Jan 27, 2012 Posted by Jolene on Jan 27, 2012 in Family Life, Featured Articles | 5 comments

The Solution to Amy’s Worst Nightmare

In yesterday’s post, guest blogger Amy Stout described her worst nightmare – being separated from her daughter Kylie in a crowded place. She also shared the seeds of the solution that could put her dream to rest forever. A fashionable safety harness. In this post, she explains the process of designing the halter and shows us pictures. Prepare to be impressed!

A Fashionable Safety Harness

I shared my thoughts about a fashionable harness with my mother-in-law who is a wonderful seamstress. While she was, at first, intimidated, she quickly embraced the idea and began to experiment with ways to help me create the ideas that had been forming in my mind.

This is what we came up with. We basically used a jumper pattern and created the harness to look like the top of a jumper – or basically a sleeveless shirt/tank. We used cute, breathable, fabric that could be worn with or without a shirt underneath (we didn’t want it to be uncomfortably hot or thick. We wanted it to be able to be worn underneath a jacket or coat of need be). We also used cute embellishments to enhance the design.

 

We decided to have it fasten up the back so Kylie could not easily undo it, and chose to have it snap so it was less noisy than Velcro would have been in public places.

We reinforced the side seems so they would not easily tear – even if Kylie were to pull against it in her eagerness to get somewhere or if she tried to make a run for it. We also had two connection points on each side so the force of the connection was distributed (again, protecting against tearing).

This worked fabulously! We found a tiny retractable cord with a pink handle that matched the harness. It was great to be able to give Kylie some run/breathing room while also having the capability of reeling her in/limiting the distance if the situation became crowded or dangerous.

We received so many positive comments about the harness and had many people stop us and ask us where we found it.

How About You?

Have you ever adapted a product to help keep your child safe – or even come up with your own design? I’d love to hear about it!

What are your thoughts about a safety harness? Have you ever used one? Did anyone ever approach you in public or judge you for using one? I’d love to hear your experiences, how you responded and how they processed your response.

Amy

5 Responses to “The Solution to Amy’s Worst Nightmare”

1. Nancy Woleslagle says:

   February 1, 2012 at 4:29 pm

   I love your harness. It is very cute.

   I’ve made fashionable and softer pads for my daughter’s bed rail. The plastic pads that came with the rail were starting to rip from frequent kicking. Also if Lillian was barefooted, her feet would “stick” and she could get traction to move about more in the bed. I used quilted fabric like they make purses out of to make covers to go over the existing plastic ones. The fabric is easy to wash, is softer, and Lillian can’t get traction on them. They have held up for over 2 years now.
2. Jolene says:

   February 1, 2012 at 6:02 pm

   Good to hear from you, Nancy. Thanks for leaving feedback for Amy and Christine.

   Jolene
3. Amy says:

   February 1, 2012 at 9:12 pm

   Nancy-

   Thanks for sharing. I would love to see a photo of what you made.

   We use inflatable bolsters on either side of Kylie’s bed. They are amazing. They go under her fitted sheet and, in addition to keeping her in her bed (or from falling from it), they also provide great comfort to her as she sleeps in “a hug”.

   You can see them at this link
   http://www.leapsandbounds.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=537078&cmSource=Search

   I love to hear other parent’s ideas!!
   Amy
4. Amy says:

   February 10, 2012 at 5:43 pm

   Well Y’all….we have a lot of educating to do….one of my facebook acquaintences just posted a picture of a family in the mall utilizing a safety harness for their small son. She wrote this under it….”really?!? Whenever I decide I’m ready for kids.. this would NEVER happen. Whoever invented these d$&@ leashes needs one of them Smackfest smacks to the face..”

   …..I sent her a copy of my blog post… (big sigh)
5. Jolene says:

   February 13, 2012 at 1:12 pm

   The key words are “whenever I decide I’m ready for kids,” which means her opinions will change once she does have kids! It happens all the time.

   Jolene