Grocery shopping with a stroller and not a shopping cart

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I accidentally did shoplift a thing of milk from the giant around the corner when my kiddo decided she wanted out of the jogging stroller I'd pushed her there in and went running out the door before I made it to the register. I felt bad, but I had to chase after her so she didn 't run into the parking lot.

But, no, I don't generally think people are thinking anyone pushing a kid in a stroller is shoplifting. I liked walking to the shopping center in our neighborhood to get the small items we needed. They fit in the basket, I'd pay at the self-pay and walk home. I got exercise and errands done

Okay, what's the rest of the story? You put your DD back in the jogging stroller (those things are huge, why would you take that into a grocery store?) and bought the milk? You took it home and drank it, left it outside the store, went back the next day and explained and paid for it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because you are. Put the kid in the cart. Not hard.

Thanks, I had twins. Other than Sam's Club the supermarkets didn't have two-seat options for two children and I couldn't use them for the first several months anyway until the kids could hold their heads up reliably. I also often walked to the grocery store. What was I supposed to do? Move them to the shopping cart and then abandon my double stroller?

I put all my goods into the basket under the double stroller, went to the checkout and unloaded all the items onto the belt and when they were bagged, put them back under the stroller. No one ever had an issue with this IRL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I accidentally did shoplift a thing of milk from the giant around the corner when my kiddo decided she wanted out of the jogging stroller I'd pushed her there in and went running out the door before I made it to the register. I felt bad, but I had to chase after her so she didn 't run into the parking lot.

But, no, I don't generally think people are thinking anyone pushing a kid in a stroller is shoplifting. I liked walking to the shopping center in our neighborhood to get the small items we needed. They fit in the basket, I'd pay at the self-pay and walk home. I got exercise and errands done

You don't have to be pushing a stroller to do this. I sometimes go shopping with my reusable shopping bags and just put everything in the bags, then unload at the counter and repack after things were rung up. I had one day that I was shopping, did this and managed to miss a small item that cost around $6. I got back to the car and did the spot check of my receipt as I usually do and the item wasn't listed, so I looked through the bag and found it. I then walked back into the store and told the cashier that I had an item that didn't get rung up. The cashier at the Target looked at me like I was an alien holding some alien ray gun pointed at her head. She even asked why I came back? And I said I hadn't paid for it and wasn't going to steal it. She rung it up, but obviously thought I was crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you feel like people look at you as if you are shoplifting when you do this?

Ha! That never even occurred to me. When DD is insisting on her stroller, and her stroller has a five-point harness, it's not a difficult choice to make when my goal is to get through the shopping trip with my groceries, my child, and my sanity.

Today, without my child and caught without a shopping cart and an arm full of stuff, I pulled out my reusable shopping bag, filled it, and toted it around while I walked the store. No one thought I was shoplifting today either, and I was way more suspicious.

[Anonymous]

I honestly in that moment forgot about it because she was running fast out the door. I can't remember if I went back and paid for it later-It was years ago. I do remember thinking "oh, shit, the milk" at some point, but my child's safety was what had me more concerned.

I used the jogging stroller as our walking around our neighborhood stroller. Those walks occasionally included stops at the grocery store, or the Starbucks, or the restaurants in the shopping center. My umbrella stroller generally stayed on my car and I only used it for trips to the mall or anyplace I had to take my car to. This really isn't that unusual. Do people who live in the city park their stroller out front and always grab a cart? I doubt it.

[Anonymous]

Ha, I did at the beginning, but two years later, don't think twice about it. Where would you put a stroller if you were going to put the kid in the cart? Lock it up outside? (I guess you could do this, but it would seem equally weird to me...) Early on I did attempt to put a hand basket on top of the stroller, but quickly realized that was idiotic, and no one cared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do it all the time. No one ever says anything.

I do it without a kid in tow and no one ever gives me a second glance, so I really wouldn't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

Wait serious question as a FTM. People think an infant should be put in the cart? I almost always shop with him in his stroller bc he doesn't seem to like being in the baby carrier inside. Once he can sit up I'll put him in the cart, but for now ? Just when I think I have figured something out... So confused.

[Anonymous]

I don't, but I do not see how you can grocery shop w/a stroller unless you are only going to purchase one very tiny thing such as a pack of gum, etc.

[Anonymous]

I always WANT to put the items in a reusable shopping tote on my shoulder when I have the stroller, but never what people to think I'm shop lifting. Lol. I shop with the stroller because sometimes I walk to the store or end up there unplanned while walking.

[Anonymous]

I know this is a non sequitur, but FTM, I never owned a stroller and we use a granny cart + baby wearing (Moby, mei tai, Ergo, sling, whatever). Really, really easy.

Of course, you can also baby wear and use the regular grocery cart, but I add this because I'm always hearing people who live in the city say they have a giant, expensive stroller because it doubles as a shopping cart/food transportation system for urban pedestrians, per the OP. I don't know why the Ergo-etc./granny cart combo (cheaper, more flexible) isn't more popular with city-dwellers without back problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't, but I do not see how you can grocery shop w/a stroller unless you are only going to purchase one very tiny thing such as a pack of gum, etc.

I use the storage area of the stroller plus a reusable grocery bag on a hook from the stroller handle. Ends up being 2-3 bags of groceries which can cover protein and veggies for the week, plus a few starches or pantry items. I actually like it because it prevents most whimsical/impulse purchases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't, but I do not see how you can grocery shop w/a stroller unless you are only going to purchase one very tiny thing such as a pack of gum, etc.

You need an UBV!

[Anonymous]

I walk our twins to the grocery store and put the groceries in the stroller storage and a backpack. I use the handheld scanner, but do feel somewhat self conscious walking through the aisles stuffing things in my backpack.

[Anonymous]

I do it all the time. Especially proper to baby sitting up. I have two kids. I needed my baby to be safely seated. Never felt like I was shop lifting and didn't cross my mind bc I wasn't.

Nobody said a thing to me.

By the time my baby sat well I used a cart. Occasionally a along if baby was very young and I needed a huge load if groceries. Either way never occurred that I looked suspicious. Its hard or maneuver with a baby who doesn't sit.