Supermarkets aren't very baby-friendly! ;(

[sadie_beth_1124]

Grrr.........
Just a little rant. The grocery store I always shopped at went out of business :( so I decided to shop at the store just down the street from it. It was a bit more expensive, but the store wasn't bad overall. Until DD got a dirty diaper. I went to the ladies' room (a 1-seater BTW) & there was NO changing table. WTF? Even Starbucks has changing tables. Seriously, WTF?!??!!
They are undergoing renovations, so I spoke to the "service manager" to see if that was one of the things they were "improving", and he looked like a deer in the headlights. No clue, I don't think he even knew what I was talking about. He said he could find out, although apparently not then. I said I'd call before I came next time, and that would determine whether I bothered to ever shiop there again. I filled out a lovely comment card but let's see if they actually care.

A few days later I went to a different store to get the stuff that was wayyyyyy rtoo expensive at the first and I went through 15 carts- FIFTEEN- before I could find one that had the child sfety strap intact. And that is hard to do when you are holding a baby in one arm. Of course I bitched to someone about that too. No comment cards, but hopefully there is a place on their website to complain.

I just don't know what the deal is? Why are grocery stores of all places making it so hard for mothers to shop? Aren't we supposed to be their bread & butter? Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of this, but I think it shows a huge lack of respect for us.
Grrrrrrrr

Rant over.

[C99]

I don't know. I remember having to go through the back room door, past the loading dock, up a set of stairs, etc. to use the restroom when I was kid and had to pee in the grocery store. So I think that stores' offering any kind of public restroom is an improvement!

I also think it's naive to believe that moms of infants or young toddlers (the only ones who would need a changing station in the middle of a grocery store trip) are grocery stores' bread and butter. Whenever I go to the grocery store, I see more people shopping without kids than with them.

I'm sorry that your local stores are not meeting your needs; I think complaining to their corporate sites is a good way of getting some improvements.

[SnuggleBuggles]

That stinks. :(

I did have an idea for you on the shopping cart thing- invest in something like a Floppy Seat or Clean Shopper.

http://www.amazon.com/Babe-Ease-163-Whimsical-Shopper/dp/B0006NDDP0/ref=sr_1_1/002-0464196-6841613?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1176758499&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Floppy-Seat-Shopping-Cart-Cover/dp/B000JOT4DG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0464196-6841613?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1176758708&sr=8-1


Or for $5.50 you could just get a simple extra strap to keep in your purse or diaper bags for high chairs and shopping carts. There were some restaurants we went to that never had working straps and I loved having my extra one to use. Very handy.
http://www.amazon.com/Dex-Juvenile-Products-Comfy-Strap/dp/B000058DQ1/ref=sr_1_9/002-0464196-6841613?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1176758570&sr=8-9

You shouldn't have to buy your own safety straps though. They really should make more of an effort to be family friendly!

Beth

[s7714]

Definitely email the corporate customer service if it's an option. I've gotten good results everytime I've done that, but I'm sure it depends on the company/stores too.

Jennifer
Mommy to
Miss Pure Energy 3/03
Miss Limit Tester 6/05

Our bones may be brittle, but our spirit is unbreakable.
Osteogenesis Imperfecta www.oif.org

[psophia17]

I do my level best to never take the kids with me when I shop, and that is why.

You can't blame the grocery store for the straps on the carts, though. When I worked as a cashier, a group of teenagers were caught destroying the straps one day. It's the store's responsibility to replace them, but you can't blame them for destroying them...

[table4three]

>I don't know. I remember having to go through the back room
>door, past the loading dock, up a set of stairs, etc. to use
>the restroom when I was kid and had to pee in the grocery
>store.

I remember having that experience, too! At a Jewel in the Chicago area! And the bathroom was pretty gross as I recall as well... ah, memories! :)

The last few times DS needed to be changed while grocery shopping, I either put it off till we got to the car (I have a crossover so I just open the back and do it there) or one time, left the cart at customer service and went out to the car and changed him (and his clothes). Not convenient, that's for sure.

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http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/p/dev230pp___.png[/img][/url]

[KrisM]

You're right about the stores not destroying the straps, but it seems like they never do any maintenence checks on the carts to see if they are intact or not. That is part of their job, I think.

[maestramommy]

We shop mostly at TJ's, and they don't have changing tables either. I'm just glad they have bathrooms. I don't think grocery stores used to. We always used to change DD in the car trunk if she had to be changed. At least it's guaranteed.

[tarabenet]

I'll add my complaint about trying to shop with a baby and a toddler. Where are you supposed to put them? I clip the baby's carseat onto the seat area, and put the toddler into the main basket. She is a trooper, but between the top/back of his bucket and that extra shelf-basket thingy, she looks pretty cramped. And of course, forget about anything more than grabbing a couple of items, since there's then no space left for the groceries. And then there's the part about keeping her seated, of course.

The "mommy carts" come in two varieties: first there's the cutesy one with the car underneath for the kiddo, but the grocery area is smaller, and there is no place for the baby seat. Then there's the super-cart with three sets of wheels that manuevers like a semi -- but it just has bench-y seats for two kids, again leaving no place for the baby seat.

I think the reason we don't see more moms with kids at the grocery store is that whenever at all possible, they leave the kids at school, with a friend or whatever they can come up with. I know SIL does!

[Melanie]

>We shop mostly at TJ's, and they don't have changing tables
>either. I'm just glad they have bathrooms. I don't think
>grocery stores used to. We always used to change DD in the car
>trunk if she had to be changed. At least it's guaranteed.

I wonder why that is, b/c I've noticed it too. It's always a nice large (usually clean) one-seater that even fits the shopping cart (no worries, I go in BEFORE I get the food), so why no drop-down changing table?

[AddiesMom]

I feel you pain. Last April we were out to buy a new car and went to Toyota and Honda showrooms at one of the largest car dealership chains in Massachusetts. Neither showroom had a changing table and both showrooms are practically brand new. Hello?!? It was a Honda and Toyota dealership... not Ferarri! People who buy them have kids!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I'd wear the baby and let the toddler have the seat. Hopefully by the time baby outgrew the carrier (you could get a great carrier that allows you to carry even a toddler hands free on your hip) your toddler will be ready to walk the whole store. That's what I would do.

Beth

[DrSally]

I actually never used a supermarket restroom until I was preggo and couldn't make it through a whole trip without going. You would think they would be better equipped given their clientele. I never get to go shopping alone b/c DH is getting his MBA as well as working full-time. I am looking forward to his graduation so I can luxuriously shop by myself!

[KrisM]

I second wearing the baby, but that only works in the warmer months. I was not about to expose DD to 10deg, even for a minute while getting her in a a carrier. Way too cold.

I don't put the infant seat on the cart as I think it is too unsafe. I put the carrier in the basket part and DS now walks. In the fall, he'd sit in the seat part and I just fit what I could around him and DD. I made more trips to the store than normal.

[DrSally]

Like the extra strap idea!

[maestramommy]

I know, isn't that strange? A handicapped access bathroom with flowers on a corner table and a nice painting. But no changing table. I wonder if they would respond to comment cards. They are usually so nice about everything else!

[tarabenet]

I think it is a fine plan, except the 5-month-old baby is already weighing in at 22 pounds, and I'm just not in shape to do that for very long. I max out at about 20-30 minutes with him in the Zolo. The 2-and-a-half year old would looooove to walk the whole store, but that is so she can grab everything off the shelves.

I really do appreciate the ideas! I don't mean to sound otherwise. I just wish my grocery store had double-wide carts like Costco's.

[MamaMolly]

I had such a similar experience it is almost creepy. Went into my newly remodled store only to discover that the ladies room has no changing table. Annoying, but what can I do?

The manager *happens* to be at the end of an aisle and comments on DD, what a cute baby, how she's looking around at everything, what does she see, etc.

Me: You know what she'd *really* like to see?

Manager: What's that?

Me: A changing table in the ladies room.

Then he goes on to tell me they decided NOT to put one in b/c the day laborers who hang out in the parking lot come in and use the toilets (like I'd be appaled or something. It is a tiolet, for goodnes sake! At least they aren't going next to/on my car!!!) and that they might DO something to the table.

Um...how ignorant and stupid is that?

I thanked him for explaining why there wasn't a table and asked him to pass along to corperate that his PAYING customers would really like to have one.

Ugh. Men. Oh, and he also mentioned he didn't have kids. Big surprise there.

[alleyoop]

Oh I remember that problem, and I feel for you! I think that was the time that I started leaving the kids with DH for bath and bed while I did the shopping.

Just remember... Grocery shopping does not equate to personal time, unless there is an iPod and chocolate bar involved!

[o_mom]

Oh, then add to that Meijer and Walmart (around here at least) where you have to freakin' PAY to use the cart where they can sit underneath. Of course it comes with a TV too....

Then the main grocery we go to has the car carts, which they love, but are broken and gross. I am fine with that because it keeps them happy, but DS1 feels the need to jump out everytime I pause and DS2 is right at shelf level. I have had to buy boxes of cereal and crackers because he grabbed them off the shelf and opened them before I noticed (he's sneaky like that).

I think we are not going at all after the baby comes.

[ktshea]

>I remember having that experience, too! At a Jewel in the
>Chicago area! And the bathroom was pretty gross as I recall
>as well... ah, memories! :)

Oh my gosh! Did we all grow up in the same place? I was just remembering the Jewel by my house and it was the same thing: up a set of metal stairs and down a dingy hallway into a yucky bathroom. Wow. Haven't thought about that in a long time...