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  1. #11
    sugarsnappea Guest

    Default RE: Won't stay in the stroller / shopping cart anymore!

    We started having this problem a few months ago with shopping carts. Yikes! I think (hope) it is a phase. The only solution I have found is to use the comfy strap (that padded seatbelt thing) and secure her tight. She is not happy for a few minutes but decides it isn't worth it to put up a fight. However, I still have to shop very quickly and sing every children's song in the book... I hope this doesn't last too much longer for you. :)


  2. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
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    Default RE: Won't stay in the stroller / shopping cart anymore!

    Hello! Jada is 20 months, and when I had trouble with her in the shopping cart, I usually just gave her my purse to play with. She was fascinated by my wallet, especially when she found pictures of herself in it. :) It became a problem when she started throwing around my driver's license, etc., so now she's got her own purse which I fill with small toys and a play phone. (I have even seen a Baby's First Purse that has pretend-lipstick, compact, phone, credit card, etc.) That helps, but I usually still need to go early and hurry it up before she gets too antsy. Otherwise, I go at night when hubby can watch her.

    Have you read "How to Behave so your children(or preschooler) will, too!" by Sal Severe? In it, he gives an example of being proactive with a 4-year-old while shopping. Our kids may be too young for this, but you could try it. The mom started out small by going on short trips to the conveniece store with the child. Before they left the house, she would explain how she wanted him to behave, where they were going, and what they were going to buy. She would give him the shopping list of 3-4 items and, at the bottom, a treat for him, such as cookies. She would ask him what he wanted to put on the list. He would hold the list while they shopped, which gave him ownership and something to do, as well as some control. As they got each item, he would cross it off the list. If he did a good job, he could choose the cookies. The mom would be generous with appreciation and encouragement while they shopped. Gradually, she could increase the time she shopped and go to a real grocery store. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Not sure how it works in real life, though! :)

    -Lydia
    mom to Jada, 12/31/01

  3. #13
    luvbeinmama Guest

    Default RE: Won't stay in the stroller / shopping cart anymore!

    Well, DS is 3-1/2 now and he still doesn't care to sit in the stroller or cart. Here's what I do. If we are going into a store where I KNOW he will get into too much trouble, or there are lots of little "fun" things, I explain to him that there are too many dangerous/fragile/whatever things in this store and he has to stay in the cart. OR at Costco I tell him he has to be in the cart so he doesn't get lost because it's too huge a store and too many people in the store. OR, at the entrance I tell him to not touch anything or he will go into the cart! The threat of going into the cart is usually enough to keep him on pretty good behavior (not perfect, but good enough for me anyway). At the grocery store or Target, he likes the special carts with the extra seats or "car" seating. He has pushed the kids cart around the grocery store a couple times, but that usually gets old about half-way through and I end up pushing a tiny cart or putting it back. A big bonus now that DD is old enough that she is sitting in the carts, is that sometimes it's enough that she will be sitting next to him! The other day, we ASKED him if he wanted to sit next to DD (after he said he wanted to walk), and he said YES!! (and so did I... inside!)

    I don't think it ends, but it can be manageable if you are consistent in the options you offer, and if you keep explaining things to them. Talk, talk, talk. I find the more I explain to him, the more manageable he is.

    HTH!

  4. #14
    megsmom Guest

    Default RE: Won't stay in the stroller / shopping cart anymore!

    Feel grateful that Sarah ever liked the stroller, shopping cart! :/ You always know how Meg has liked any form of enforced sitting. This is why I probably never caught the stroller bug that most of you did and why I have never been a mall cruiser since Meg has been born.

    I do still have times when I need her to sit in the shopping cart and stroller and I have a few tricks that work for me to ensure a tantrum free trip. In the car, we always review Meg's rules of behavior but I then add "In this store you have to ride in the cart and stay in." My cheerios dispensor has made many a happy trip along with Meg remembering my list and trying to spot the item in the aisles before me. Maybe this makes me a bad Mommy, but Meg and I usually head first to the toy section at Target, pick out some sort of annoying electronic toy for her to play with, I do some shopping and we go back and switch toys when she gets bored. At the end if she does "good shopping rules" I let her get out and look at her beloved Thomas trains. She gets a countdown of 5 min, 3 min, etc. until she must go back in the cart to check out.

    If Scott is along with me, we let Meg out and one of us walks around with her. She loves the Keebler elf display at the grocery store and generally plays there the whole time with her dad while I shop.

    I don't know what I'm going to do once I have two to schlep around. My husband thinks it has to be true that our next child will LOVE the stroller, car seat, shopping cart, etc.

    Jen
    mom to Meghan 7/13/01
    and #2 EDD 11/12/03

  5. #15
    Piglet is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
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    Canada
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    3,903

    Default RE: Won't stay in the stroller / shopping cart anymore!

    I have a few thoughts, but they might not be popular. DS is 2 and has never been a good shopper either. He got better for a little while, but not to the point that shopping by myself was ever enjoyable.

    Here's the unpopular bit -- I actually liked that op-ed piece in the New York Times that said that we should let our children explore and not plop them in a stroller all the time. I agree that with respect to safety (i.e. - when there are other carts around) or sanity (i.e. - when you have 2, or when you are surrounded by fragile things) toddlers should be in strollers. However, I find I sometimes have so much more fun shopping at DS's pace.

    My suggestion -- yesterday we went to the mall and I put DS in the stroller to start -- that lasted for a very short time, so I took him out and said that he can walk as long as he walks with me and the stroller. He walked a bit and then veered off. I immediately picked him up and told him he couldn't walk by himself if he didn't walk with the stroller and me. This continued a bit and then he veered off again. Again I told him the rules, but this time I told him he would go in the stroller if he didn't walk with me. I laid out the rules and he was quite good at following them. Once he stepped out of bounds for a 3rd time, I put him in the stroller. He protested a bit and then I told him he would ride for a little while and then he could play in the center court of the mall when we were done. I actually managed a good deal of time in the Gap with him and a walk through most of the mall. When he finally got his chance to play in the center court he was full of energy and played really well (his play consists of finding every colored tile and jumping off it with his t-shirt pulled up to his chin... don't ask, LOL).

    I am a big fan of letting kids walk as much as possible. I love the strollers and all, but I don't want to impose that DS must sit in one if he can walk. How else will he learn to walk around a mall with me? I can't keep him in a stroller forever, so this is the time for us to take "trial runs" of walking and making sure that he knows the rules for the future, just like potty training, eating, you name it.


    Mommy to:

    DS1 07/2001
    DS2 03/2005

    DD1 05/2007

    DD2 03/2014

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