Grocery shopping with a stroller and not a shopping cart

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I once walked back into a Giant to pay for a bottle of seltzer water that I'd accidentally walked out with (child was holding onto it). They also looked at me like I had four heads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I had a big stroller and an ergo because I options. Also, the reality lugging a baby/toddler in an ergo (15-20 pounds) plus a couple bags of groceries, plus all the crap you carry with a baby for 1-2 miles is not as convienant or flexible as it sounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I did this at Target once, too, and the cashier looked at me like I had seriously lost it. We were using a grocery cart, but given all the other junk I probably had with me, like a diaper bag, random toys to keep toddler occupied, maybe a snack or sippy, it got overlooked in the cart. Unloading the cart at my car, I found it underneath the other stuff. Grumbled and cussed a bit, then packed toddler back into the cart and went into the store to pay for the item we had missed. Hopefully that's what PP did, too! Does PP's child also know how to undo the harness of the jogging stroller?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do this all the time, also w UB Vista. No one has ever said anything.

Same. It never occurred to me that peopel would think that I was stealing. I pay for the stuff before I leave the store.

[Anonymous]

No it's not shoplifting. It's called being smart and utlizing your resources. I always did this when my baby was an infant. People don't stare at you. Some of these comments are silly. You are still paying for your items. It's not shoplifting any more so than everyone bringing in their own bags and dropping their stuff in their own bags.

The cart is filthy btw. I opted to shop using my stroller than chance the encounter with 1million germs that could get my DS to the dr.

[Anonymous]

Do it all the time with my City Select stroller. No one ever says anything. But they know me at my local Giant because I am there just about every other day

[Anonymous]

In the self check out line I sometimes notice the attendant is peering over to make sure I don't have something hidden away. We walk (stroll) to the store so the stroller is how we roll... Ha! I'm hilarious!

[Anonymous]

My daughter was 2 and I didn't know she was going to bolt, for those who were wondering. She hadn't done it before.

[Anonymous]

I have a snap and go and a 6 month old and a 2.5 year old.

For those of you familiar with the snap and go you will know that it has a huge basket underneath the part where you pop the carseat into. I can easily fit about $75-$90 worth of groceries in that cart and all with my 2.5 yo in tow (walking, of course and holding on to the stroller).

The snap and go is very small/compact, even smaller than a shopping cart. It's conveniant too. As I was walking to the car with a snap and go full of groceries I actually had a guy come up to me to ask what kind of stroller and where he could get it from because it seemed very useful.

If you have an infant shopping with an easily portable type stroller like the snap and go is the way to GO!

[Anonymous]

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

I guess all the little old ladies in my urban neighborhood who own their own metal pushcarts are stealing, too.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe anyone pays attention to this kind of crap. Why would anyone care what another parent does re stroller vs a shopping cart for shopping? I used the snap and go w/ the infant seat for grocery shopping when my baby was too tiny for a carrier, either the Baby Bjorn + cart or the stroller when he was bigger and paying more attention to the world, and the cart when he could sit for an hour plus on his own. Whatever worked at the time. I never worried about whether anyone thought I was shoplifting (I don't even get that - how is putting groceries in a stroller basket any different than putting them in the cart?), or thought I was "annoying" (what is annoying about using a stroller that's no wider than a grocery cart?).

I really, really don't understand why this is an issue anyone would care about. Putting your kid's infant seat on top of a grocery cart? THAT I understand being concerned by. Seriously unsafe. Shopping with a stroller? Who cares?

[Anonymous]

We always use our vista to grocery shop!

[Anonymous]

Another former UB Vista shopper here, and I never worried about (or was accused of) theft on our weekly rounds. In fact, the ability to shop using only the stroller was one of the reasons we bought it. Obviously, this is only an advantage if you live within walking distance of your regular grocery store (we do), and it would be a bit nutty to roam the store in a giant stroller you had to shove in your car. Maybe that's why some of you find it odd? I thought it was awesome and was sad when DD got too old/big, and we had to start driving to the store.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I had a big stroller and an ergo because I options. Also, the reality lugging a baby/toddler in an ergo (15-20 pounds) plus a couple bags of groceries, plus all the crap you carry with a baby for 1-2 miles is not as convienant or flexible as it sounds.

*shrug*

Once my baby was 20 lbs, she didn't require a ton of "stuff," and the "stuff" and the bags of groceries went into the granny cart. But then, I do see a lot of people who don't know how to get their kids on their backs in an Ergo, so I can see how having them on the front feels like "lugging." No problem for me, I do it all the time. No harder IMO than pushing a stroller + wearing a backpack, and actually easier on your way to the store, when the cart is folded up.

Again, sure it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it *is* a totally viable alternative to a giant stroller for many people... Plus the granny cart carries waaay more than 1-3 bags of groceries.

[Anonymous]

Not to mention, having my kid in a carrier like an Ergo prevents the "holding baby on my hip because he insists on being held + pushing giant stroller" phenomenon that I often see.