Dad Explains He Needs to Keep His 'Wild Child' On A Leash In Public Places

Oct 25, 2019 by apost team

A father recently sat down to explain why he and his wife made the controversial decision to put his 3-year-old daughter on a “leash” when they are in very crowded public places.

It has sparked a great debate among parents throughout the country, as many disagree with the idea of using a leash and many understand the reasoning behind it. Many parents understand how using a leash is one of the only ways to 100% guarantee their child’s safety in an extremely crowded public place.

You’ve certainly heard horror stories on the news or online of children just getting snatched up. Clint Edwards is a 34-year-old father to a darling little girl.

When Clint was growing up, he never had a father that was truly there to support him, leading him to realize that he didn’t have that core father-son relationship to look to as he began to build his own family.

That’s when he started his own blog entitled No Idea What I’m Doing and shared stories of being a brand new parent in an online community specifically designed for new parents.

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However, when Clint shared one specific practice he and his wife have decided, after much debate, to use as a parenting practice, he received a ton of negative responses. The couple decided that they wanted to use a child-leash for their daughter, only when they are in a highly crowded public place.

The leash is connected to a backpack that then buckles in front of their daughter’s chest to ensure it stays in place.

Clint and his wife clearly love and adore their three-year-old daughter, named Aspen. However, they lovingly refer to her as a ‘wild child,’ stating in his blog that she never hesitates to sprint away from them the second that she sees something that catches her eye, no matter how crowded the public place is.

Additionally, Aspen is prone to getting a pulled elbow from falling or other accidents, an injury called Nursemaid’s Elbow he told TODAY.

This means that Clint or his wife holding her arm when she tries to run away could literally lead to her elbow joint popping out, which has happened twice before. This is what led them to use a leash for the first time at Disneyland.

While they received plenty of negative looks, Clint says that knowing Aspen was 100% worth the judgmental looks from strangers.

What are your thoughts on using a leash in highly crowded areas, especially if the child has an issue with her elbow joint pulling out of its socket? Pass this along to any other parents who may have an opinion on the subject or had considered using a leash themselves.