"I grew up with the general rule that unless a grown-up said so I had to have at least PVC rain pants (bib style) and jacket on before opening the front door to go out. Only during July-August this rule was not valid. This meant that even if the sun was out I had to put it on if I did not get permission. If I asked I could for example be allowed just the pants or totally normal clothes. This applied to me and a few friends of mine from 8 to 16 years old. I also sometimes wore PVC bib pants indoors. This was the norm for school from 7 to about 13. Most of my classmates also had that. I was never really restrained, but I had a friend who was."

"My friend who was restrained: She was away for most of the summers to her cousins in Finland. We lived in a part of Sweden where there are a lot of Finnish connections since way back. I never met her cousins but she told me it was a twin couple, a girl and a boy, a year younger than her. Like us they wore a lot of PVC-covered rain wear. By the way, this material is called "Galon" in Swedish. But she told me they also wore a kind of harness. She was always very vague about it, but apparently it was only for certain situations they were used. When we were about 14 I got her to admit that she too wore a harness when she was in Finland. After her next trip she brought it home with her and showed me. We played around with it a bit and she said that it was several years ago that she really wore it. I never really believed her: I think she still had to use it when she was there. I have enclosed the two pics I have."

"As I remember the harness it was somehow held together by a padlock on one side. The loops on the other side were fixed and she first stepped into those. The loops for the other side came together at the lock. There were metal attachment points both at the back and at the front. I think that it would have been quite impossible for her to get out of it without cutting the straps."

"I suppose it would have been difficult for them to go to the loo. But if you are asking if they wore diapers I don´t know. We never talked about that. Several years before she showed me the harness she liked to play horse. She was very into it and she got me in as well. We tied ropes around our shoulders and waists (dressed as usual in PVC coveralls) and we pulled other kids on sleds in the winter or simply walked "in reins". When I got older I thought that it was too childish and embarrassing (but still a bit interesting). My friend wanted to play but I refused and after a while she didn't ask me anymore. I think it was a year later that I happened to see a snapshot of her on a leash in a stack of holiday pics. It was after that that we got talking and she brought back the harness from Finland. Yes I did try it on, but only briefly. It was too embarrassing for me."