able to walk beside the stroller, but I haven't used it for Paige because it is usually only us when we go shopping because Lindsay is at school and Erin is at pre school. But when I have all three, Paige is in the stroller still.

I would get a lot of comments about having the kids on a 'leash', but I would always tell them it's better than them running under a car.

I think the backpack one would have worked better for me actually, but I am almost at the stage where I don't need one *sigh*

They have a couple of the simple harness ones on Ebay, but DP didn't like the look of them - said they looked too much like a leash, so we may end up going for the one from bumpto3.
My mum used one on my older sister when she was little, as mum also had another sister in the pram at the time, and she got so many horrid comments about 'keeping her child on a leash like a dog' etc, etc.... but honestly, its better to be safe than sorry! I think people should keep comments like that to themselves... how rude!

i attempted to use the wrist strap one for my ds but the bugger used to just sit down and not budge when he had it on, so i am thinking the backpack one would have been great. luckily for me dd is quite shy and holds onto my hand so darned tight.

i agree much better off to have one than have them run off and not find them or someone grab them or they get themselves into serious trouble.

I agree Jillian, I have actually had people comment to me about keeping Matilda on a lead. I honestly almost snapped one day & said "Here, you try it!"

I attemted to use one on Mason when he was 2 and he layed down on the ground face first like a logging protester. Wouldn't budge, even though I'd practiced with him wearing it at home!

i saw those monkey backpack ones at the goldbug stand at baby expo - i had searched for them before but couldnt find one so ended up getting a plain baby harness from target (too many friends told me the wrist straps didnt work) eliana loves the harness & will walk really well beside me - if i try walking without the harness she is off!!! so in my case i think they are brilliant - my SIL got one for my nephew & whenever it was put on him he got down on all fours & thought he was a dog!!!!!

i personally don't like them at all, but won't get into that argument, just offering other suggestions. What about some kind of small ride on or in car that has a handle attached to the back of it for you to steer it, I have seen a few of them around in the city, and they look pretty cool, I am sure most toddlers would love em!!

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!

Min - the reason a little ride on or push bike wont work is that I have to catch buses & trains, and I really dont want to have to lug something big on there (especially during peak time!) hence the reason why I cant (dont want to) take a pram either.

We have asked MIL to order us one anyway now with her CC, so it should arrive this week, and I will do a trial run with Aidyn to the city when it gets here - as uni starts again next week!
I *think* he will be ok, because he will be a in a strange/exciting environment I dont think he will be likely to tantrum and protest, and he'll probably want to stay by my side... but I want to be safe JIC he does try to run away.

Christy love the idea of attaching the strap to a belt loop. Mackenzie has a wrist one as she is a runner too but wore it twice and then screamed and refused to wear it so I might give this a go! I also called it her bracelet and tried to convince her it was just like mummys bracelet but she is too smart for me!

Well today was our first trial run to the city and to DP's work... and it went really well!! Aidyn was an absolute angel, he read books with me at the bus stop, he loved the bus ride, he held my hand for 90% of the time when we were in the city... so I am pretty happy with that! He also didn't mind wearing it at all, which I'm very relieved about!
I have to say though, I definately couldnt have done it without the harness... without that peace of mind there is just no way I could have taken him out like that with no pram, or nothing to stop him from running away.
Now lets hope it works as well next week when I need to get to uni for real!

We had a disaster today with the lead out & about. The lead is elasticised & Matilda wound up pulling it as far as it would go & then plopping herself down on the ground & refusing to move. I think I may invest in the monkey on the back ;)

sammy-j and mooshie you made me laugh with your descriptions of how your little ones protested they are such characters arent they! max was just dumb founded by the whole harness concept .. he just stood there looking at me when i put it on as if to say what the #### do you think you are up to? they are so funny! any way i am going to try and persist with it beacuse i agree better safe then sorry !! and he is such a houdini :)

Sherie, I think your mum and my mum went to the same shop!

Mum had me in a harness, because it was really dangerous not to, as I would break free of their grip and be gone in a flash. Once they were at a waterfall, and mum had me by one hand, and had the harness but I still managed to get away, ran full belt at the cliff, which had a pipe fence (like at footy grounds) which I grabbed, and swung out over the sheer drop on the other side. Lickily a quick thinking boy nearby grabbed me just as I was a bout to swing out again and returned me to mum and dad.

Anyway, sorry to hijack.

The newer style ones sound fab and I will probably be looking at something like that when Milo is a bit bigger.

We had a huge scare last week when Matilda slipped out of her pram in 3 seconds and was gone. I was standing in the middle of a Westfield screaming and trying to run searching for her, luckily she found a car ride & climbed on that and another mum heard me callings & signaled for me to get her. Since then she's run away one other time & I can't actually keep up anymore.

We bought the monkey harness today...and I must say it is fantastic. She LOVES it, in fact she just had a tantrum as I was trying to get it off to put her down for her nap. She's had it on for 3 hours & refused to take it off when we got home, which is okay because you can undo the tail & its just like a little backpack. She gave it a hug & kiss before her nap & put him down to bed.

Thats my biggest fear Jillian and that is why I have changed my whole attitude towards a harness or lead for a child, while there are certain children who would never need one, mine definately does. It becomes a matter of safety for your child and if they are able to get out of prams then even prams become unsafe. We have actually had to buy an extra children's harness for the car because she can get her arms out of the one in the car.