Leading strings
Encyclopedia
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, they were narrow straps of fabric
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
attached to children's clothing
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
which originally functioned as a sort of leash
Leash
A leash is a rope or similar material attached to the neck or head of an animal for restraint or control...
to keep the child from straying too far or falling as they learned to walk.
Leading strings served two functions: reducing bumps and bruises in children who are just learning to walk, and restraining young children who might injure themselves by walking or running into unsafe places. Baby walker
Baby walker
A baby walker is a device that can be used by infants who cannot walk on their own to move from one place to another. Patents have been issued for baby walkers as early as 1851. Modern baby walkers have a base made of hard plastic sitting on top of wheels and a suspended fabric seat with two leg...
s and playpen
Playpen
A playpen is a piece of furniture in which an infant or young toddler is placed to prevent self-harm when her/his parent or guardian is occupied or away. The earliest use of the word playpen cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is 1902...
s are now commonly used for this purpose, or a child harness
Child harness
A child harness is a safety restraint for walking with children...
in older children.