UKC

Hi all,

I’m  looking to get my son his first harness. He’s been climbing a few times now and loves it and we’ve been hiring a full body harness every time we’ve been. The guy who works at the climbing wall says he’d probably go for a seat harness rather than full body but I just wanted some more advice. He’ll be 6 years old, only climbs indoors at the moment (we live in Lincolnshire, so there’s not much in the way of crags nearby!) I’d like to teach him how to belay soon for when he brings his friends along.  He measure about 55 cm from seat to the top of his shoulder, and his waist (not that he has one) is about the same. 

Most important is safety and comfort (in that order)

TIA,

Dom

My son stayed in a full body harness until he was about 9 I think, one of the problems with seat harnesses on younger children is that they are, as you say straight up and down with no waist.

It wouldn't ne hard to fall out of a sit harness if they went upside down in a fall and children's heads are proportionally larger and therefore heavier than adults.

Hi

My son also stayed in a full body harness till around 9, we were told that it was recommended that children use full body harnesses till 8 (can’t remember the exact reason, but I think it was something to do with bone development).

we had a petzl simba, which was great but we also had a spare from decathalon to use with his friends, which was a bit cheaper and fine. 

We taught our son to belay in a full body harness and it was a bit trickier but was ok.

Lou 

By 6 he will be coordinated enough not to invert, and belaying is much better in a sit harness. 

In my experience with junior climbers you can let your children toprope at a very early age as there is no real impact force. And as long as you can tighten the belt over their hips, seat harnesses are safe.  

I checked my foto library, and my son was 5 when he top roped in a full body harness and 6 when he toproped in a seat harness. 

My  6 year old wears an edelrid Finn that I got off here for a not much money ( when he outgrows it I'll sell it on here for a similar small  amount , not for another year  or two I hope ) , I used edelrid fraggles when the other two  were smaller 

https://www.edelrid.de/en/sports/sit-harnesses/finn-iii.html

i don't think there is that much to choose between all the different brands ( dmm  , wild country , petzl ) when it comes to kids harnesses . That said I think the the Finn and fraggles are really well made and will happily pass them on .

edit : I never tried but suspect it would be fiddly teaching belaying from the fraggle ( happy to be corrected btw , I just never tried ) And possibly most other body harnesses ,   The Finn is just a normal harness and mine have all learned to belay using it. 

Another option would be to get a kids sit harness and use it in conjunction with a Petzl kids chest harness which is well padded, more so than most kids full body harnesses. As your boy gets bigger you can ditch the chest harness and just use the sit harness.

https://www.urbanrock.com/petzl-body-kids-shoulder-straps/