Toddlers and shopping centres??

We've only just started, and only then because she see's others running around and gets all antsy. I'm too nervous to do it at any time other than first thing or at the end of the day near closing time (so, when the shop is near empty), but I notice todddlers Jazzy's age walking around all the time? Even some who aren't steady on their feet yet :o

When did your toddler start walking in the shops? When did you let your little one walk in the shopping centre? Do you use a strap/leash/harness or let them run free?

age jaz's age DD was still in the pram!
she started walking at the shops when DD2 came along, until then for your reasons, the pram was easier for me

Kayla still goes in the pram majority of the time. If it's a trip to the local shops, she's recently started walking (Tallon holds her other hand.. too cute) ... but shopping centres and extended shopping trips are definitely still in the pram.

We are doing more & more trips now without the pram now tho, like to the bank or post office.. and she's just learning to hold my hand. She's pretty good. And if Tallon wanders too far off or runs too far ahead she yells out "stop! wait!" LOL. I just drill into them they need to stay near me or they'll lose me haha.. We've never used harnesses or anything.

Ah phew! I was starting to wonder if we were too overprotective!!! It's usually only 5 minutes at a time LOL then back in the pram, or sling if she cries about the pram. I'm just so scared someone will come along and grab her, or hit her with a trolley or something :redface: Plus she's really s.l.o.w. :rofl:

Yesterday I almost ran over a little toddler who just plonked down right in the middle of the shopping centre! I'm scared of that happening to Jazz!

I kept mine in the pram until they were about 2 and even now i will put Riley in it for a while just to keep him out of mischief!

We stopped using the pram when dd came along. Ds has gotten really good at holding my hand and not running off. My pet hate is kids running madly around a shop. I don't know why, it just bugs me :lol:

Dd would walk for short periods say 10 min or so holding onto my hand or DS's hand when we went shopping or sitting in teh trolley.
now i hardly take the pram, she walks.
never used a harness or lead, i personally feel they look silly and i think lead adn harnesses like that are only for animals. taylah was always taught hold a hand or you get in teh pram, if she really wantedto walk she would hold onto someones hand.
she has been walked into a few times when she has tried to run away but doesnt anymore as they scared her and taught ehr its safest near mummy

We still travel with the pram everywhere. DS goes in the pram and DD will walk most of the time now, but she wears a 'leash'. Both of my kids are runners and don't listen to things like 'STOP!' so to prevent my stress and anxiety and any nasty accidents, that's how we do things. Other wise they both go into a trolley. DS strapped into the seat bit and DD sitting in the back of it.

I will DEFINITELY allow Jack to walk in the shopping centre!!!



When he doesn't fit in his stroller any more!!!!! :p HAHAHAHAHAHA

My DD is 2 next month and i can honestly count on one hand the amount of times she has been allowed to walk in a shopping centre!! And the boys only walked when they got too big for the trolley! lol

DS walks a fair bit. We bought one of the animal harnesses (the smiling face of oppression) but he hated it. He soon learnt that if he couldn't stick with us it was back in the pram or trolley.

I feel sorry for him, if we're driving to Canberra for a shopping trip he's cramped up in the car for an hour, im not about to make him sit bored in his pram. He is learning so much now so I wouldn much prefer him walk. He's good at helping pick out vegetables and yesterday he chose his own special deco for the christmas tree.

We barely used our pram, only because it was soo big and at the time i was driving a Getz... lol... yep a getz! hehe! We still mainly use a trolley, let her stand up in it. But with that said she's now a 'big girl' (or so she thinks) and wants to walk everywhere. I let her walk, but she has to either hold my hand, or hold the trolley with one hand.
At first it was hell, and i really was contemplating getting a 'lead', haha, but i agree with kawazuki - i think they're really only for animals (personal thought). So we never got one. Now she's really good, she knows she has to hold my hand, stay close, no running away etc.. but like i said - it took a while.

DS was around 2 i think. It was definately after DD came along and only on short trips. He started out on a leash. Then when i knew he wasnt going to run off, probably 6 months ago, he now just walks and holds the pram. But doing it that way with DS also meant he never faught me to get into the pram. He knew thats where he sat. DD is way too young for me to let her walk.. also in saying that, if she was out walking it would take us all day to get from one end of the shops to the other.

muz has a gold bug lead thingo the teddy bear one but if im at the shops he stays in the pram why cause he wont walk he will litrelly make u carry him the whole time

if no pram he goes in a trolley

Usually she goes in a pram or trolley, but if it's a short trip and I am not going to find it too difficult she can walk. She does toddle off and get into mischief but that is fun if you have time for it and it's not going to be too stressful. If I am going to have lots of shopping to carry or otherwise going to find it hard to chase after her if needed then the pram or the trolley it is. But she has been walking since she was 9 months so I guess she has been waiting a while for that freedom :rolleyes:

Absolute wiggle bum here, so there is often no keeping her in the pram or trolley. Fairly quiet down here though, so not too much of a worry walking with a toddler. I get DD1 to hold her hand and where I can help keep an eye on her in the supermarket.

DD is in the pram except for if we drive to the local shop & we are just getting one or 2 things with DP, then one of us will hold her hand & the other will get the shopping.
But at the major shopping centers she is always in the pram

Juliette loves to walk at the shop, but she has rules... She must hold someone's had or she is in the pram / trolley / carried. I put her down once we're in the door (no walking near cars yet) and now she automatically walks over to Zander & grabs his hand. Sometimes she lets go & I tell her "holding hands or you get carried" and she's pretty quick to hold hands again. She has run off a few times, but she's getting much better.

I've been letting DD walk for a while, but I do have a 'leash', as some have called them! For me, its piece of mind that whilst I want her to hold my hand, at least I've got another 'bit' that's attached to her if she decides to suddenly let go. I think of the reins as an additional safety measure really! Especially as I've started walking with her to the local shops (about a 5min walk), and knowing that I am going t be getting slower with my growing bump, I want to have that added control. IMO, kids can do random things, however much you teach them that they have to hold hands etc. They just don't understand the dangers of cars and roads etc, and accidents can happen with vigilent parents.

Pram. Jensen sometimes likes it, sometimes not (he's 2 tho) Hated the pram when he was 1!

Now if he wants out, he doesn't want to walk, he wants mummy to carry him... soo frustrating

DD1 is 3 and i still have her in the pram!! i really dont feel like having to sprint through the masses to catch her when she runs off!
She gets antsy when we go past those claw machine things and the rides u put a dollar into, but other than that she's generally a good girl

I have an extra large pram... I call it my car... it's an Emmalunga and will comfortably hold my youngest until he is 5... it it probably will!!! I let him walk when we are heading home but not very often in the supermarket... he runs everywhere and I just can't keep up anymore... maybe if I didn't have my Graves (disease) or were 40yo LOL He gets enough exercise... doesn't need it in the supermarket.

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I have an extra large pram... I call it my car... it's an Emmalunga

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Oooh, you lucky thing! I've always wanted an Emmaljunga but DH wouldn't let me splurge!

It's cheaper than a car ;) I don't drive. Worth every cent! It can also hold a box of Huggies nappys in it's cargo tray... there is a photo in my gallery.

Emmajunga's are awesome. I borrowed one off a mate when ds was a newborn- it was almost 20 years old and still the best pram I've ever used :)

They probably wouldn't be good if you needed to fold it down and lift it into a small car everyday though ;) They are very robust because they are made of metal (chrome coated steel) instead of mainly plastic and aluminium like most prams... but with that comes weight. I like a sturdy pram but they are not good if you have to lift them every day.

I remember now that I did take my middle child to the Show in it when he was 5yo! I'm currently using it daily for my 3yo... looks like I'll get another 2 years out of it at least.

[QUOTE=Bathsheba;2056637]They probably wouldn't be good if you needed to fold it down and lift it into a small car everyday though ;) QUOTE]

yep, that was it's only problem- it actually had to be deconstructed to fit in the car, and it was quite heavy- you couldn't just push a few buttons and fold it down, then toss it in ifywim.

Yep, that doesn't surprise me Lori. I guess there is no perfect pram... they really are like cars... you need the right one for your circumstance. Emmas are like Landrovers.... but most people need a mini for portability.

i let DD walk in shopping centers as soon as she was able to walk. She would toddle along with me right behind her. I found it a great way to burn off some energy. Now at a little over 2 she walks a lot, we too have rules, she has to hold my hand and if she runs off she's straight into the carrier or pram. Initially she always wanted to go on the rides, but now she is great, asks me first and is mostly good when i say 'maybe later'. She is pretty good in shops when we go in a say "Now what's the rule?" She says "Look but no touch mummy" :lol: Again if she touches anything i pop her in the pram.

I guess with DD2 she wont have as much free reign because i will be splitting my attention between the two and wont be able to keep as much of an eye on her.

If we are shopping on strip shops or anywhere near cars she has to hold my hand or go in the pram/carrier.

I don't let her run wild but i do find it a good opportunity to let her have a little freedom and learn a bit about rules. ;)

yep, that's the thing... when you have more than 1 child to supervise it gets harder and you have to be tougher... I let my middle child walk around more... but I don't have enough hands to hold my 6yo's hand and push the pram and hold my 3yo's hands when we are crossing the road etc.

I've been trying to let DS walk sometimes, but its never been very successful. One time he wanted to wander into every single shop. Another time he ran like a banshee through the supermarket (although that was funny- it was quiet and I let him run, he had a blast). And the other day I put him down at Bunnings and all he did was stand still and stare around at this HUGE place he was in. Seems like I always end up carrying him if I try letting him walk, so if I'm not prepared to do that, in the pram/ trolley it is!