Walking toddlers

[newmothermary]

Doe your toddling toddler mind you holding their hand when they walk?
Miles does not, and there are times when I simply must take his hand.

Anyone else?

[eleonrauis]

My DS is 25 mos and will tolerate holding hands only to go up or down stairs or to cross the street (or if it's his idea because he's leading me to something). And when he was younger he wouldn't do it at all, we just had to grab him by the wrist if needed.

[Louisep]

DS has just started letting me hold his hand and he's a little older than your son. He won't let me hold it no matter what though and will still pull away from me.

Interestingly, he's realized hand holding works both ways and now grabs my hand and pulls me to wherever he wants me. This is cute except for 5am in the morning when he's trying to pull me out of bed!

[em123]

My 15 month old does but it took a lot of practice around the house to get to that point. Before this he would throw himself to the ground when I touched his hand.

In public he holds my hand (which really means he holds one or two fingers) but I also wrap my remaining fingers around his wrist so if he lets go I've still got a handle on him.

[AngelKissedKids]

I've probably got the opposite "problem" - my DD will only walk if I am holding her hand, otherwise she crawls. She's 18 months old now and can walk on her own but 98% of the time chooses not to unless I'm holding one hand (funny enough - she'll only hold one hand, both DH and I can't each hold one hand - she won't tolerate that). I wish she'd walk without me more (although I definitely don't mind holding her hand in busy public places!).

[lifeguard]

Ds will reach for my hand when on stairs or really uneven ground but otherwise he despises holding my hand. But honestly I think it's got to be pretty uncomfortable to have your hand held above your head like that so I only push it when it's a safety issue.

[GoGoGirl]

My 12 month old DD refuses to let me hold her hand when we're walking. It's a huge safety issue--we live in Manhattan. If I wrap her on my back, she's ok staying up, but if she's just in arms she fights the whole time to get down. I do try to let her walk a bunch when we're somewhere safe, but she wants to walk all the time, everywhere. I'll be watching to see everyone's tips!

[~cassie~]

My 20 mth old and my 2 1/2 yr old hate holding my hand. Only if they are being shy will they hold hands. Andrew isn't allowed down in any place like a parking lot-he has to be in the basket or my hands and then my 2 1/2 yr old has compromised and will hold onto the cart. He does really good with that. But they are all darters and fast!

[pbjmama]

Our rule is you must hold hands or be carried in a parking lot/safety situations. Generally my kids choose to have as much control as possible, so they choose hand holding after being carried a few times

[Peony]

Originally Posted by pbjmama

Our rule is you must hold hands or be carried in a parking lot/safety situations. Generally my kids choose to have as much control as possible, so they choose hand holding after being carried a few times

This is our rule as well, no holding hands= being picked up and carried.

[crunchy_mommy]

Ditto to the 'hold hands or I carry you' rule. DS is only 14mos & most of the time HATES holding hands but if it's crowded, parking lot, etc. I insist on it or pick him up. He seems to have caught on pretty well so far but he still has his moments.

He also likes to hold on to something like the cord on my jacket or the shopping basket (or help me push the cart)... obviously still doesn't work for safety situations but when I just want to kind of corral him that solution does the trick!

[Baby_Cakes]

DD is 18 mo and really hates holding hands. I hold her wrist, firmly but gently. She is ok with this for most of the time, but sometimes we have to switch sides once she realizes I'm holding on to her. She always just wants to run off. I'm trying to be very consistent, and explain to her that we must hold hands when we're in the street/parking lot/mall etc, but when she's allowed to just play (like at the playground) I make a big deal that she doesn't need to hold my hand b/c it's safe.

[ShyDaisi]

I tried (and still do) to allow not holding hands if he doesn't want to as much as possible. When holding hands was necessary, I made sure that I held his hand below his head even if I needed to stoop down (we are both short, so it worked out).

Now that he is a little older, I have asked him to hold my hand to keep me safe when crossing the street, and now he has started to ask me to hold his to keep HIM safe!