"Does he bite?"

I’m not a fan of Lowe’s policy letting them in though

I was wondering why some people here felt so strongly about it - are y'all imagining it goes round their necks like a dog's?

Haha, I was definitely leashed as a child, and I know why. I was a bolter, my child was also a bolter.

No I was taking the piss.

Maybe, but what shocks me is how much quicker children seem to mature outside the US, like 6 year olds walking across town to get to school in Japan, its gotta be more than "how much do physically vs psychologically beat the kid", and it doesn't seem to be "just give the kid more responsibility" since I had an actual conversation with a 6 year old on a train ride in China, he was way more advanced than my 9 year old nephew, and the chinese kid was a private school, only child, so I can't imagine he had much responsibility.

I think it has something to do with the type of enrichment a kid experiences, like being strapped to a carseat playing a "tap button on iPad, get reward" game is probably as bad for a kid's development as locking them in a plain white room.

Looks goofy. Keeps people safe. I'd call that a fair trade - it's a tale as old as PPE.

If we're going to criticize peoples' parenting, I'd turn your sights to the dipshits who are sacrificing their children to antivaxxism (which simultaneously sacrifices YOUR children to antivaxxism if the viral mutations they're breeding up manage to null the efficacy of vaccines in the already-immunized).

FYI, a leash gives a toddler more freedom than the alternatives. Strollers and hand holding both restrict movement a lot more than a leash.

Gimme back my piss.

I think it's at least in part because they're allowed to mature. It's a whole thing letting your kid go to a nearby store alone for the first time in Japan. In parts of America, you will be arrested for "neglecting your child" now if they do that. (That's not hyperbole)

To be honest, my wife used to walk miles in Hartford, Connecticut to go to school.

I don't think it's a maturity thing. It's literally not safe to let our kids travel by themselves. Look at them hiding the epstein stuff to keep businessmen safe. Everyone here is armed, people shoot kids who knock on their doors not infrequently.

Sure, to a certain extent the statistical odds of it happening are low, but they're 0 in most other places in the world.

When you're walking in a public place overrun with people, no separation between road and sidewalk, multiple other hazards and a toddler who only moves by running full speed, I do not see a problem with putting a harness and lead on the kid. Parents try their best to pay attention at all times, but when you're this tired, it's good to have the insurance. If you want to judge someone's parenting, judge the ones who ignore their kids so they can spend more time on their phones

I suspect the US is still safer, I haven't seen one yet but surely the 12 year olds I see across SEA riding electrics or 125ccs with 4 friends or younger siblings on the bike get in accidents more often than kids get shot in the US.

Less car-centric infrastructure. Also for whatever reason a lot of Americans are dumb AF and I'd assume that also affects children in a similar manner. So maybe our children aren't as suicidal.

As a leasher, I know what I'm doing. My one kid is nuts. And you nailed it.

I never had anybody be a dick about it. Most people throw a pet joke, which is funny. But I can't imagine taking offense to it.

I can provide you with some as a replacement if that helps.

Comments sometimes differ a lot on a per post basis tbh.

Timezone is a big one

Same here. There was well-intentioned (though silly) joke. However, right after I explained why I was using the leash, they were very understanding. Also met random people in Manila who praised me for it and said that it really needs to be more common (if there is a city where you need it, it's Manila)

The muzzle isnt for the kids benefit, its for the rest of us!

Idk if the environment is dangerous and the kid is prone to running off and play in traffic mood then yeah you might need something at the very least.

When I visited a friend in the states back in 2019, I saw a small Russian family who kept their kid on a leash when we visited the aquarium. Initially I was amused, but once that died off I just found it clever. I, a grown ass-man managed to lose my friends in the crowd a few times, that family never lost their kid.

I'll never have kids, but if I did, I'd be leashing it in that kind of situation too.

Not only per post but also communities and instances. Different locations attract different people within certain time frames.

I draw the line at a choker chain, though.

I think this is one of the most overlooked benefits of harnesses. Just being able to save them from a faceplant when they're still really practicing being upright is a huge relief, and gives them more confidence too, because they know you'll be there to catch them if they fall.

I know a person whose kid has ADHD and was constantly running carelessly into random directions, failing to immediately react to their mother shouting them to stop. There was so much spontaneous and uncontrolled running here and there that the only option seemed to be to constantly hold their hand.

Eventually the kid's mother came to the conclusion that the kid will have more freedom if she's kept on a leash instead of having to hold hands. The time they had to use the leash didn't end up being many months, either. In the case of that family it was definitely a choice that increased the psychological well-being of the child and supported their development of motor skills.

You can never know what the reasons are, so go careful with judging!

I did not knew what was the name of a sharpie in english until now and i got concerned until i searched (sharpie)

Is that real? Someone tried to tell me their kids do that and I had hard time believing that.

Is it a phase during development for some or what?

I'm interested in the previous one because I feel like I'm detecting some defensiveness stemming from that!

Me and my sister were on leashes as kids. Also we had a bouncer that you hung in a doorframe and I described this at preschool as "we hang our baby from the ceiling" 😅

It's not bizarre. It gives the kid some freedom without risking the bolting the second you're not looking.

Mine thought they were the ones leading us around. So people can chill with the faux projected outage about indignity that the kids are not feeling.

Yeah, exactly this. Some kids are just different and it really isn't a fault in the parenting that the child is likely to put themselves in a dangerous situation.

Caring for a kid like that is plenty exhausting enough without the snide remarks of fully grown adults that like to entertain themselves at the child's expense. The kid I cared for didn't have a harness but in retrospect that would have been pretty damn handy.

Interestingly, children are way more understanding than most adults.

It isn’t bizarre to the parent with a kid who will bolt, but still deserves to go outside.

When my son was a toddler, I had an older aunt who had no children, but plenty of opinions on how they should be raised. We were visiting one time, and planned a visit to the zoo, and she just insisted that we had to get a leash for him, or he was so going to get away from us, and end up in an animal pen, and get eaten, presumably.

I refused her many orders to get a leash (I didn't even know where to find one, this was before Amazon), and finally just flat out told her that there would be no leash, we would just have to do our jobs as parents and adults, and actually pay attention to him.

And he only got into animal
pens a few times. He hardly got gnawed on at all. He was fine.

But just as fun, in its own way!

y'all have to leash your kids?

Edit: Just to be clear, this is a pro leash comment.

My kids are very well behaved, not just compared to other ADHD, but to any other kid. However, let them pass the ADHD tipping point where they are too tired, excessively stimulated, over sugared, or god forbid, all 3 at the same time, and they will do the most insane shit just because 2 neurons accidentally bumped together and gave them some stray thought.

Well, are we still talking about actual parents, or are we talking about a 'Mommy" or "Daddy", because depending on the situation, I can totally support chokers.

Get a leash! You want another gorilla to get shot?

It wasn't the leash, it was that all you were wearing was the leash... and also the not being potty trained the "marking* of stuff.

You know where those 3 things coincide? At the airport. Among crowds of thousands. Where you can actually lose a kid. I leashed my toddlers at the airport. This also lets you deal with gate attendants and baggage check in. Outside the airport I would tell them to hold my leg while I dealt with counter staff. That way I knew they were with me but had both hands free to deal with paperwork.

That's a nice video though

Spoken by someone who never had a child who has disabilities and is hard to keep with you, sheesh.

I agree with you. I can see now how my post could be interpreted as an argument against, but it was intended to be just the opposite.

Ooh sorry! Not sharp, just a permanent marker with a blunt but narrow tip.

I am asexual and do not enjoy sexual contact in general.

The only animals i have had any experience with are homo sapiens, and based on that experience I have concluded it is not for me. It turns out actual biological bodies are icky. I would rather not have one, let alone have to interact with someone else's.

My "fursona" is a synthetic construct that used to be a bipedal canine with wings. Keeping those features from the character's distant fully biological past was merely aesthetic preference. I've felt very comfortable leaning into an "it/thing" identity.

Preferable to the alternative where parents leash their kids out of negligence because they can't be bothered to actually supervise them...

Oh yes, a brief phase for mine at least. Soon after she learned to walk, which in her case was walking and running all in one day. An over-exuberance of that new freedom and power. Feeling the rush of air on her wings, as it were. She would usually leave her diaper on, unless it was moist and heavy enough to slow her down. Of course the phase coincided with our being on a pre-planned trip, constantly in public situations where I didn't know the territory. At least we spoke the language!

Negligent parents don't bother with a leash. Theirs is the kid running around seeking attention from others while they sit and drink.

As a parent who had one on a leash. It's fine. I thought it was funny.
My life is a joke anyways.