With the holiday season fast approaching, you may find yourself spending more and more time out shopping with your kids. And while taking them with you to get gifts and supplies for the holidays can be fun, being out in public with your kids can also be a bit scary, especially around busy times or in heavily trafficked places. Luckily, there are things that you can do to help reduce your risk of something bad happening to your kids or your family while you’re out and about.
To help you see just how this can be done, here are three tips for staying safe when out shopping with your kids.
Keep Them Safe While In The Shopping Cart
For small kids, if you’re walking around a large and busy store, the best place to keep them while shopping is in the cart. However, if you and they aren’t using the cart appropriately, they can even get hurt when you’re in this safer space.
While you don’t have to worry about your kid getting run over by another shopper or wandering off in the store if they’re in the cart, improperly being in or on the cart can result in injuries in other ways. Kids hanging off of the cart or trying to ride on the bottom shelf could get run over by your own cart if they slip off or put their hands under the wheels. Hanging off of the cart also puts it in jeopardy of falling over on them.
The safest place for children in a shopping cart is in the seat with the seat belt on. This way, they can’t jump out of their own volition and they won’t get in the way of the items you’re shopping for.
Talk About What To Do If You Get Separated
For kids who are allowed to walk on their own while on shopping trips, it’s wise to have a conversation together before you get to the store to teach them what to do if they do get separated from you.
In the event that your child turns around and can’t find you, you should have a place picked out in the store that they should go to and wait for you. You can also discuss who they can ask for help if they need it, like police officers or security guards along with workers at the store wearing a name tag. Finally, remind your kids never to leave the store without you.
Don’t Dress Them In Clothes With Their Name On It
Something that you can do to help keep your kids safe when out in public is to keep from dressing them in clothes or allowing them to have accessories with their name on it.
