AIBU to think IKEA is a top parenting hack?

[Wallasey123]

DS2 is 3 and we went to IKEA yesterday not because we needed anything but just to get out of the house (and tbh I couldn’t face soft play).

He ran around loads, looked at all the rooms, climbed on the sofas and beds and I didn’t need to be on red alert every second like I am at the park.

I don’t know why I’d never considered it as a day out before! I think when it’s too busy it’s prob not great but we went at opening time and it was great. Also obvs helps that there’s something in it for me - I get to mooch, get ideas and pretend I’m being productive.

Ofc ended up buying a few bits and pieces and hotdogs in the end but I feel like I’ve provided an enriching outing, even though I mostly just walked in circles looking at storage 😅

Any other unexpected places that are actually fun for kids AND adults (and don’t cost the earth) that I might not have considered?

Ffs. It's a shop not outsourced social work activities.

I live VERY close to an Ikea and on a rainy day the roads are chokka with families taking young kids to Ikea. Cheap feed for the family day out too.

FFS to you to.
They are just having a bit of fun - not causing any trouble (usually).
As a teen did you never go to clothes shops and try clothes on but not buy, flick through posters at HMV but not buy, look through the books at a bookshop and not buy?
(If my teen goes she usually ends up buying a load of their nice biscuits etc and yet another of the soft toys....so actually spending money)

Decathlon and IKEA are both absolute bangers for a day trip with small children - often near each other too.

yup.

I used to do this thirty years ago at the one in Leeds when it first opened. In those days it also had a ball pool where you could leave your child for half an hour with carers and you could disappear for a short break. It was drop and go. After the ball pool, we would spend aged in the child’s area, trying the wooden toys and tent beds.

hotdog treat at the end.

wonderful place.

yes to ELC and pet shops.

when mine were little id take them every feb half term as you’re limited then by the crap weather

Ha! We also have the train track in the loft 🤣 & the wooden, magnetic trains.

We were speaking about IKEA visits recently when DS1 home from uni- the arts & crafts & face-painting they'd put on in the holidays 😀, & the day when they locked down the store entrances as we couldn't find DS2 (age 3), but he was 2 metres behind us behind a display using a mop from the display to "mop the floor to help'. 🤣 I miss those days so much.

Exactly. Few minutes between ours. DNephew had an absolute ball in both a few months back.

Decathlon actually have sports equipment set up for people to try out.
My teen and her mate had a (sensibly played) game of badminton while I lay on one of the camping beds having a nap reading a book.

The crèche, yes, but running around the store which other people are using ( including people with limited mobility), absolutely not. As others have said, it is a shop, not a playground.

Why are people translating sitting on some sofas and playing with a (set up so you can try) wooden kitchen as "running around the store"?
Did the OP say her kids were running around?

@Needmorelego . In the OP, He ran around loads, .

He ran around loads, looked at all the rooms, climbed on the sofas and beds

I've heard it said that IKEA is a great outing, sounds like you had a good time.

Some garden centres are very child-friendly, also have a cafe.

Ok apologies....missed that.
But it doesn't mean in a dangerous way.
No more than some of the adults in the way they manically push the trolleys around or ram them into other people.
Some adults need to learn better behaviour in shops before I'm going to get annoyed by a happy toddler.

Also do IKEA and pet shops are great too! 😂

I have also said:
To clear things up when I say climbing and running, I don’t mean it in a bad way.
He’s 3, I’m bored of soft play and hadn’t considered IKEA as a nice place we could go together precisely because I was worried it would be too overwhelming/he might not behave. It turns out, when it’s not heaving, it’s actually lovely. He sat on chairs, he picked up cuddly toys, he pretended to cook. He was very respectful and no IKEA products, employees or other customers were bothered, hurt or damaged during our lovely day out (apart from the hotdog at the end). I’m not perfect, but I’m not that much of a knob as to let him destroy the place or annoy others.

We had a lovely day out looking at motorhomes, the sales place has hundreds and leaves them unlocked so you can look round. We started with the cheap ones and worked out way up to the hundreds of thousands ones. Wow! The kids loved looking at the different bed types :)

Fuck me, I just thought it was to hideous because people couldn’t be arsed to keep their kids under control. It never crossed my mind that people would be so selfish that they encourage their kids to treat it like a playground with absolutely no regard for anyone who actually wants to shop there.

Sounds like a right nuisance. You need to control your child, OP. Take him to soft play or a park or something. Running around, climbing on sofas and beds in a store. . . not on.

I have tried to clear this up already but I think some people just like to get annoyed at every little thing. He wasn’t going crazy, just meant having a lovely time and no one was bothered or hurt and no damage.
like when people say I’m running to the shops - not everyone is LITERALLY RUNNING

Did you make it out without having to buy a cuddly toy?
(I keep meaning to pop in and buy a meerkat because they're so sweet)
Some people are taking this thread so seriously.....
By the way if you're really brave....Lego Store. They have Lego to play with set up 🙂

Oh come on….you think if stores don’t want children climbing on their furniture that they should put signs up? Surely it’s just consideration and common sense for parents to know it’s not acceptable. Why does the blindingly obvious need to be spelt out on a sign?

@Puffalicious bless him he was trying to help!!! We used to play hide and seek in the kitchen cupboards 😂