Indian mom defends using child leash during New York trip

Shubhangi Jagota, an Indian mother living in Canada, has addressed criticism after a video of her toddler on a leash in New York City went viral.

The clip showed her 3.5-year-old son happily exploring Times Square while safely tethered to his father. Jagota explained that the leash was the best decision for their energetic child in a busy city. “He always wants freedom. This gave him that, without giving us a heart attack,” she said in an Instagram video. “We weren’t ashamed. He thought we were on the leash—he called himself the sheriff and us his captives.” Below is her post: "He’s 3.5 and we’re not ashamed to say we put him on a leash.

In a city like New York, this was hands-down the best decision for our trip. Our little runner always wants his freedom, and this gave him just that—without giving us a heart attack every 5 minutes.

He got to explore without holding hands every second. We got peace of mind knowing he wasn’t getting lost or—let’s be real—stolen.

The best part? He thought we were on the leash. He called himself the sheriff and us his captives. Honestly, everyone was winning.

We ordered a set of 2 —one 8.2 ft and one 4.92 ft. We used the longer one for NYC and it worked out perfectly."

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