UKC

Morning,

Just wondering at what age people have generally started roped climbing with children, and which harness you chose, (currently looking at petzl Ouistiti).

Thanks.

We've used Petzl and Decathlon ones for our kids.  The kids never showed any preference for one or the other, and functionally they all worked well.  I would go with whatever you can get cheapest.

What ages did they go from playground bouldering, to inside walls bouldering or top roping?

I first I got was a previous version of the edelrid fragile. It was comfortable and the new one looks like it has support at the lower back added, but the range was small and it was a pain to adjust as the leg loop was connected to the arm loop. I'd recommend going to a shop

It was a while ago, but I think they were about 4.  The key difficulty we had when they were young was finding bouldering/routes that had small enough reaches between holds.  Lots of things that are very easy for an adult proved to be difficult/impossible just because they weren't tall enough.

Slabs with lots of features were good outdoors, indoors depends on how much your local wall caters for kids but bouldering often isn't great, ripped climbing and using all colours works ok. 

Indoor or out, I'd recommend getting them very confident lowering off from low down on the wall, ours were always keen on climbing high and then refusing to put any weight on the rope to come down.  Trying to coax them down quickly gets tedious.

Our youngest was dangling in a Ouisiti from age 3. I agree, persuading them to lower off is the trickiest bit. 
We did some outdoor on our local crag, easy angled grit slabs were popular. 
 

You can have the Ousiti for the postage if you want.

I think about 3 for roped. We've done via ferrata with a 6year old as well. 

I'd second what most people say. Mine loved the instructed sessions at ClimbMewcastle which had games and fun, but then found the unstructured bouldering time a chore.

Roped walls with all colours are possibly the most enjoyable for little ones.

Outside, we've tried lobbing soft toys half way up the crag to encourage them but it didn't always work!

Also I asked for harnesses on here and the hive mind came through!

My 3 and a half year old has an Edelrid Fraggle II, which she's been using since she was about 2 and a half, maybe a bit older. She really likes it, and is able to put it on herself. I think her favorite feature is the clip in point at the back which she loves being suspended on a sling and swung back and forth.

I've taken her top roping at our wall since she was 2 and half, although just a handful of times. As others have said, you need to find a wall with lots of holds close together. I've mostly taken her to Transition Extreme at Aberdeen, which has a couple of good walls for her, with big buttons that light up and make a noise when you press them to encourage her up the wall. The only issue with these is that she will then spend the next 10 minutes pressing the button ignoring any coxing her down!

Don't expect them to be doing laps at this age. She normally has a bit of a play around, climbs a route, maybe two, then wants to go off and do something else or go to the cafe, then comes back for another climb later.

Taken out kids out since they were 3. Diffs at most and even then be prepared to provide plenty of assistance with the rope. Lowering can be tricky as they weigh so little, I use a standard belay plate and a DMM revolver at the anchor to lower the friction in the system. They don't have the balance or coordination to lower conventionally so it's just a case of letting them slide down the crag slowly! Be prepared to do very little climbing, ours have normally had enough after 3 goes max. Not done anything indoors with them.

I took them to the climbing gym, where they were around 5.