Eloping

My LO is 2 and he is always eloping. I know a certain amount of wandering off is considered normal at this age but for my boy it is constant. He can’t hold my hand and walk with me, wherever we are he is always trying to leave or wander off in his own direction. Right now we can use his buggy and he can sit in the trolley at the shops and high chairs are still fine. But I’m thinking, what happens if the eloping continues as he gets bigger? Do we just stop going anywhere? I guessing eating out will be impossible and same goes for the shops unless he just stays in the buggy all the time (he’s not a huge fan of the buggy unless is moving so I don’t think he’d be happy being so confined). We enjoy our little outings - he loves being out and about - and it makes me sad that we will be so restricted with what we can do as he gets older.

Show your support

There are harness and reins you can use my oldest I used reins until he started school as he would run off my youngest is nearly 3 and will soon be walking full time everywhere we will be using reins and a foot plate on pushchair once baby comes it doesn’t meant you can’t go out and do nice things it just means you have to do it differently and think about what is safest

Thank you @Stephanie we have reins which we have tried a few times but he will scream and get very upset unless we go the way he wants to go. Is this something you experienced with your son? Maybe we just need more practise. How did you manage eating out when your oldest became too big for highchairs?

My oldest still does it now. As she plays games in her head so she goes in her own little world she 12. I just make sure she in my sight at all times and I called her if she goes to far as she got no danger awareness. When she was little I used reins so she wouldn't wander off so much.

Yeah he would throw himself down on the floor when he didn’t want to walk further persevere with it and be consistent as he got older he sat at the chair and we’d let him play on the phone or watch something until the food arrived waiting can be hard for children so can being told no it’s finding what works for you and your child as every child is different

The only thing that worked for my boy is putting a clip on the pram for him (i have a baby too). Hell quite happily hold it and walk with us xx

Try the reins, it does get better my daughter is 3 I still am very cautious as she will just make a run for it and be sneaky about it, she now holds my hand a lot and i recently have allowed her to not hold it all the time and run but making sure I can get to her not a far distance and that she’s starting to listen when I say stop ( she still can’t communicate verbally but has alot of understanding) I also have a 2 year old so I’m always taking a pram with me everywhere

My daughter does this she will only go a particular way again this has got better over the last year but she still does do it and will put herself on the floor which means I then need to carry her as she will refuse to walk

My eldest did grow out of this. It was fine in places where I could chase after him like the park or if we went to the shopping centre and it was quiet. Reins didn’t work on him. Distraction also helps ie run to the lamp post or the red car. Maybe practise in places where it’s safe first and build on it

Reins.

Thanks everyone, I’ll keep persevering with the reins and see how he gets on. Mostly stick to the pram right now but it will be good to practise having him out walking with us more

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌