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I used to think people who put their kids on a leash were ridiculous. I mean, come on, who puts their child on a leash like an animal?!

Ha ha. Jokes on me. My son started walking at 8 1/2 months, running at 9 months. And he would just... Take off, vanish. No separation anxiety. No awareness. Just... Gone...
Any type of festival, farmers market, crowded mall or sidewalk near a busy road, it was just better to leash the little guy and let people judge me. And you know, I'm ok with that. Hell I'm from LA- people judge you for everything. I just added leashing my child like an animal to the list.
(Truthfully if you don't have a runner, you don't understand the stress of knowing he can bolt at any given moment.)

We have one and use it occasionally. We opted for a climbing harness (4-way, so arms and legs) with a climbing rope attached though because it's more versatile in leech length etc. also if he falls the climbing harness catches him with weight distribution being better.

LO is 15 months and running/walking. I will be getting one this summer when he's more likely to want down. I can still keep him happy holding him.

I have a runner and I used to use one, I honestly didn't care about the judgement. My kid ran off in a crowd once and that feeling until I found her was a billion times worse than any judgement feels! We used a Skip Hop backpack one and she loved it actually.

I was a runner when I was little, my parents tried this on me, but I figured out that if I stretched it out as far as I could and walked parallel with my parents that I would block any other people walking and they would have to take me off of it... so it didn't work....

I own one but never had to use it with my first. I wanted it as an option while traveling solo,with a toddler and baby and because we lived on a very busy city road where bolting could have dire consequences. hers was a cute cuddly lion (the "leash" was the tail) and the few times I used it no one said anything. I feel like it's nicer than holding their coat hood or something!

My brother was a runner and she would leash him to me because I was the goody two shoes older sister who stayed nearby. When he was old enough to understand more, she let him get "lost" in a store while we watched from a distance and he learned a lesson that day and was fine after that! There were a few love and logic stories to that effect but they don't work with toddlers who don't understand yet...

E has bolted out of the garage and towards the street twice this week. Laughed hysterically when I disciplined her. I hope it's not the start of a trend! I'm all about natural consequences but getting hit by a car isn't one of them

@petunia354: heh. I got boundaries, yo

I'm so glad you asked this! We're thinking of getting one for our son as well. He has been running since he was about 10 months old and he hates to be held. We can often keep him in a stroller but he gets annoyed by that to. I would feel so much better about letting him down if I knew he couldn't disappear.