Toddler running away in shops - is this normal?

[londondee]

My DS is almost 2.5 yrs old. Ever since she started walking she has been difficult to take out in shops - particularly large stores, e.g. department stores, M&S etc. where there is a lot of space to run around and explore.

Sometimes in smaller stores this is not a problem, as I ask her to help me find things and put them in the basket, but big stores (where we are usually out for longer and she gets bored of holding my hand) are a problem.

I considered getting her one of those backpacks with reins, but when I looked at discussions here on MN, it seems that mums whose children have attention-deficit type issues are using them. So I am wondering if this is just a normal (very long) phase, or whether I should be considering something else else as the cause?

Buy the reins and start using them sooner rather than later. I left it too long with DS2 (who didn't really walk til nearly 3 anyway) and we have a full on meltdown every time we put them on. He's figured out how to unclip them now too so I just have to tie them shut.

At ASDA I just put him in the trolley still as he's tiny but in John Lewis yesterday it all got pretty interesting. You'd have thought we were in a cattery or something, all the cat's bum mouths I was getting. I was trying hard FFS! We were in the kids department!

This is why I only shop online

Just to mention something I found really helpful when my two were little (and my eldest was a complete bolter) - take lots of healthy snacks/drinks with you if you are keeping them in the buggy. It really does work, it seems to absorb them more than toys/books etc. Like many of my friends, I took my eldest out fo the buggy pretty early, feeling she should walk/I should be able to handle it etc - but with my second (again like so many mums I know) I was much more pragmatic and kept him in the buggy for longer to make my life easier.