Grocery Shopping with three (under two)

I’m not an expert or anything but we’ve been a few times so I thought id share with you what I’ve learned.

• Make sure your first trip is small. It can be overwhelming the first time around so just go and grab a few things. The more you do this, the more you will feel comfortable.
• Have your list ready. If you are like me and get distracted easily by sales or your kids screaming it helps a lot to have a list. That way you can hit the aisles you need to hit and don’t end up spending money that doesn’t need to be spent.
• I use two carts. One for the kids that I push and the other one I pull for groceries.
• For the little one (newborn) Try and go during their naptime. Most babies up to 6 months of age still take a morning nap. When you get to the grocery store you can just cover the car seat so its dark and I downloaded a white noise app on my phone so they don’t hear everything that is going on around them. Put your phone on do not disturb and just tuck it behind the pillow of their head. If they do end up waking, have a bottle ready so they can eat while you finish shopping. (you’d much rather let them have a “snack” then wait until the next feeding. I would any way:)
• For the toddlers- try and find a fun cart. I found one at Winn Dixie that has the steering wheels and two seats so it was perfect. I’m pretty sure that most places have these. Those wheels keep them entertained and they think they are driving.
• Bring snacks and juice. My babies like to get very messy so I placed a blanket at their feet if their snacks dropped so I could pick them all up with ease. I brought some cups of teddy grahams because they love eating out of “big people” things. That kept them busy for a minute. I had their juice next to them so they could drink it whenever they got thirsty. If they started “misbehaving”  I gave them the apple sauce in the go-go squeeze and they LOVE those.
• Try bringing a favorite (small toy) I just let mine play with my phone. If you aren’t comfortable with this then I would bring a small electronic toy to keep them entertained. Maybe a leap pad?
• Don’t freak out if it gets hectic. Just breathe, count to 10 and gain your exposure. If they start acting out and it gets bad then just grab your babies and get the heck out. Id be lying if I said I haven’t done that before.
• If everything goes just as planned and everyone was well behaved then reward them. Mine think a balloon or a ball is the greatest gift ever. I got them both a balloon (and maybe a cookie) and they knew they did something good.

You will get lots of stares and comments like “you’re brave”, “bless your heart”, and my all time favorite (NOT) “you have your hands full”. Just ignore these comments like I do:)

I hope that some of these tips help!! I am in no way in expert or have the right to tell anyone how to shop but I thought id share with you a few things I learned from our recent trips. I can tell you this…. It does get better with each trip and for every bad trip there will be a good one! hah!