When my twins were about 6 months old I braved the grocery store for the first time by myself with both of them.

It did not go well.

60 minutes later I left the store with half of our list completed, two less socks than we started with, and 2 of the 3 of us crying.

My mistake?

Well aside from trying to grocery shop with two infants, I made a lot of mistakes.

Fortunately I eventually learned. I learned to time our shopping trips. I learned how to make myself as prepared as possible. Later when they were older, I even learned how to involve them in our trips.

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Does the idea of the grocery store with kids kind of make you want to go hide in the bathroom?

Then this is for you. These tips will prepare you for that inevitable day when you load the kids up in your grocery cart, cross your fingers for smiles, and start pushing quickly towards the frozen foods section.

It also might help make the grocery store feel less like a chore and more like a little walk or adventure.

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How to Survive the Grocery Store with Kids

Let’s start with the general musts.

General Tips:

1. Time trips for when everyone, including mom, is well rested and fed
2. Have a list
3. Make a list in the general order of your store. This will save time and increase your odds of escaping the store with out a meltdown

Grocery Shopping with Babies

With babies, I recommend using a baby carrier or a stroller for grocery shopping – whichever they generally prefer.

I shopped with my twins in their double stroller for almost 3 years before they graduated to using the car carts at the grocery store. Our undercarriage area would hold an entire week’s worth of groceries and they were generally happy in their stroller seats.

Now for the fun part. Once your kid or kids get beyond the infancy stage they can start participating and little by little you mold tiny shoppers that are eventually super helpful.

As a bonus, helpful shoppers also usually equal happy shoppers.

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How Can They Help – By Age

Tiny Toddlers and Up:

• can help put fruit and veggies in bags and count with you for a little number practice.
• will enjoy holding things that you pull off the shelf. Limit this to non-breakable items and those not in a plastic bag.
• but otherwise, allow your child to hold a heavy can or shake the box of cereal. Our rule is that when they are done they should hand it to mom and say “all done!” and I am in charge of putting it in the cart.
• will feel more involved if you talk to them, read the list, and invite them to help you look for things. Ex: “We’re looking for ketchup…do you see a red bottle anywhere?”

Twos & Up:

• will be interested in helping to make the list beforehand. During breakfast, sit down with your list and pen and include them. “What would you like to eat this week?” “What kinds of fruit should we put on the list?”
• mention these things to them as you search at the store and put them in the cart and state that it was their “helpful idea”
• can use their own shopping carts at stores such as Trader Joes and Kowalski’s. This is best done with a smaller list. Discuss beforehand any rules, ex. stay near mom. walk when you push the cart. Note: with twins we either did this one on one, or we got one kiddie cart and they took turns. One got to push it down the aisle and the other got to put stuff in and then they’d trade on the next aisle. 
• At home, kids this age also start to enjoy playing “grocery store” at home too.

Preschoolers:

• can do everything above, PLUS
• can be given their own mini-shopping lists with pictures and words to reference and help find things in the store. This will take a little work on your part, but the list can include things you buy every week like milk, yogurt, bread and therefore be reprinted and reused week after week.

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