Do you take your kids shopping?

Yesterday I took my LOs to Target and Kohls for a while. It was a disaster! They used to be great out in public in their stroller. They would look around at everything and be totally content. Now that they are walking they have no interest in being in the stroller for very long. (Lots of crying, even after I gave them toys, books, and a snack). I eventually let them out of the stroller at Target and they proceeded to pull sippy cups off the displays and the pull shoes out of the boxes! And then they were running in opposite directions. Another problem I had in Kohls is that I couldn't fit my double stroller down most of the aisles.

Do you take your LOs out shopping when you are by yourself? If so, how do you do it? Is this just a difficult age to take them shopping?

 

Mine do come with me for most shopping trips because I need to get out and about during the day. It gives us stuff to do. I understand your frustration. I NEVER let mine out of the stroller no matter how much they are fussing because mine would do just what yours did. They'd take off in opposite directions and wreak havoc. Part of making them stay in the stroller also helps them realize that they aren't always going to be able to do what they want to do and they need to learn the slow process of self-control by staying where I tell them to. They usually do okay. I also try not to make really long trips or do it right before naptime or when they're hungry.

We went to JcPenney's one time and they pulled down at least two racks of clothing. The sales associates thought it was funny and of course, I'm embarassed. However, they also do not make those places conducive to shopping with little kids, much less a stroller. Everything is within arms reach.

Keep taking them, even if it's short trips. They'll get used to it eventually. They go through phases.

 

We do the same as Lauren and NEVER take them out of the stroller, ever. If they are screaming and having a total fit then I just leave. I'm the same way with grovery shopping. If they have a fit in the cart I never take them out.
I think after awhile of them knowing this is the way it's going to be then it gets easier. I also don't feed them before we leave and make sure I have a lot of new yummy snacks for them to eat while I'm shopping.
GL!

 

i'm trying to be consistent with setting some ground rules with them like getting out of the stroller/cart while shopping is not an option, and unless we're in our house or yard they must hold mommy or daddy's hand. they fight it a bit but it seems harder to win the battle if i give in and let them have their way just to avoid the conflict.

i also have certain stores i'm more likely to take them to because i've scoped out the aisle widths or i know they have double-wide carts. thus we end up at home depot about 10x more often than a clothing store.

 

I don't ever take them out either and they are usually ok. They are starting to get grabby with things so I just make sure they can't reach anything and we just point to all the things in the aisle. I also don't go around naptime or lunchtime.

 

My kids have always gone shopping with me. It is what they are used to. It was hard when the twins were babies. By the end of a big grocery trip both were not in the best of moods. I do shop around their naptime and plan for one or two stores max. Oh, and I will add that if it was a grocery store, I'd feed them a banana during the trip (paying for it at the cashier) or crackers. That helped!

 

I agree with the idea of never letting them out of the strollers...because then they are going to want to get out every time. It's one thing to keep track of one child in the store, never mind two, so I say for their safetly and your sanity they need to stay in the stroller...I think they will get used to it. They might not always be happy about it, but they will come to expect it I think. It's the same thing at church..we have an area in the back where I could let them roam around if I wanted to but I try really hard not to let them do that...because then they will expect it and it will be a hard habit to break. If I have to bring them in the back, l hold them or put them in the stroller..otherwise, DISASTER!

shannon

 

So it sounds like there will be no getting out of the stroller in stores. Good to know! Rookie Mom here! :unsure:

 

I also don't let mine out of the stroller. I mostly stick to walmart, target...that sort of place (who am I kidding, there IS no other sort of place around here! :lol, and I take lots of snacks, fresh juice cups and for the most part they do pretty good. I also only try to make 2 stops at most, partly because I get tired of getting everyone in and out of the vehicle, and partly because they reach the end of their sitting patience by then. It's 45 mins to target (15 to walmart) so by the time we get there, tour around for 30-60 mins, and get home, they have been sitting for 2.5-3 hrs and are ready to RUN!

 

I am the same as PP's, I never took them out of the stroller when shopping and also made sure that they had snacks & drinks when we were out shopping.

 

I make my DH come with me. :blush:

 

I usually only go to one place per trip. I don't have a high tolerance for loading and unloading the kids. We go to Target, Costco, or the grocery. Costco has double seated carts. They seem to like sitting up higher so they can get a good view of everyone and everything. We've gone to the mall before, but I usually only go to one or two stores. I don't try to do any serious clothes shopping with them. It seems to take too long and they start going downhill quickly. So I only do 'errand' type shopping with them.
I save more time consuming shopping for after they go to bed, or on the weekends when my DH can watch them.

 

I usually only go to places that have double carts... they seem to love those things... but that is limited to Home Depot, Lowe's and Publix/grocery. Kohl's does have double carts (tandem style), but you don't know if its available... so that's a hard call to go there or not.

One thing that I didn't appreciate when shopping w/my dh was that he let my dd sit in the basket of the Target cart... then when I wanted to put her up in the front section she was not happy! try to be consistent and set limitations...

Its definitely hard... hence why I kept ours in their carriers and DSNG until over 21 months!!!

good luck.

 

At that age I avoided it if at all possible. If I had to take them I made them stay in the stroller. Costco was the best place to take them, love the double carts!

 

I've been doing it by myself since they were 8 months old. I have no choice, they have to come with me so I make sure to bring lots of "shopping only" snacks.

Lately if I'm going into a store to just look around or buy something small, I will put one in the basket and the other in the seat of the cart. Home Depot's cart is large enough for the two of them. They know they are not allow to stand.

Some of the stores near me have the double seated car carts. They love those because they have steering wheels with horns and I will ask them to help me steer the cart.

My boys are 27 months so if I need to run in somewhere I am able to skip the stroller and hold their hands.

But when they were younger there was no way I would ever let them out of the stroller while shopping.

 

Sometimes I've put one of those "booster" seats (it has a heavy bottom to it) and attach it to a grocery cart. So it goes inside the cart of course. It is secured, and they are strapped in. then I put the other one up top. I found the more hyper one did better INside the cart. this worked for quite awhile. Any double seat strollers ? Or a double "umbrella" stroller ? I have one of those cheap ones and they like it better because they can see out more.

My dh would switch them from one walks the other inside the grocery cart but that wasn't until 2 plus years of age and wow still a HUGE hastle.

I don't know really. I think I just get one or two small things when we go out and I don't expect more than that. With the baby now I'd prefer to take a toddler and the baby than both twins.

Heather

 

My two love double carts at grocery stores, costco, etc. too! At Target and places like that we do like PP and put one in the actual cart basket and one where I singleton would sit. If I am at the mall or something like that I use the stroller, but it is such a hassle getting them in and out of their seats (the whole time with them yelling down, and "han" - wanting to get down and hold my hand) that I dread having to get the stroller out too and find it so much easier just to use carts if possible!

 

I agree with everyone with the snacks, plus, what has worked better (ds usually hates the stroller) is taking them to a park to run around before we go to a store, that way they are tired and they don't mind being sitted and strolled around

 

I don't take them with me. I'd rather pay for a sitter than handle the stress (same goes with eating out). I'll take them on quick errands in the city, but I'm not leaving Manhattan with them by myself.

 

I usually take them with me (have to since I'm separated from my husband). I strap one in the seat and one sits in the basket. Yes, it is a pain. I use the shelf under the basket too to put things that I definitely don't want them to get into.

Hang in there. It's a big change now that they are little people!