Sweets at checkouts in shops

[PracticallyPerfect]

My toddler will often try to grab sweets and if my attention is on paying at the till she has sometimes been sucessful at gaining entry to something she shouldn't have. I usually tell her immediately that she can't have it and hand it over to the cashier with apologies. Should I be paying for the damage to the shop's stock or is it the shop's acceptable loss that they should bear for putting sweets tempting low and at till points?

push her in front of you and therefore in front of the till so it's out of reach? (If she's in a pushchair)? Give her something big to hold so she doesn't have a hand free? ) or get her to stand on the other side of you if she's walking? Make a point of noting where the sweets are as you go to the till and make sure she's not in the right position to grab?

But yes, it's bloody annoying when they have them there.

Keep her in the trolley. My DS is 3 and a half and I often put him in the trolley just for that bit of the shopping trip!

if they want to put the chocolate deliberately within the reach of toddlers, they have to put up with a few opened packs i reckon

Go through the sweet free checkout?

All good suggestions for managing my DD. Thanks. I just wonder if it is wrong not to pay for the opened things she manages to get hold of. I suppose I do feel responsible and guilty for not doing so, but also resent the deliberate placement of sweets at small child level.

i think if you have been careless and not supervising her adequately then you should pay
if however you are doing your best to supervise her, but are distracted by the whole business of paying and packing, and get caught out by the fact they have put small delicious brightly coloured food directly in the line of her sight, and within easy reach, then i don't think you need to worry

Thing is, depending on how you position your trolley, and how vigilant you are, she could grab almost anything on the way round. (unless you avoid the crisp aisle, biscuit aisle etc) Imo the sweets at the checkout are no different.

I have had 2 dds, both very interested in food/snacks!

Tips I use.

1. they are never allowed to eat anything they have grabbed, and dh and I never give them anything before it is paid for. It's just a rule we have always had.

1. Up to the age of 4 ish then they are allowed to take a small snack from home to eat in trolley (e.g. box of raisins, caramel rice cakes or similar)

1. They are involved in the shopping and allowed to choose treats for the week. By treats I mean individual yogurts, couple of different fruits etc. (If they choose something like a fruit corner that I wouldn't let them have loads of, then I let them have it as a one off) By the time we reach the checkout their little hands are full of "treats" such as the yogurts etc.

i think it's fairly easy to keep an eye out and avoid snatching during the rest of the shopping trip
at the checkout though, there is usually no way you can avoid them being a few inches from a display of stuff, and we all know it is deliberately designed to catch their attention and be reachable, at a time when your attention is elsewhere - it's quite hard IMO to load the conveyor belt, pack, pay and keep your children happy without getting stressed / distracted

There is an icecream van parked directly outside DD's nursery and school. Now that's annoying!!

The supermarket puts sweets there for exactly that purpose, so it's their fault I'm sure. Used to work in a supermarket and there's loads of wastage (opened things, frozen stuff left out of the freezer etc) so I wouldn't feel too guilty about not paying if I were you!