Babykeeper... just hanging around...

This is a device Mommysentials is selling to restrain an older baby or toddler in a public restroom. I can see the appeal of it, after all restrooms are germy places, and some kids are born to run and will take off as soon as you sit down. But I won't be buying one of these, and I'll tell you why:

1. When I am out with an older baby or toddler, I almost always have a stroller. Bringing a stroller into the handicapped stall does the same job.
2. I have never had a kid who runs away from me in public places; if I did, I would invest in a harness (combined with discipline, of course).
3. The downfall of all of these occasional-use kid items is that they don't do you any good unless you have them with you. The advertisement claims that it's "small enough to take wherever you go", but the metal hooks have to weigh something, and since we've already established it's only useful when you don't have a stroller, that is extra weight to carry around on your shoulder. My history with this type of thing is that I carry it around for a month, never use it, and it doesn't survive the next diaper bag purge. The day after that I actually need it.
   
4. The hinges on public restroom stall doors are not designed to hold children. I'm sure most of them are up to the task (especially steel ones), but I don't want to test them this way. Particularly because not every child is going to hang there as happily and calmly as the kid in the picture.
   

I suppose that there are situations where this would be very helpful, I just don't think they're common.