BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Pediatrics Shopping carts unsafe

The AAP released a statement saying shopping carts are unsafe for children, causing something lie 24k injuries per year. The association advises shopping online or hiring a sitter rather than taking the children with you.

I have had this happen, my son (20 months) fell out of a shopping cart in May. He was not hurt, thankfully. I felt like the bad parent of the year, until the pediatrician I ran him to said she had the same thing happen when she was shopping with her granddaughter the year before.

Now I am so crazy about making sure he doesn't fall out again, which usually means allowing him to eat as we shop. I don't like doing that either, but he stays inside. I do most of my grocery shopping alone, thankfully, but until the last month or two that was never possible.

meg

Hiring a sitter while you shop. In my area, that's about $10 US per hour, with a 4 hour minimum. Not gonna happen.

I hear ya! It wasn't possible for me until July when I hired the PT nanny 12 hours a week (she gets $12/hr for 4 kids but 2 of the kids pretty much take care of themselves). Now I sneak 2 hours every other week to go shopping, it's just so much easier. I still find myself running to the store in between though, I try to have my husband stop on the way home from work. I'm not hiring a sitter just so I can go to the store.

meg

Hi:

I have to say, the AAP has been known lately for making sweeping statements that don't quite apply to most families - including my own! I often wonder if the folks who draft these statements have kids of their own...just a late night musing!

That said, I read the policy statement and supporting documents today and if you take some advice with a grain of salt, the overall jist is sound. I think the bottom line is that traditional shopping carts are unsafe. If you are shopping with a small child and the store has the cozy coupe newer type, those are more safe - the child is up front "driving" and far away from the food bin. You've all seen them - they look like a Little Tykes car with a shopping cart attached.

There are also sites that sell safety harnesses to hold a child in a bit better. Here's one link that I found just now searching around - amazon had other flavors as well:
Baby Buddy

We all have to shop and often have to schlep our kids but perhaps now we'll all be a bit more careful. Working in a pediatric ER and urgent care center I've seen more than my fair share of shopping cart injuries and not all were preventable.

Here's the link to the American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement and information if any one is interested:
American Academy of Pediatrics Shopping Cart Safety Statement

Best,
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I looked at those when my son was younger. I was going to get one untill I saw a women who had to put her child on the ground to fight to get the dumb thing into the cart. I decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

Maybe if I owned my own shopping cart and I could just leave the dang thing in it...

He has fallen out of those little cars tons of times because he doesn't understand that just because he can get out doesn't mean he is suppossed to.

If we are at a store that has the carts with two seats on the front with the 5 point harness I stick him in it. Or he walks. He is my only one child so it's not a big deal for him to walk with me and "talk" about the different foods and to help me pick out what fruits and veggies he wants.

Some supermarkets have small shopping carts for kids to push. That worked well when my girls were small and I gave them their own shopping lists to put a few items in the cart. Actually, they still like pushing the cart and helping find all the items on the list - only now they are big enough to push the real cart.

In many ways, I'm surprised it has taken this long for something to be done about those carts.

$12 an hour for 4 kids? Wow, Meg, you lucked out! The $10 per hour here's only going to cover one kiddo. Costs go up by $5 for each additional munchkin. "Sitters" here really know how to work their market.

I'd pay more for a Nanny because I'd expect him/her to do more (light housekeeping, some cooking, etc., related to the kids). Sitters, nope. We provide the food, they're fun/games/supervisory staff.

Here in Massachusetts, we pay $12-15/hour for 2 kids...