Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to put my son in the back of a trolley

45 replies

sodit · 30/10/2009 14:02

at our local tesco they seem to be replacing the double toddler trolley with the shite lean back baby & 1 toddler seat ones. ds1's enormous bottom barely fits in it and ds2 starts crying cos he wants to sit up then he starts annoying ds1. So ds1 goes in the bit at the back and ds2 goes in the seat and they are bribed with food. Apparently not allowed on health and safety the trolley police told me today. My only option then is to let ds1 run wild in the aisles -he has asd by the way so walking nicely with mummy aint gonna happen [hgin]. Next they will make me buy the food before they eat arrgghh!!!

OP posts:
akhems · 30/10/2009 14:06

it is dangerous, if someone jolted the trolley he could hurt himself quite badly, quite apart from the hygiene issue

nocluemum · 30/10/2009 14:15

Whats the hygeine issue? My ds who is 2.5 wont go in the seat now since my dh let him go in the trolley itself. Aparently the weight limit in the toddler seats is 15kg anyway and my lo is over that and there is no way he is going to walk nicely beside me. What is meant to be the solution other than do your shopping online so you dont ahve to go to the supermarket

LisaJasper · 30/10/2009 14:18

My local Sainsburys have done this too, it has really annoyed me as my younger ds is too big and tries to climb out of the baby seat! I've managed a couple of times with him walking/running around, but it is hard work and I can feel all the other people staring as if to say why is he running around getting in our way! I've put him in the front of the trolley a few times and never been told otherwise, I guess it isn't really that safe though, although I don't think there can be that many high speed trolly accidents! My main problem with that is my ds jumps on the food!

AKMD · 30/10/2009 14:18

Would toddler reins work? I had them when I has little and my mum got great exercise restraining me from running away! TBH I think YABU to put your older one in danger by using a seat that isn't designed to cope with his weight AND for expecting Tesco's to not take issue with your toddler's shoes, hands etc. all over a trolley in which other customers will put their food.

PoisonToadstool · 30/10/2009 14:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Tee2072 · 30/10/2009 14:22

Oh please, the hygiene argument is bullsh*t. Those trolleys stay outside in all sorts of weather. They are hardly cleaned between each use when my chicken may have leaked all over the sides or bottom and then touched your food.

I can see the safety issue of not standing in the main part, but the other argument is just bull.

thatsnotmymonster · 30/10/2009 14:24

DS (4) regularly goes in the front. I have 2 younger dd's who sit in the 2 seats in the front (3 and 1).

Luckily, ds is old enough and sensible enough to stay close but he has a really bad habit of not looking where he is going and wandering into other people's trolleys.

It is almost impossible to push with all 3 + food in it but no one has ever said anything to me!

thatsnotmymonster · 30/10/2009 14:26

The hygiene issue is a laugh!

What Tee said. ANYTHING could have been in the trolley.

Lilymaid · 30/10/2009 14:26

I think the problem is more with overbalancing the trolley - so that the trolley could fall over, injuring your DCs.

Stigaloid · 30/10/2009 14:26

Reins

thatsnotmymonster · 30/10/2009 14:27

Shopping online is one option but realistically it is not always possible.

helsbels4 · 30/10/2009 14:29

I can't bear seeing children sitting in the back of trolleys and I think the hygiene issue is valid actually!

Why should I have to put my food where other people's children's dirty shoes have been with who knows what on the bottom of them?

If your children don't fit in the seats or they can't be trusted to walk around the shop sensibly, or you can't shop without them, then shop online!!!!!

LisaJasper · 30/10/2009 14:32

I'm not sure that shopping online is a valid solution to this problem though, as if moneys is tight - it is for us-, then spending an extra £4 or whatever it costs, per week on delivery works out costly over the course of a month. However if it is such a nightmare then you could do the shopping in the evening, or poss do a shopping relay with a friend, where you have her kids while she shops and vice versa.

Original poster
sodit · 30/10/2009 14:34

i do shop online this is for the times when i have to get a few things. I take my own bags so most of the time he stands on one of them. His hands are round the bag of grapes to keep him quiet and off the dirty trolley.
He will not wear reins and will throw himself on the floor screaming we have tried. TBH he is more of a danger let loose and is at more risk being driven into or pilling glass bottles of the shelf. He is only about 16/17 kg so not that much above the weight limit and will sit in the double toddler seats for a short while but the problem is tesco are getting rid of them for the crap baby and toddler ones

OP posts:
Anifrangapani · 30/10/2009 14:36

Haha! Most food from the supermarket is so heavily wrapped that it is unlikely to touch your food. Vegetables & fruit are routinely grown in fields fertilized with slurry so is already covered in all sorts of shit.

DD managed to tip a loaded trolley over once so that could be an issue.

I find bribery works well to get them to walk alongside the trolley - be nice or no sweets.

Tee2072 · 30/10/2009 14:37

helsbels but you put your food where my, for example, possibly leaking or residue laden cleaning products have been. Or the aforementioned leaky meat packet. Those trolleys are filthy whether kids stand in them or not.

heartonsleeve · 30/10/2009 14:37

I used to work at a supermarket and was a first aider. I had to deal with children injured in toppled trolleys on more than one occasion, as the child had been in the trolley itself.

What made me even more mad was that one parent whose child had been injured this way then strated suing (sp?) the supermarket - despite there being notices about it's not safe to let children clamber all over trolleys.

I don't know what the solution should be, but I do know it's not safe.

giveloveachance · 30/10/2009 14:58

have often put lo in the back of the shopping trolley and yes i know the dangers, so I am very careful, but if I am only getting a few things its a far quicker option, I do this all the time at the tesco express where there are no baby seats in the trolleys in any case. No one has ever stopped me or said anything.

thederkinsdame · 30/10/2009 15:06

helsbels - I think you are being a bit unfair. Have you ever shopped with a child with ASD? It is difficult at the best of times. Why should the poster shop online when she may only need one thing? I don't necessarily agree with putting them in the main part of the trolley, but at the moment I'm not at that stage - I still wedge my DS in the front, or put him in the buggy. FWIW, when I take my DS (with ASD) to the supermarket on reins, invariably he manages to pull a jar or glass bottle off a shelf, so it's not always an option.

tibni · 30/10/2009 15:10

First I want to say well done for taking your children shopping.

I too have a ds with ASD and understands the value he gets out of shopping, sensory, social and educational. My ds special school includes regular supermarket shopping in the school week - lists for reading or symbols, money, walking skills, self control - no chocolate bar etc.

Talk to the supermarket and see if there is anyway they can help. Our local tesco has trolleys with a very large single seat for SEN older children - this may not suit your situation but there maybe other options. It maybe the supermarket will keep back a few trolleys of the style that suits.

Now 8 my ds walks around small supermarket trips (as long as its not tesco as he has a lift obsession!). It has been a long process and I believe if I had always taken the internet option that he would not have the social skills he does.

BertieBotts · 30/10/2009 15:31

How old is your youngest, too big for a sling? If not that could be an option. Some slings go on your back so he could see out (though you'd have to pre-empt the grabbing things off shelves issue!)

I would definitely have a word at customer services one time when they are not busy and say that you would prefer more double toddler seats. These must be the most useful anyway because you can use the seats from about 6 months.

Original poster
sodit · 30/10/2009 19:36

ds2 is 16months so too big for sling, I also believe ds1 benefits from trips out and these are short trips i would not dream of doing a weekly shop with him. He comes out of the trolley at the tills and helps me put things on the belt, waves at chechout lady etc. I will ask about the double toddler ones though as they will do for now.

OP posts:
StewieGriffinsMom · 30/10/2009 19:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

lilyjen · 30/10/2009 19:55

I let my 6 yr old sit in the trolley. I don't see the big deal. I never of thought of the hygiene issue but all food is packed in boxes, bags and packets anyway right?

famishedass · 30/10/2009 20:00

Please don't let children sit in the back of the trolley. If they stand up it could topple over

I saw a 4 year old boy get his front teeth knock out when the trolley overbalanced and smacked him in the face