Safety Concerns

Your son must be your first priority...especially where safety is concerned. For a while I had both of my boys (one of which was a runner) on safety harnesses...for their own safety. We got these cute monkey looking ones at Walmart. I also took them daily to a very large farm to let them "run". This way I was able to train the oldest in a very safe environment when he could run and when he could not run. It worked for us.

As for your husband...you guys need to be on the same page when it comes to this stuff. Your son will pick up on the nuances in no time and try and work it to his advantage. I don't know anything about your situation, but I think therapy is always a better way than to separate immediately. I was a bit confused as to why the child would automatically go to your husband full time...but as I said I don't have all the info. Good luck with all the stuff you are obviously dealing with!!

H. Z. (SAHM 5, 4, 14 month old boys)

Sounds like a typical husband and wife. Woman tend to be more protective and men are not. My husband and I are the same way!

I'm not sure about the seperation part but you are right to be concerned about your son's safety. I would have insisted that if your son didn't hold hands or stay right next to you than he had to be in the stroller. Your son probably thougth it was funny to run from you but i would have been scared if my kids were going near a cliff.
Maybe when both of you are calm and not in a stressful situation(like chasing after your son) you can talk about your concerns and fears about his safety and then listen to your husbands view on things. It's hard my husband and i ofter argue about how to take care of our kids. It helps if we discuss things after when we are calm and not caught up in the moment and that's with anything we argue about.
Good luck

I think a lot of parents differ on this particular subject. In our house, it was the opposite, my husband was what I felt was overprotective and I tried to let them do more on their own, though it did not involve running for the cliff. THat would have scared me silly. My son was about 2 when he made a sprint for the road outside star of the sea church in Salisbury and my Mom had to tackle him while everyone watched horrified. At that age they just have no fear or sense of dangers in their environment. It's up to us to teach them what is safe. I think you might need to find some middle ground. I know a lot of people hate them, but the harnesses that kids wear seem to me to be the perfect solution to a hike like you described. You can let you son have some freedom to explore without holding his hand but you still have control over how far away he gets and you can keep him safely away from edges. As far as you and you husband go --- I think the recommendation of counseling is a sound one. You're going to have more trouble as he gets older if you constantly disagree about what he can and can't do, that sends mixed signals and causes discipline issues. I wish you the best of luck and safe travels.