Tacymevol: How do you keep your infant from crying while shopping?
I have an 11 month old infant who has a difficult time keeping entertained while I shop. The only way I can doing any shopping is if I know exactly what I want, purchase it, and then leave immediately. Whenever I need some time to browse, my 11 month old begins to fuss and eventually begins to cry. I’ve always fed and changed her before our outings so those reasons go out the window. Is there anyway that I can keep my daughter entertained better while I’m doing errands? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Answers and Views:
Answer by northville
go at nap time. Have a neighbor come over for a while while you are out and babysit. You need a break.
We keep special snacks for our child in the diaper bag or my purse. Snacks you know she likes and perhaps some juice may help. Works for us!Answer by Dawn-Marie
give her a toy she’s never seen before and make it ‘the shopping toy’ We have one for restaurants only.Answer by raadsgirl
Grab a banana from the fruit and vege section and let her eat it…
If you really want bring one from home!!
Snack foods are the way to go!!!!Answer by cleanfreak
Try giving her a toy she can busy herself with while you shop. Or cheerios is a great option it keeps them busy for a while. Just put some in a little baggy or they have these special containers for them I always found them to work.Answer by mommy
bring a stroller. My baby needed movement and rocking. I had to rock it back and forth constantly and bring toys and snacks… some babies like the snugglies and want to be carried around the storeAnswer by ~♥~Karen~♥~
my daughters are the same way. but what i do with them is when w are at the grocery store i either pick one up at a time and let her grab an item or i jand them an item to hold. they love it. but they do get tired of holding thst item. so give them another. lol.Answer by Gaby M
lol , shove something up its mouthAnswer by shavel1116
Your daughter needs a source if entertainment. Like a musical or colorful toy. If she is distracted, you can shop quietly or at least without her crying.Answer by *Smoochiez*
I started taking my daughter out at a very young age, that way she got used to the noise and crowds and got used to finding ways of entertaining herself.
She may be bored, or just overstimulated.
Answer by lilliI had this problem I would just talk to her alot of baby talk and put her pacifier in her mouth and when she got really bad take her for a ride around the store till she started to calm down or sleep. I don’t know if your’s is still little enough to take the car seat in or not but if so do it every time she will be comfortable and toys and movement might help ease the crying. or even take some juice along and when she starts see if she will take it.Answer by newmommyy322
establish a regular nap routine and have her sleep in different places at that exact time every day. First couple of times in the crib, then the couch, then the kitchen in her swing, etc, then the carseat, then the stroller around the neighboorhood, once she’s used to that, she’ll sleep wherever you are. Unless you put her in the cart when you shop, then purchase some toys and talk to her while you shop, show her what you’re getting. Pay some attention to her so she doesnt feel bored and start to fuss. Try some kind of a carrier also. maybe she wants to be close in an unfamiliar place?Answer by Mare
There was a time where I would not go shopping with my daughter. Probably started around 10 months or so. They get bored very easily. Maybe bring toys or a snack with you. I was so frustrated one time that I went into the express lane just to get out sooner and the cashier actually had a problem with my 21 items instead of 15. As she hears my child screaming, she is tossing my items as she is ringing them up. Once I paid, I yelled” there should be an express lane just for people with screaming children”. People where looking at me like I had 5 heads. That was the first time I ever flipped out in a store and the last time I brought my daughter for almost a year.Answer by Trayc W
You poor thing she will grow up and enjoy shopping I am sure. If she is still in a pram you could put aside some “special toys” and bring them out while shopping and they should keep her entertained.
If she is walking and wont sit in her pram you could “reward” her good behaviour with a turn on one of those moving machines like a wiggles car that u insert $ 1 in or some shopping centres have like a daycare or u could hire a special trolley they are in the shape of a dinosaur or a car and push her in that.
Good luck Im sure in a couple of years you will have problems keeping her out of shops lol.Answer by lemondrop
How about getting one of those shopping cart covers-it will keep the germs away from you and baby and some of them have toys or rings to attatch toys to it. I found some here
but you can get them anywhere really. Also bring some snacks and milk or juice. Also what has really helped me is communication. Talk to your baby all the time-it will keep him entertained and make him smart too. Show him what you see in the store and point to the items. Point to the lights and do the sign for light with your hand up in the air make a fist and let go-like a blinking light. Sing songs. Sign language has really helped my baby. He is 21 months old and talks a lot and I know it’s from signing and communication. It really eases the tension. I used this DVD and he absolutely loves it.
jaymec had a very good point of going early in the morning. My baby always was better behaved when we went in the morning.
Answer by Jayme cHi
I totally feel your pain….. First remember this don’t worry about those childless people (or even parents themselves) who’ll give you dirty looks if you baby so much as cries while you are trying to shop.. They’ll get over it and ig they donn’t eventually they’ll go somewhere else. Some people seem to think they were perfect angels when they were young (yeah right!)
Babies are going to cry… even if there is nothing wrong.
Babies cry to relieve stress too. Not just when they are hungry or need to be changed or tired.
Alot of time shopping in the morning not too long after the baby has gotten up and been fed. Not too close to nap time though : )
Sometime I bring cheerios and juice. Or I let them bring a toy… Once they get sick of that I give them my keys…
Also I saw another person mention letting them hold things that you put in your basket…. I do that too!
Have you tried those soft books? some of them have teething toys on them and some have different textures… like crinklly paper in them or something squeaky in them
If a pacifier works for you then go for it! I refused to give my kids a pacifier after 6 months old… it can hinder speech development. I see some mom’s with 2 and 3 year olds that still have “binkies” and they think it’s cute that the kid can talk even with the paci in their mouth…. Little do they know it’s training the kid to talk like that… all garbled and such
But if it’s the only thing that will work then it’s up to you.
The only other thing I can think of is what I did when my daughter (I have 2 kids) was getting into the “difficult” stage
I just refused to take her with me….. If I ran out of milk.. too bad
We’d just have to wait for daddy to get home.. or I would just call him and have him get some on the way home.
Then when I had real grocery shopping to do… not just milk and eggs, I would have my husband take care of her while I shopped.
oh, I just remembered… do you have any musical toys? (what kinda question is that?) Or ones that have lights and stuff?
That always seemed to work for my 19 month old son.
He would be crying and just suddenly stop when he heard his toy. He would completely forget about WHY he was crying : )
Hope this helps!
Answer by Mommy to DavidNope, never found anything. My son outgrew this stage… when he was around that age i would leave him with daddy as much as possible.
Now, at 16 months, he does okay shopping… its just the age.
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