I’m about 95% sure I saw something like this being offered for sale by a local medical supply store when I was a child in the 1960s. I was probably age seven or so at the time. I can’t remember whether I saw it in a newspaper ad or a store window display. It might have been both.

The restraint consisted of a relatively wide nylon waist belt with two nylon wrist cuffs attached to the waist belt by adjustable-length nylon straps. The idea of course is that the child will be unable to bring their hands up to their mouth.

The purpose of the restraint was to prevent thumb-sucking and/or mail-biting. I should have also added that I was quite the mail-biter at this time.

As I recall, the restraint was available with waist belts in two or three different widths.

I think my initial reaction was probably something like “I have nothing to fear. MY parents are enlightened and modern. They would never put such a thing on ME.”

(Maybe my subconscious mind was saying something different: “Are you really sure about that? What if they were thinking about it right now?”)

I mention this only because I consider this roughly analogous to the use of a chastity belt to prevent masturbation: a “solution” to a nonexistent problem.

    4 days later

    audioguy58 Despite my deep fascination with all means of restraint and numerous searches, I have never come across such a device designed for children, although of course the concept of a belt securing the wrists to the waist is an old one. Did this belt have some sort of safety device to prevent a child from undoing it?

      audioguy58 As I look now, there are special immobilizers available online, designed to prevent children from bending their elbows so that they can't reach their fingers to their mouths. That's why I'm not at all surprised that in the 1960s someone came up with the idea of tying children's hands to their waist.

      https://www.gosupps.com/media/catalog/product/cache/25/image/1500x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/6/1/61H1hxbl-YL._AC_SL1000_.jpg

          audioguy58 There are also mittens and gloves sold today that are meant to prevent nail biting, thumb sucking, and cuticle picking.

              Andrew

              Tjc

              it was never necessary for me. my grandma told me as a child that if i chewed my nails and then ate them, a tree full of nails would grow in my stomach. that really scared me as a child and stopped me from doing it any more

                    Angelina
                    My grandmother also had some rather weird stories about what would happen if I did certain things.
                    I never quite figured out if she actually believed those herself (maybe handed down over generations from her parents?) or if she invented that BS.

                        curious Or maybe someone used those lines on her when she was a kid and she wound up thinking it was a good idea.

                          curious I never quite figured out if she actually believed those herself (maybe handed down over generations from her parents?) or if she invented that BS.

                          my grandma told me many such stories as a child to teach me how to behave properly 😂

                              I think in the 1950s and before the fear was that thumb sucking would cause you teeth to come in crooked, And there weren't orthodontics to straighten them. so they were trying to save the child from dental problems.

                                If her parents denied her vaccination, that would mean she did not turn 18 before 1998 though, when Wakefield published his bullshit study on autism. Maybe she just ages very slowly.

                                  James Have to admit, that IS an EXCELLENT horror story tale.

                                  it worked, even if it is certainly no longer an appropriate form of pedagogy today 😂