Harness Memories

How about memories from real life in regard to child harnesses. Either used while walking or as a safety measure in high chairs prams etc.

I've seen these and I think they're kinda cute, but I have nobody to take me for Woozle Walkies. XD

I'm supposed to be a bigga woozle anyhow. (But I could see being mischievous and wandering off to look at things without asking, so.)

As for RL as a kid, I never wore one. My mom always just had me hang onto her super-long hair. Kinda like a baby elephant holds it's mama's tail. Someone suggested it once and she was like "I have a kid, not a dog. And if she doesn't stay where she's supposed to, she's gonna get a spanking and taken home." (I never got the spanking for those wondering, I actually didn't WANT to wander off too far. Those mythical "Weirdos", remember? 'Stay where I can see you. There might be weirdos around.' XD)

I find there are people that are perfectly fine using a harness and other who vehemently oppose them. I didn't use them with my girls but I kept a paddle in the car. Misbehaving in a store or parking lot resulted in a red bottom. And yes Cuddle Woozie if you had been part of my family, I would not have hesitated if you ran off.

But times have changed. Raising a grandson, in recent years, the paddle was out. People now would call the police if they saw me spanking a child. He was a runner and I bought a good harness and he went into it.

One time I was at a cash register and he decided to take off. It was about ten feet to the door and ten more feet to cars going by. I yelled stop but he didn't. When he got to the end of the leash, he stopped.

Now we have always used a harness with a high chair. I've seen a child managing to stand up in a high chair. If he jumped or slipped he would have been hurt. With a harness they will not be climbing out.

My children have never complained as adults about the harness. So put me down as a fan of harnesses. And I have no memory of a harness as a child and my parents are gone, so who knows.

I wasn't a wanderer, though. My great-niece is. She kept trying to wander off by herself at four in a crowded Sam's Club. I followed her sneakily, waited until she got close to the door, then ran up behind her and grabbed her up. She was scared to death because she didn't KNOW it was me. She never goes off anymore because she finally seemed to 'get' that she was small enough that someone she didn't know could just pick her up and run away without anyone knowing it.

I wasn't very nice for scaring the poop out of her, but she wouldn't listen any other way. (And yes, I got some crazy looks for it.)

But you gave her the cure. And sometimes we have to learn the hard way.

I used to have a Winnie The Pooh one for when we were out walking between the ages of 1 and 3.5 ish. I was born in 2000 so all the baby stuff had harnesses so it wasn't used in highchair or pram. I remember having a love/hate relationship with it. I wanted to run off but I liked it because it had Winnie The Pooh on it

My mom told me that I had harness when I was very young like 2 (?) years old so I have no memories of being in them. But anyways good tool for very young kids to prevent them from hurting themselves by running under cars etc.

I grew up in a very brown-rice-and-tofu hippie town, so I was never put in a harness, but I was carried in a papoose or sling rather than pushed in a stroller.

That being said, the idea intrigued me, and I have begun to incorporate the harness/leash into play scenarios.

For those interested in harness/leash play, I recommend using a 'fall-arrest' harness - what construction workers use while working at heights. The most basic ones can be had for $30-40 and they'll work fine.

I have a better source for a harness that does not look so industrial. I do not get anything for this recommendation but I have bought Elaine's product before and have been very happy. Her harnesses were first for special need kids, then she made teen sizes and then up to adult size. The buckles come in varying degrees of challenge in opening. She also has a way to use the harness strapped to a chair. Do yourself a favor and check her site out.

woodenpotty said:

I have a better source for a harness that does not look so industrial. I do not get anything for this recommendation but I have bought Elaine's product before and have been very happy. Her harnesses were first for special need kids, then she made teen sizes and then up to adult size. The buckles come in varying degrees of challenge in opening. She also has a way to use the harness strapped to a chair. Do yourself a favor and check her site out.

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Thanks for the tip! I checked the page and she makes even crotch straps as accessory. It sounds like a nice combo with a diaper
Do you have experiences of those "locking buckles", can you remove it on your own? I maybe buy harnesses for me when I move on my own (diaper "self bondage") but I don't want to have situation where I need to phone some friend to come open my harnesses LOL

The harness I had was not worn by me. But I had the buckles that needed two hands to open. Over those I placed the covers she has. With the buckles behind the back, escape never happened. Maybe a Houdini might get free but it is tough. In a self use, you would probably be in trouble. Although I don't know if you could even get the covers (which make it hard to even get to the buckles) over the buckles as you put it on.

Well apparently I had both a leash then was upgraded to a harness a few weeks later, This was back in the Mid 80's when malls were the rage.
My mom explained it like this, I was a good kid, just stubborn and impatient. If I liked something or saw something I wouldn't stop until I got my hands on it.
Hence the leash, but I quickly figured out that I could fool my mom by acting really good, always leaving slack in the line, then bam, when the time was right I would unstrap the band on my wrist and run like hell to where ever I was trying to get, so after a disappearing act in the mall, which included security and all the Macy's employee's, I was upgraded to a harness which apparently defeated me and caused my 2 year old brain to start the silent treatment to my parents on the rides home when ever the harness was used.

woodenpotty said:

I have a better source for a harness that does not look so industrial. I do not get anything for this recommendation but I have bought Elaine's product before and have been very happy. Her harnesses were first for special need kids, then she made teen sizes and then up to adult size. The buckles come in varying degrees of challenge in opening. She also has a way to use the harness strapped to a chair. Do yourself a favor and check her site out.

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Hi woodenpotty,
These sound fun Do you have a link to the website?
Thanks

childharness.ca will take you there. Let me know how you like the site and if you decide to buy one.

You need dexterity and flexibility to open the buckle yourself. If the harness is well and snug fitted it could be very difficult to open it.

But even with a crouch strap I was able to pull the crouch strap off and the harness over my head. But this could be prevented by using seen in belt loops. This isn't necessary if you are led by lesh because of total supervision or leshed to an high chair or stroller.

It's a pity that Ellen didn't provide the combination carabiniers as buckle, because self opening is prevented very well.

For years mother had a photo of me in one of those, hitched to the clothesline in the backyard and balling my head off. To this day I'm still not certain if I really vagly REMEMBER the thing or if it's just the dam photograph?
Either way I KNOW mother had it and used it religisly on all 6 of us.

On the clothes line

Unless you are the youngest, you may also be remembering a sibling on the clothes line? It was not uncommon to do this. I had a neighbor who would have a child tethered that way. They wanted to let you have some fresh air and exercise while they were doing something. (And with 6, you can bet she had lots to do)
If you did it today, someone would call the cops. Funny but the same people would be happy to use a five point harness and strap the child in a car seat for hours on end. Our parents would say car seats were mean. We could go in the back of a station wagon and play. And that's not to say I'm against car seats but I'm trying to point out changed attitudes, for better or worse. :twocents:

I had a lot of mental illness and instabilities as a child and my parents kept me on a leash so I don't have good memories bit rather nightmares

The people that have a problem with harnesses seem to correlate it to saying the child is a dog. And that only dogs belong on a leash. I differ but that is what I hear most often as an objection.