0:32 - Nap time is the new happy hour!
1:08 - Stroller for strollin'
1:51 - The eyes and the wristband
2:34 - Dont talk to strangers
3:00 - Finders are not keepers
3:41 - Bring packed food from home
4:11 - Blankie doodle dee
Hi everybody. My Name is Harper Jones with Bow-Tiger, and you're watching Saturdays with Harper. Now, it is a cold and pretty wet rainy day at my place today. So this Saturday, I decided that my daughter and I would go to the mall and we're going to go see a movie. So I thought that we would talk about mall safety, or safety really while shopping with your toddler, and then just other ideas that you can keep in mind to make your experience a great one instead of one that is stressful and full of a lot of tears.
Okay, so first of all, whenever you do decide to go shopping, you'll see one of my little four-legged babies down there. Anyways, whenever you do decide to go shopping make sure that you're going shopping at a time that is good for your toddler. If they take naps really, really easily in their stroller, then you can go ahead and take them at their nap time because they will likely sleep through the entire process. Now, if they are a very light sleeper when they take their naps and they can't really be disturbed, they don't really want to be disturbed, make sure that you do not take them during nap time because what you're going to have is a very awake, cranky toddler, which will not help with your shopping experience.
The next thing that you want to do, which will sort of touch on a point that I just mentioned, bring a stroller. I know that a lot of us think, "Okay, we don't need to lug around the big stroller. It would be easier if we could just take the toddler." But really taking the stroller with you, being able to put your toddler into the stroller so you know where they are at all times, they're not trying to run off, it will be much more stress-free for you. Make sure, though, that with the stroller, you do bring drinks and you bring some food, some snacks and you also bring some toys for them to play with to keep them entertained. When you go shopping, there are a lot of just visuals everywhere, so trying to keep your child entertained will be a feat. But you can definitely do it if you bring along some of their favorite toys.
Now, while you're in the mall or while you're shopping, some of the safety issues that you want to think about is, first of all, you want to make sure that of course you keep an eye on your toddler at all times. And make sure that they are properly buckled into the stroller so they can't get out. Now, if you decide not to use the stroller with your toddler, you do want to make sure that you always have their hand or -- I know this sounds funny, but I did use it a few times with my daughter -- the wristbands. You put the wristband on yourself and a wristband on your toddler. You are still holding their hand, but in the event that they do kind of get away from you at all, you do still have a connection to them. So it does look a little funny. I wouldn't do the whole backpack thing because that's just more of a leash. But if you do the wristbands to yourself and your toddler, that's a great idea as well.
You do want to teach your toddler at a very young age not to talk to strangers. A lot of the malls, shopping centers, have play areas for kids where your toddler can go into what is supposed to be a very safe zone and play with other toddlers at the mall. You do want to make sure that you keep an eye on your toddler the entire time that they're in there. And do also keep a lookout to make sure there aren't any sort of unfamiliar or uncomfortable people just standing around.
The other thing that you want to make sure that you do, and this is kind of a funny one, it's more, I don't know if we'd really call it a safety concern. It's not necessarily a safety concern for your toddler but it could be for you. When you're going in and out of stores, make sure to check your toddler's seat. Make sure to just sort of check around you. Check your toddler themselves to make sure they have not taken any item or a piece of merchandise from the store before you walk out and that alarm sounds off. It has happened to me. I can say that did happen to me. I didn't get in a whole lot of trouble. I got a little talking to and that was it. We apologized and we returned the item. But it is an embarrassing moment, so you want to try and avoid it if possible.
The other thing that you want to do is just be reminded that when you do go to the mall, a lot of the food and different things that are available that you can purchase your child to eat, they're not really the healthiest foods. There's a lot of chocolates, there's a lot of cookies. There's a lot of fast food. So try to bring your child food from home so you can make sure that you pack healthy little lunches or healthy little snacks, like fruits and vegetables, different things like that they can munch on, so they won't be hungry and they won't want these other things and you don't have to go through that whole mess with them as well.
The other thing that you want to make sure that you do is make sure that you do bring enough clothing for your child. Even though it could possible be super hot outside, malls are typically pretty chilly. So you want to make sure that you do bring a blanket for your toddler or a comfortable sweater. Just something to keep them warm and keep their little bodies warm as well.
So anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this and I hope everybody is enjoying their Saturday as I am and I will continue to do into the afternoon. If you're watching this video on Facebook or YouTube, please be sure to check out our blog on bow-tiger.com. And we'll see you next week guys. Thanks.
