leading strings

[ lee-ding ]

/ ˈli dɪŋ /

strings for leading and supporting a child learning to walk.

excessively restraining guidance: His parents tried to keep him in leading strings, but he finally married and moved away.

Origin of leading strings

First recorded in 1670–80

Its march through the country in leading-strings was curious to spectators and harassing to the aerostiers.

Up in the Clouds |R.M. Ballantyne
They persisted in the delusion that Louis Napoleon was still happy in their leading-strings.

The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville |Alexis De Tocqueville
You can break from the leading-strings of that malignant Mr. Jennings.

Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII No. 1 January 1848 |Various
"One would think I was eighteen years old and in leading-strings still, upon my word," he interrupted, with an irritated laugh.

Beyond The Rocks |Elinor Glyn

Pitt, in court dress, is making sure of his ward, for he is holding him in leading-strings.

Rowlandson the Caricaturist. First Volume |Joseph Grego