Walking harness/"leash"

[flowerchild]

I was never a fan of them until I had three kids under 4 and my 21 month old ran away twice between the car and the front door to Walmart. I went right in and bought one of those animal backpacks with the tail that is a leash. My youngest was a runner...the kind that would catch your eye, laugh, and then deliberately run into the street.

They didn't like wearing it, so my rule was if they could walk nicely beside me and hold my hand I wouldn't hold the tail. If they started to run away or fool around, I held the tail. My middle child only had to wear it a few times until he caught on and would walk safely. My youngest had to wear it a lot. She was (and still is) a limit pusher and has to learn things the hard way.

Quite frankly, I don't care if people think using that made me a lazy parent. I'd rather people judge me for "leashing" my child than be burying my child because she ran into the street and was hit by a car.