What's the best way to go to the grocery store with a 15 week old baby?

Question

I have a car seat with a shade on it but it doesn't fit in the front part of the basket. Also, her head goes forward when she falls asleep in the car (any help with that is appreciated). I've got a stroller but it is like the orange heaviest Chico stroller there is and I put it in the back of my SUV. I'm always bedazzled when I go out because I have to close the door, watch for strangers around me while I get the stroller out if I use that and get her into it. Can you please tell me your process for getting your baby before they could sit on there own or hold up their head for a trip to the store? Any details you can add would be most helpful. Thanks!

Answer 1

I have a toddler and a six month old. She is in her sling and he sits in the cart. Slings are wonderful because baby feels snug and comfortable. Mine usually sleeps during the entire shopping trip in her sling. I can keep her covered up and I can breastfeed privately. The best time to go to the store is when they are neither sleepy or hungry. Also if they are in bad mood it's usually better to reschedule  the trip.

Some grocery stores and other stores have carts with a built in baby seat for infants that can't sit up. Just wipe it down real quick with lysol wipes or cover it up with a blanket. They make inserts that go in  car seats to help support babies head.

http://www.target.com/Prop-Ease-Universa...

I have this one and love it.

Answer 2

There are shopping carts that have infant seats in them.  

I would often use the stroller and LOAD it up.  Buy a couple of clips (see the link) and you can hang a bunch of bags off them.  You can find these very inexpensive at the dollar store.

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=ht...

Answer 3

a baby wrap (hands free yay) or just your good ol' hands.  taking a kid to the store will never be easy

Answer 4

I have a car seat that attaches to the base, we just figured this out a month ago. It will clip on to the very back of the cart kind of like it would on the stroller or base. Its very handy but I find that you look a lot of cart space if you do it that way.

Answer 5

Hi,

I think the most important thing to start with is to get your baby into a good sleep routine.  I had massive problems with getting my 4 month old son to sleep.  He would just lie awake and cry for hours, then when he finally went to sleep he would wake every hour or two hours through the night and cry again!  Talk about pulling our hair out .... we were absolutely desperate for sleep!

It was a baby sleep audio program recommended by a friend that finally saved us. We followed the advice and began by creating a baby sleep routine which included bathtime, dimming of the lights, putting James into his crib, final nappy change and then lullabies. We also made recommended changes to his naps during the day and used some of the other recommended techniques. Within two weeks he was sleeping through the night most nights with just the odd night where he would just wake once!

Definitely start by creating a good baby sleep routine though and you could find that solves most of your baby sleep problems.

Good luck!

If you want to take a look, the audio program is at http://www.babysleepsolution.com

Answer 6

You can roll up towels and place them under the car seat/base to recline it more. I've seen that suggested on here several times and we wound up doing it too.

For shopping, we finally invested in a carrier. It was sooo worth it, because he gets to sit back and relax and often falls asleep. Shopping is something we'd do when he was having a bad day when he was younger and even now. A carrier will take a lot of the guess work out of shopping with your baby alone. Just park next to a cart return or carry your baby in the store with it.

And don't get me wrong, I am all for babywearing when it comes to going to the zoo or the mall, etc... but for grocery shopping, etc. the carrier worked best for us.

Answer 7

I would either walk to the grocery store with our stroller and load up the bottom part, or put him in the car seat in the main part of the grocery cart..my store also had grocery carts with infant seats. I would just bring along some wipes to wipe them down first and lay a swaddling blanket into it before putting him in it.

About falling forward. My son did this too in backwards facing... till I went to the firestation and had them reinstall my car seat. They put some hard foam under the seat so it fit right. Now that I have a convertible carseat that faces forward, we don't have that problem anymore.

Answer 8

use a sling, or a baby wrap, or whatever. then you don't take up all the room in the cart, baby gets to be close to mommy, and strangers cant touch the precious little baby.

Answer 9

Slings or front to back carriers work great but a lot of them can be really tough on your back after a while.  I have a bad back so for longer trips I have always used the carseat in the cart or in the stroller.  For me, by the time I get to the store my lil girl is usually asleep so I leave her in the car for a minute or two while I get the stroller out or get a cart.  If I have to walk away from the car for a second to get the cart make sure you lock the doors.  If there are no carts within eyesight of my car I take her out and carry her with me.  In this heat and with the world as scary as it is I wouldn't leave her alone in the car for more than a thirty seconds or so.  

If the carseat wont fit into the front of the cart you could try putting it in the cart itself (although that makes it difficult to shop).  I had that problem at one grocery store I used to frequent and I switched to a different one because they had better sized carts for the carseat.  I also usually toss the sling or the carrier in the cart too, just in case,  THat way if Avary gets fussy in the store I can toss her in there for a few minutes and still have my hands free for shopping.    I hope I helped a bit.  Good luck!

Answer 10

First of all, if you read the instruction manual that came with the car seat, it strongly discourages placing the infant carrier in the seat part of a grocery cart, so its good that you aren't doing that.  Its not safe.

Second of all, make sure the car seat base is installed properly.  Her head shouldn't be falling forward that often.  Sometimes, you must place a rolled up towel under the base so that its at the appropriate angle in relation to the seat.  Take it somewhere to have it professionally installed.  Either the hospital, fire department or police station.

As for the shopping, Try to go grocery shopping when someone can watch the baby for you.  You can take your time and enjoy an hour of alone time.  Otherwise, take baby out of the car seat and simply place her in one of those baby backpacks or slings.  You can comfortably shop while she hangs out in the comfy pouch.

Answer 11

I use a baby sling. Put sling on, put baby in sling, shop.  

Answer 12

well its 3 months .. so feed the baby before you go so that it wont be hungry . have things hanging on thre pumpkin seat handle to entertain it.and just put the car seat in the front of the cart.