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Baby on a leash

March 2, 2010 //  by Uju//  14 Comments

‘You sound like Mary Whitehouse,’ observes the hubby as I follow my brand new toddler around trying to restrain him from various no-go zones.

‘Jed, don’t touch the toilet!’

‘Jed, come away from the dustbin!’

‘Sit Jed. Good boy.’

It’s my firm belief that sometime between 9 and 18 months all children exhibit distinct signs of doggy behaviour. Just turned one, my baby is fully immersed in what I call the puppy stage. Ezra reached his puppy peak around 10 months. He even used to pant when he was excited.

Jed doesn’t pant but he does yap on occasion and spends much of his time eating paper and chewing on his dad’s slippers. When you try and take a piece of cardboard from his jaws, he goes Grrrr.

Maybe that’s why I was drawn to the Harness Buddy by Goldbug. I picked it up at the Baby Show last weekend and it’s hands down the most useful baby product I’ve bought this year.

It’s basically a cuddly animal backpack with a very long (removable) tail that acts as the parent handle. You clip the Harness Buddy around your tot and then he’s free to wander without straying too far from your side.

It’s hardly a collar and chain situation, but I did catch a couple of strange looks when I took Jed and his Harness Buddy for a test run.

We went for a walk by the canal nearby. Normally I’d have kept Jed strapped in his pushchair to avoid him falling in. But with the Harness Buddy safely buckled around him, it was cool to let the kids play chase, while I essentially held the reins.

It was a magical feeling strolling by the water with both boys, as the ducks sailed past. And the look of freedom on Jed’s face as he toddled about simply couldn’t be bought.

Visit Goldbug to learn about this and other products.

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Category: Cool StuffTag: accessories, baby, kids, moms, mums, travel

About Uju

Uju Asika is a writer, blogger and creative consultant. She is the author of Raising Boys Who Do Better: A Hopeful Guide for a New Generation (DK/Penguin Random House), Bringing Up Race: How to Raise a Kind Child in a Prejudiced World (Yellow Kite/Hachette UK) and the delightful picture book A World for Me and You, illustrated by Jennie Poh (Hachette Children's Group). Uju's books are available at Bookshop.org, Amazon, Waterstones and other good bookshops. Follow Uju @babesabouttown on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melissa B.

    March 3, 2010 at 10:28 am

    Well, sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures, oui? SITS sent me by, and I’m glad they did…

    Snow Daze

  2. Uju

    March 3, 2010 at 1:41 pm

    LOL that’s so right Melissa. Thanks for coming by!

  3. JDaniel4's Mom

    March 4, 2010 at 11:31 am

    I have one too. It is great for the library. Stopping by from SITS!

  4. Uju

    March 4, 2010 at 12:33 pm

    That’s cool, JD’s Mom. Nice to meet you!

  5. Me, Myself & Pie

    March 4, 2010 at 5:37 pm

    He looks happy and it gives him more room to play, so people shouldn’t stare….the little backpack is so cute!

  6. Danielle

    March 4, 2010 at 9:02 pm

    As much as I insisted I would never use the “baby leash” I love it for my youngsters!

  7. Uju

    March 5, 2010 at 12:39 am

    you’re right MM&P, it’s cute and there are loads of animals to pick from. btw that’s not my son, he’s a model lol. but jed was even happier than that!

  8. Uju

    March 5, 2010 at 12:41 am

    i know Danielle, it seems so weird a concept but it’s actually really useful.

  9. Cranky Sarah

    March 8, 2010 at 4:29 am

    I use something similar when I go shopping. I loop the handle around the double stroller – I suppose that’s pushchair – and let the eldest walk and browse as I do. She loves it. Well, she loves it compared to being confined withing a stroller HA!

  10. Uju

    March 8, 2010 at 10:39 am

    Ha, I know they love to get out of their pushchairs don’t they? It’s getting them back in again that’s the next problem!

  11. Nkiru

    March 10, 2010 at 10:32 am

    Uju, I was totally thrown by the photo. I was thinking, Jed cannot have grown this much or changed this much. Thanks for clarifying. And I think the backpack leash is cute. I remember seeing parents with what actually looked like retractable dog leashes and that did seem a little odd.

  12. Uju

    March 10, 2010 at 11:24 am

    LOL Nkiru, yeah I mean why not buy a muzzle and be done with it. And the backpack is awesome, only prob now is getting Jed back in the pushchair once he’s been liberated!

  13. Merry120

    March 16, 2010 at 4:50 am

    We have a goldbug Harness Buddy too. We used it last year at the local farm petting zoo. It gave Evan freedom but gave me a sense of safety. We haven’t used it as much as we thought we would b/c Evan doesn’t like it so much.

  14. Uju

    March 16, 2010 at 11:18 am

    Hi Merry, I do wonder how long it will last with Jed as he’s just so determined and winds up dragging me around. But I’m definitely glad I have it to hand, otherwise I’d be totally rushed off my feet!

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I’m Uju, author, blogger, screenwriter. I curate cool finds and experiences for city families. Read more…

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