Shopping with Toddlers

'Tis the season. While the rest of the world is engaging in "Retail Madness", I definitely won't be going anywhere near a store (or even leaving the house if I can help it). In honor of the temporary insanity that is Black Friday, I thought I would share this parent tip I came across about shopping with toddlers in tow:

Shopping fun

"When my 10 and 8 year old were toddlers, I would always put them in the shopping cart and we would first head over to the floral department to touch the balloons. We never bought a balloon, but they knew each time we came, they would have the opportunity to see the new balloons and touch any that were out. Next we headed over to the aisle with children's books and toys. I let each child pick out one thing to play with in the store. We talked about how we are borrowing the toy and need to be very careful – they always were. Then we would start shopping. When we were finished shopping, we would return to the toy/book aisle and say "good-bye" to the toys or books. There was never any screaming or demands to buy the toys because they knew the next time we were shopping; they would have the chance to pick out another toy to borrow. I rarely had problems taking my children shopping. I think they felt that I respected their need to "shop" and it was a fun event."

Cathy

Brilliant suggestions! This is a great way to deal with a trip to a huge place like Walmart or Costco. I can't say that shopping with my toddler has ever been that bad, but then again, he's an easy-going kid to begin with, and I don't insist on putting him into situations where he's likely to fail.

I don't usually try to go more than a couple of places per outing, and I don't drag him to the store when he's tired or sick, or during his accustomed meal or nap times. I keep healthy snacks in my purse, so I can sidestep the whole issue of him wanting the alluring looking things that the stores so cleverly place at toddler eye level. I give him little jobs to do to stay busy. If I'm really on top of my game, I might even schedule something fun at the end of the trip (like a stop at a park, or some other fun place that he really likes). I don't take him to places that are overwhelming, noisy, and likely to be busy (except during off-peak times of day), and try to intersperse a little "fun" into whatever we're doing. (Just the other day I was at Trader Joe's and they were playing some really fun song, so we had a mini dance party in the middle of the cereal aisle).