To give my toddler a bit of bread?

[ChequeredPasta]

I imagine this has already been done to death, and would get the answer if I could be arsed to scroll...
At Waitrose the other day. Put a french bread stick in the trolley, which my toddler (2) saw, and started reaching for it. Told her no, to wait, but she is an untameable beast became upset. So..... I tore off the end and gave it to her BEFORE paying One of the staff saw, and gave me a stinker of a look.

Now, my Mum used to do this with us. But, my Mum's understanding of social convention is.... interesting.
WIBU?!

I never did it with my two and neither have DH or I taken anything from the shelves, eaten it then scanned the wrapper either.

Be a grown up, take some responsibility. If your child is screaming for food, they're either hungry (in which case don't take them shopping starving) or they're having a tantrum, which is annoying but not a 'need' that should be met by you behaving any way you like.

Ok so I could pop in, buy the grapes first, THEN start my shopping. But why bother when the supermarket isn’t bothered? Not gonna start doing it for your benefit.

Can't lie - I would be horrified to see this. Genuinely awful behaviour

Nobody cared about hat you think. Why dont you get a hobby or something.

LOL at horrified at a toddler eating a bit of bread. Meanwhile in the real world...

@faithinthesound
S/he was giving you a round of applause.

Ah, okay. The little emoji thingies didn't show up super clear on this screen - my bad, not yours!!

Tbf, it's not something I've given any thought to. As I said earlier, why would you go shopping with a hungry baby, then I RTFT and saw that it's more about tantrums than hunger. I'd like to think I'll never have to do this. I was never allowed as a child and got a thorough telling off from my dad when I nibbled the French stick once so it's always been automatic that you don't eat/open anything until you leave.
I suppose until I'm actually in that position that I'll be able to say if I 'held strong' (for lack of a better term) or if I 'gave in' and used whatever means I had at my disposal to end the tantrum.

I'm more horrified that a PP further up fed her child olives. Olives are rank!!

I suppose if you don’t mind being viewed as a lazy and entitled parent then batter on.

It’s stuff like this that helps you see why so many kids are fat. Can’t be bothered? Feed it’s face to shut it up

There is an actual right answer to this. Sorry to say to all the pearl clutchers out there but eating 'set priced items' ( those not priced by weight) is NOT theft.

To be prosecuted for theft in the U.K. Under the theft Act (1968 ) two criteria must be present.

1.	Taking possession of an item being offered for sale, and
2.	The <a class="break-all" href="http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-law-basics/mens-rea-a-defendant-s-mental-state.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">intent to permanently deprive</a> the item's rightful owner (the supermarket in this case), without paying for it.

The essential word here is intent.
Intent is evidential at the checkout. You eat a bag of crisps and pay for the empty packet. No intent. Not theft.

You put your crisp packet in your pocket. Do not pay. Clear intent to deprive . This is theft.

Weighed goods that you eat before getting to the checkout. There is no intent to pay as the item can no longer be weighed. This is theft.

So eating priced goods on the way round is not illegal. Carry on if that is what you wish to do.
Don't sneak grapes, jellybeans from the pic n mix. That is theft.

As long as your toddler is not nibbling on the breadstick in my trolley, it wouldn't bother me.

I think there needs to be some sort of hidden camera show that follows holier than thou mothers around -

1. Catches them being holier than thou about other mothers and the way they are raising their children/dealing with tantrums
2. Follows those same mothers when their own children throw tantrums and makes a point of seeing how they deal with them, since they're such experts who would never stoop this sort of dreadful behavior.

Even money says for every holier-than-thou mother "well I never-ing", there's a child tantruming just at the wrong moment to make that mother look like a hypocritical fool.

Some Tesco's give out free fruit which I think is fab, I have however given a banana (prepackaged) in other stores when we've delayed and in the supermarket close to meal time.

Pengggwn

Can't lie - I would be horrified to see this. Genuinely awful behaviour.

Can't lie, I find your melodramatic overreaction to my perfectly reasonable behaviour faintly amusing.

faith spot on.

I suspect half of them don't even have children anyway. Everyone is a perfect mother before they have children.

Sometimes my toddler has a random second nap on the way to the supermarket. Totally random. I won't have taken a snack because he just had lunch but when he eventually wakes up he is hungry. Luckily we are in a supermarket at this point and I can weigh a bunch of bananas, put the sticker on the bag and then give him one. Happy child, and other customers don't have to listen to him getting upset.

Presumably I should wake him up to avoid him getting hungry (causing unresolvable upset around the shop as he is simply tired) or I should teach him a lesson and let him be hungry as we go round because that way he might learn not to get tired again.

Or even better just go home and try again a whole other day, as we all have time for that.

I mean I know the mothers on here will have a bag full of healthy homemade snacks for this very eventuality. They will never get stressed putting a baby and a toddler in the car along with the mountains of stuff that goes with that, so they won't ever forget to bring their snacks. Therefore there will always be snacks available on demand, except the children won't actually be allowed to eat them because that's how kids get fat and entitled dontcha know.

God I've realised what a bad mother I must be. I don't think I'm a fit parent. I let my child eat when they are hungry. Even if it's not a set time and they aren't strapped down in a high chair with a wipe clean mat on the floor with me hovering nearby clutching a bottle of dettol.

Jenala and Faith you are both spot on!

Do it all the time, if it's not a weighted item, not a problem and who cares what other people think, it goes through the till and is paid for.

Tesco do free fruit which is a great idea!

Do it all the time here.

For those saying you know when your child should be hungry, of course we know. I’ve been shopping and thought ohh that looks good, for toddlers, I suspect it’s the novelty of getting something there rather than bringing snack for them. My daughter is partial to breadsticks, if I brought a packet of breadsticks in from home for her, she wouldn’t be fussed, see them on the shelf in Sainsbury’s, different matter! I’d rather her eat something and be occupied that causing chaos and winging.

It’s not that long ago that eating while walking was seen as common - we certainly weren’t allowed to eat in the streets in school uniform.

Personally I think eating while you go round the shop just shows a lack of self control (for adults and kids) and is proper scummy behaviour. Plus it’s one of those “where do you draw the line” situations.

Are people allowed to eat chicken legs as they shop? Sandwiches?

Probably the same oinkers that can’t wait to eat until they have paid in the chippy or Maccie D’s As well

Right - quick legal lesson... theft is:

(1) appropriation (includes eating)
(2) of property (a French stick is property)
(3) belonging to another (at the time of eating it does belong to the supermarket
(4)with the intention to permanently deprive

Number 4 is the reason this isn't theft and would never actually be prosecuted, provided that the adult intends to pay at the check out and does so (lost wallets etc and having to return later aside of course).

Oops crossed post with kittens!!