Ugh it's become nearly impossible to get any sort of shopping done with my wildly independent two year old. As soon as he gets in the shopping cart it's "mama out" and when I don't take him out he stands straight up despite being buckled in. My old go-to's of distracting him with food, phone, or items in the store just aren't working anymore. Any tips? Commiseration?
-
My daughter is similar. Grocery stores with the "car" shopping carts work great for us. We've also had some success with babywearing (we have toddler sized carriers and do "piggyback rides" a lot).
-
I know people are going to think I am crazy.. but are you alone with him? And are you getting groceries or like running in to grab something at target or somewhere?
If Dh is with me when we get groceries we will get LO out and let her walk and help pick stuff off the shelf. But it takes a LOT of patience.
If it's just her and I running errands I almost always let her walk with me. For example if we are running into the grocery for one or two items or last weekend we went to pier1 and were just browsing.
Monday we were in a dept store and I let her walk, she did grab some of the purses and pants that were shelves. I just put them back.
My LO is not a runner though and shockingly she won't touch things if I say "no touch, just look"
And I don't let her walk if it's like a wegmans on a weekend or a busy place.
ETA: DD is 22 months old, and I do have some pictures to show her walking/shopping
-
Yeah I just can't take him with me. It is hell if I try.
-
Would your LO respond more to having a “job” to do, or helping in the grocery store. My LO has never loved being in the shopping cart (unless it’s one of the ones with a car/truck on the front), but she behaves herself if she has a job to do – her job is holding a veggie bag with whatever little veggie in it she wants. Usually it’s a lemon or an apple. Sure, it bounces along the floor and gets bruised up, but small price to pay (literally), for relative peace.
-
I let her ride in the basket part sometimes. I make her sit down when the cart is moving but it helps. But riding in the car carts, which I loath, is the only guarantee she will be happy.
-
@skipper2010: I'm experiencing the same thing with my lo! He refuses to sit it the seat but for a short time will sit in the basket with bribery. As soon as He wants out He's screaming and when I let him down he will run off so then I'm that mom chasing her toddler around the grocery store....its bad. I avoid the store with him as much as possible! I feel like I need to discipline in those situations but I feel uncomfortable disciplining in public or in front of other people for that matter.
-
This is going to sound crazy, but I had a terrible time with this when DS was between 12-18 months and only at Target! It was so weird! Something about their carts makes him want to get out! I didn't have a problem with it anywhere else!
Now that he's 2, he's pretty good about staying seated unless he gets bored. If he wants out, I let him out and ask him to help me push the cart.
-
When E went through a terrible phase, I wouldn't take her.
You could plan to NOT go to the store. Take him, and tell him if he doesn't sit, you will leave (after all, you're not planning on actually buying food this time). As soon as he acts up, leave the store. I bet it doesn't take long before he figures out the consequence.
Also, i take my grocery list and i categorize it. So that i'm not going back and forth across the store for things I forget. If i'm in the dairy section, I have 8 items under "dairy", I can get through the store MUCH faster if i pre-organize my list like that
-
Yeah, DS now breaks out of any cart seatbelt and refuses to sit. I've suffered through many screaming trips through Home Depot where I absolutely cannot let him walk around since it's too dangerous. On weekends we tag team and one of us runs with him while the other does the shopping but when I'm alone I either don't go or just suffer through it.
-
With my son, I found that I actually had to let him do what he wanted, meaning, walk around the store on a trip where I did no shopping just to get it out of his system and to see it's not all it is cracked up to be.
Then, I give him jobs, like hold this list, put this thing in the cart, etc.
-
I shift mine around a lot - seat, basket of cart, pushing cart, etc. and I have her involved in the shop. We talk about what we're getting, I let her pick the juice and waffles and veggies and fruit. We have little stops at things she likes like the crab and lobster tank and this dog statue. It takes about 100x longer but it works well for us!
-
I just let lo walk. It's more work and it takes longer but I figure it's a normal thing. Nobody sits in the cart forever. Eventually she decided she likes sitting in the basket part for awhile. We have gone through phases where it felt impossible to go anywhere not child centered because she was just wanting to be in everything, but it comes and goes. I admit though, one of the things I'm looking forward to with lo2 is he won't be born mobile!
-
@Ajsmommy: Any shopping! Haha! My little guy can be a runner though so letting him walk alongside me becomes a little more challenging. If I have DH with me then we tag team, but it really stresses DH out.
@travellingbee: That's kind of where I'm at right now. Shopping will have to be done solo. Stinks though because it's so much easier to get errands out of the way during the day while DH is at work.
@jh524 @Modern Daisy: It's nice to know that I'm not alone. My friends toddlers aren't nearly as active and they will either sit nicely in the carts or ask to be carried. Makes me feel like I have a wild child.
@2littlepumpkins: How old is your LO? DS just turned 2 so I'm hoping it gets easier as he gets a little older and can understand more.
@Alivoo01: OMG Target is the worst!!! That was the first cart he ever tried to escape. I wonder what's up with that....
-
@skipper2010: So you can always do what my mom did with my brother.
She put his legs in and then tied his shoe laces together. He couldn't pull his legs up and through and he learned to sit.
-
Sometimes I carry her (not now, at 38 weeks pregnant), sometimes I let her ride in the big basket part. Often, she walks, but only if she's holding on to the cart. Having her walk takes a huge amount of patience and reminders. One thing I've wanted to try is a stroller handle - we bought a SkipHop handle for our stroller, and I've considered attaching it to the cart for her to hold on to.
At the farmer's market on Saturdays, she rides in the Tula on DH's back and loves it. -
I think it's pretty common for that age group- My son just recently turned 2 and for some reason only does this in smaller stores (like craft stores or clothing stores) but for whatever reason he sits still the entire time in the cart at the grocery store.. I think he likes grocery shopping, LOL. But yes, sometimes when we go to other stores its "mama get out!" Or my favorite.. "Mama hug?" (Yeah, nice try lol)
I have once tried letting him push the cart- NEVER again. He just pushes and runs with it and runs into people, and if I even try to steer him in a different direction he starts screaming "no need help!!! I do it!"
-
@skipper2010: about to turn 3 but has been doing this since before 2. She has always been pretty verbal though!
-
@skipper2010: No idea if this will work with yours but we successfully managed this by bargaining: if you can stay in the seat in the cart until Mama is done shopping, then you can get out at the end and walk to the checkout. I make her hold my hand or hold onto the cart for the walk and it worked. Not sure if it will go as well with your runner.
-
@T.H.O.U.: this is awesome.
-
Probably not the most popular option but I always swing by the grocery store's bakery at the end of my trip and let B pick out a cookie if he behaves. There are ninja turtle gingerbread cookies that he loves so he will be on his best behavior to get one.
In Target I'm screwed. I usually end up letting him walk and subsequently hating my life for the rest of the trip.
-
My LO loves the car shopping carts and will stay in those. I can sometime distract with food or toys or my phone, but sometimes not and she will just stand up. She's a runner, and won't stay by my side. She does love the Annie's gummy bunnies, so sometimes I can bribe her with that. I've basically resorted to not taking her unless my husband is with me!
-
@Ra: Maybe popcorn at the Target counter?
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
22 comments