When my oldest was a toddler, was our merry wanderer. He could wander off in the blink of an eye. The bad thing was, given that he lad limited speech capabilities as an autistic child, that he couldn’t tell people who he was or who we are or even that he was lost.
One family reunion I left my son with my grandfather-in-law so I could go find a restroom in the park. When I returned my son was nowhere to be found. I panicked and immediately everyone stopped everything and set out on a search for my son. Luckily we found him safe and sound.
After that day we immediately searched for some way to keep our son safe. After much research we settled on a wrist leash. You can attach a wrist leash on your wrist and your child’s wrist and it keeps them from running off.
When my son was younger, the wrist leashes weren’t nearly as good as the ones available today. My youngest son is a toddler and he’s a runner so a wrist leash is essential for his safety as he is small and can run quickly into places I cannot get into, especially when hiking and going to theme parks/parks/zoos.
Today’s wrist leashes are very well made. Typically the wrist straps are with padding and velcro on the wrist cuffs and attached to each other by coils of wire enclosed in plastic. The one we purchased for our child had a piece near the cuffs that could rotate 360 degrees to keep from injuring the child’s wrist if they try to run away.
Each company’s design is slightly different with the largest difference in length of the coil and how the wrist straps are secured (Velcro, key lock, buckles, etc). Some even come with an alarm built in if your child releases the strap. The variety is nice as it allows the parent to pick the leash which works the best for their child.
Wrist leashes are not designed to teach a child to walk and I really wouldn’t recommend them until your child is walking with good balance on their own. Also I the parent needs to stay close enough to their child that the coil won’t snap the child back and knock them down.
People today are much more accepting than they were when my oldest needed a wrist leash, however you will still get the occasional nasty look from someone when you use it. I just ignore it and realize that I’m doing what is best for my child’s safety and it really doesn’t matter what someone else thinks.
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