When my brother was a baby he had such severe acutr asthma that it was life threatening.
The Dr. advised that he should never be allowed to sleep face down. Plus he recomended a large wedge cushion under the crib sheet to keep his upper body higher.
The once he hit the age where he could roll over easily and such, the best way to keep him in proper position was to put the light cloth harness on him and attach it with clips to keep him from flipping over on his tummy.
There was still enough play in the straps so he could comfortably shift position as often as he wanted. He just couldn’t roll over completely.
Sure it looked a little strange, but after countless ambulance runs in the middle of the night with him gasping for breath, you learn to do whatever it takes to keep him safe.
(Unfortunately, the two selfish chain smoking parents chose to ignore the Drs. advice regarding not smoking around him. Consequently, his childhood was far more needlessly miserable than our first cousin who also had severe asthma but had parents who never smoked in their house again once the diagnosis was made.)
She outgrew her asthma by college age. He never did.
But, thanks in part to being harnessed in proper position at night, at least he didn’t die in his sleep.
So, I’m a big believer in doing whatever it takes to keep your children safe. If a harness and leash get the job done, then who cares what some judgemental stranger at the mall has to say about it? They don’t get veto power over your parenting decisions.
Unrestricted freedom only sounds good in theory.
Toddlers just don’t have the wisdom to handle unrestricted freedom. That’s why playpens and harness and leash systems were invented.
Plus, a lot of people don’t realize how downright tiring and painful it is for the child to constantly have to hold the parents hand. Think about it. How comfortable would you be after hours of walking around with one arm straight up in the air the whole time? Because of the height differential, that’s what ends up happening. No wonder the kid gets crabby.
Being harnessed allows them much more freedom of movement and comfort without being able to wander themselves into danger. Makes perfect sense.