I want a personal restraining device (aka leash) for my child.

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I've done this with my ring sling. DH was opposed (he has similar views to MITB about harnesses). Unfortunately, DS hates that as much as hand-holding. He will throw himself down on the floor and twist until I take it off, which is what he does when I try to hold his hand (and I'm afraid I'll hurt him and let go when he does). For now, we just limit outings where I know he can't run around. Thankfully, he is okay being carried/slung in parking lots and similar areas, and we have a big yard he can run in.

Since you're on a budget, I'd suggest trying that out with a sling if you have one.

I have debated on getting one for ds. My dd has a class trip to the zoo coming up and if I have to go alone and take ds i know i will have trouble because he will not want to ride in the stroller or be carried the whole day plus my back couldnt handle it. In a place like that trying to keep up with 2 kids would just be to much for me to do alone. Yes there will be other parents there but they will be busy watching there own kids. I wouldnt be able to enjoy watching dd see the animals for the first time to me part of the whole experiance. I want to keep them both safe while all of us have fun and a leash seems like the best way right now. I have seen the ones at wal mart need to try to check them out better to make sure ds wont fall on his face cause of one. The wrist ones do they come loose easy?

We've got one of the safety first harnesses, but I'm thinking about one of the backpack ones. I was just worried it might get too hot for my little man this summer.

FWIW, I didn't use to like them either. My mom actually bought the one we have for us over a year ago, and I've just recently started using it. The thing that changed my mind was a near disaster. We stopped by the post office to get stamps. Lauren was in the sling, and Ben was walking with me. On the way back to the car, he got free and took off running. I chased after him but wearing Lauren made me akward and unable to easily catch him. He fortunately tripped. He was about 4 feet away from getting hit by an SUV. I only use it in a traffic type situation or other dangerous situation when I'm alone with the 2 of them. He still walks next to me with his hand on my leg, but if he does bolt, at least I know he's safe. If that's treating him like a dog, whatever. I wouldn't want my dog run over, and I certainly don't want my son run over.

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Oh man, how scary!
Even though my mom used them with us, I had never thought about them, thinking that I could hold a child's hand. Then I actually spent time with a child LOL...very well-mannered, well-behaved, never showed much of a compunction to run away, and we were walking, I was holding her hand very tightly, and in a millisecond she'd turned and twisted her hand in such a way it was as though her hand had melted. And she was off. And I realized it didn't matter how tightly you think you're holding on, or how long its been since the kid has done it...one can never *know* that sort of thing is never going to happen.
Of course, that girl's mom thought it would be treating her like a dog, too, so once the penchant for taking off took hold, the mom just chased after her, even at the beach...I would just sit there, remembering me, my brother, our mom, and our two malamutes, all nice and together and attached (OK, my mom was attached to all of us, we were not attached to each other ) (come to think of it, my *mom* was the one most restrained and constrained by the whole thing!), no one able to run into the surf and be sucked under....ah, the good old days.

Getting myself back on track:
I think onestepahead.com also sells the harnesses.

Do the backpacks have a clip in front so they can't slip the pack off?

we got the monkey one from WalMart for my dd. She started doing the dead weight thing out of the blue when she didn't wanna go where we were heading. The first time was when we were hiking in the woods heading in no particular direction. She gave no warning, made no mention of her different agenda. She just went limp. My instinct was to grab her tighter and i was afraid I had dislocated something. Even though I hadn't, I cried about it. I culd have hurt her. We got the backpack and she absolutely loves it. She actually wears the monkey a good bit of the time, even around the house. And she likes to put things in the zipper pocket. It has two straps that click on the front and 2 places on the back to hook on the tail. Lately, she has decided it is hysterical to run to the end of the tail and crash on her bum. She's never been hurt doing this and thinks it's a great game. Silly baby! makes it hard to actually use it though. I think I'm lucky though in that she loves to ride in a stroller or shopping cart.