How do you run errands with an infant

DD is 8 mos and I have always struggled with running errands with her. I feel like I can only get 1 errand done per day and I think why bother?! I would rather go alone and run my errand at night. But sometimes I need to get out so we venture out.

Overall I just think it is time consuming…in and out of the carseat…setting up the shopping cart cover (or stroller), changing diapers along the way, worrying about meals, worrying about a meltdown, worrying about the next nap, yada yada. I see so many moms out and about with their babies though and they look like they are just breezing through life. So I am curious when/how often you get out and where do you go, how many stops do you make, etc?

To answer my own question, I typically go out after her morning nap, she has lunch at home (eats slow)…I change her diaper and we leave - this all takes 20-30 minutes. By the time we drive to Target (20 min away) and get everything we need to get, etc…then it is time for another diaper change and time for her to eat again (she breastfeeds). So we do all of that in car and then head home. Now we are closing in on 2.5 hours and her next nap is rapidly approaching. She usually can't stay awake for the drive and falls asleep for 10-15 min. She does not stay asleep in the car though and will wake up after 20 minutes tops. She will not transfer into her crib either - her eyes pop open and she is up. Sometimes I will bang on the dashboard and sing to her to keep her but other times it doesn't work.

So on these days we run errands she gets a 15 min nap as her 2nd nap and has to last till bedtime. She is ok and not too cranky so I am ok with that. I am just curious what others do.

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

my son went everywhere with me. I did not live around his schedule...he adjusted to ours. We took him on an 8+ hour road trip at that age (stopped for diaper changes, to stretch the legs out and eat, get fresh air)

when i started going out more and running errands with him...it was so freeing and made me feel great to be able to just go. now that he's a walking / touching everything / throw myself on the floor if i don't want to go where you tell me to toddler...shopping is a bit harder...but he's getting way better and if he can sit in a cart it's way easier for me to get what i need to do done.

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

I love running errands with my daughter. Usually I will head out after a bottle when I know she'll nap. Most of the time she is really good when I take her places. T he only errand I never take her to s food shopping but other than that I love going places with her.

How do you run errands with an infant

My DS was a dream out of the house. We never worried about naps. He slept wherever he was. And I don't use shopping cart covers so its just in and out of the store for me. I usually don't do all day shopping trips. Never did so I usually only do 2-3 stops max.

How do you run errands with an infant

If I go out the baby naps around my schedule not hers.... but yes its still time consuming and exhaust ing

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

You have to be OK with the occasional melt down. If you don't stress about it, it relieves the pressure!

I kept trips to one stop, 3 hrs while breast feeding when I had 2 kids... But with one, I'd just feed, change and go!

If your kid goes in the baby carrier, it helps in that there is no need to transfer. I also stopped using shopping cart covers.

How do you run errands with an infant

Funny, I was just thinking yesterday how I finally don't feel stressed about times and schedules when we're out. DD is almost 14 months though! When she did two naps, I actually found it the easiest. She would wake from her first nap I would change her, bf her, and then we were out. If we stayed out for a while I would feed her a yogurt pouch on the go and maybe some crackers or cheerios. She would fall asleep on the way home usually. I would only change her diaper if she pooped, otherwise she's fine until after her nap. Nursing after naps instead of before make things easier too. My goal for the summer is to get her to nap in the stroller or pnp so we don't have to head home at nap time.

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

I never stopped anything I had to do because of his schedule. We ate out, napped wherever he fell asleep and did our thing. I really think because of that, ds can transition anytime, sleep wherever through whatever and overall goes with the flow.

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

I just do it! Sometimes I would go early in 8...target and the foodstore open early so we would just go right after their first bottle/milk. I learned to be flexible and so did they. When they were taking 2 naps I didn't mind if they skipped their second or slept in the car just for a bit, they would just go to bed earlier. If I had alot of errands I would bring a bottle and sit somewhere and feed them quick and then continue on.

Now with all 3 I still go all the time but 1 or 2 errands with in and out of the car is all I can manage usually depending on everyone's mood..me included.

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

The hard part for me is getting us all ready to go out. Once they are out they are great. I do prefer the snap n go bc its easier but Ive used the regular stroller. I fint it easier going alone than with DH b/c he complains how hard it is. It Is easier to go on my own and I do that often, but sometimes I need to go out. I actually like going out at 5p b/c they take a short nap and it alleviates pre-bedtime crankiness.

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

DS is really good when we're out and about. If it is a weekend I'll usually feed him between 10 and 11 and then head out to start our day. The diaper bag is always stocked so that gets thrown in the car and we head out. I usually pack enough bottles +1 as a back up. I just started taking him out of his car seat and putting him in the stroller but up until a few weeks ago we just put the car seat in the adapter on the stroller. If he's sleeping when we get to our destination I'll still leave him in the car seat. When we get back to the car I'll check to see if he needs to be changed and if he does I do it right in the back seat of the car and then put him back in his car seat. If he falls asleep on the way home I just transfer him from the car seat to the crib. The kid sleeps like a rock.

As for where we go... we make trips anywhere really! Outlets, grocery store, Pet Smart, the park, people's houses, the Mall, restaurants. I've never really worried about a meltdown. If it happens, it happens but so far we have been lucky!!!

How do you run errands with an infant

My dd is also 8 months. I also keep errands with her to one or two stores, for maybe an hour or two all together. She is also BF so I'm always looking at the time thinking about her next feeding. I used to think why bother also, but now I don't mind the short trips because at least they break up the day a little and I figure it gives her something to see other than just us at home. My dd is not a good napper at home and its usually a fight to get her to nap, so I actually love it when she falls asleep in her carseat, but she usually stays asleep when I carry her in. I'm not looking forward to when I have to switch her to her big carseat though because sure she won't stay asleep when I have to take her out of it....

How do you run errands with an infant

Um, I'm with u. Dd is also 8.5 months and I am envious of you moms that make it looks so easy. I'm a stickler with the schedule bc dd was a very colicky and reflux baby, and still gives me a problem with drinking. She has to nap and eat and go to bed at certain times so I work around her and I also find it very difficult. So, I feel ya!

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

it was so much easier when he was in the infant carrier since he could have just slept in there, but now i try to time the outings around his naps and make sure he eats right before we go out.

How do you run errands with an infant

My DD was always better when we were out than when we stayed hime all day. I usually left after her morning nap and just fed her a bottle while we're out if i had to. I only changed her diaper if she pooped or if she really peed a lot. I didnt use a shopping cart cover either cause it was too much of a hassle for me, so i just wiped her down after putting her back in the car. It does get a lot easier as they get older.

How do you run errands with an infant

This is exactly why I kept my DD in the infant carrier car seat until she was well past her first birthday! She could fall asleep in the car and I'd just bring the carseat inside and let her sleep there.

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

I ran out and did stuff with my DD (and DS) all the time mainly because I had no choice, I HAD to get things done. I think it's actually harder when they are younger because the feedings are so close together. Once my DD was 6 months old and holding her own bottle it was a breeze to get out and do things. I brought snacks with me and her solid meals and I would just feed her wherever we were and she fed herself the bottles. I was a stickler though for her afternoon nap so I was always home in time for that. But I found the more you go out the better you get at handling it. Of course it's easier to go alone but I managed with DD, and now both kids, in tow. For me it was either figure out a system for getting out or just stay home and I really didn't want to be trapped in the house all day.

How do you run errands with an infant

I always took my dd out with me for errands ever since she was an infant. I found it a lot easier when she was so tiny because she was asleep the whole time. I would go out for HOURS and make many stops. She slept anywhere, anytime through anything. I didnt change her diaper unless we were out for a long time and I felt she was soaked. Otherwise I only changed her for a poop diaper. I would stop when she needed a bottle give it to her in the car or if we were walking then stop by a bench where I could sit.
Now my dd is 1 and its getting harder because she wants to touch everything. But overall shes still amazing to go out with and I think its because I always took her with me everywhere from the get go. I bring toys for her to play with in the car and in her stroller. And sometimes she wakes if she falls asleep on the way home and I have to transfer othertimes she stays asleep.
She wakes has a bottle then an hour to 1.5 hours later she has breakfast and then we go out. Sometimes I go out early and spend the afternoon around the house or we go to the park and I do fun stuff for her. This way it breaks up the day and she gets to do some fun stuff too.
Even though your breastfeeding, do you pump at all? Can you give her a bottle instead? Maybe this will help. Cause there are times if dd gets hungry I just give her a bottle while Im in the store shopping.
Shopping cart covers I use and love. My dd loves sitting in the cart. Yes its a lil more time consuming then running by myself but its not so bad that it makes it not worth it for me. I cant sit home all day trapped. I would die.
Like someone else said, I got her on my schedule. I actually find my dd takes better naps when were out till this day. When were home she fights her naps cause she wants to play with her toys. lol

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

DD is 12 months and she we just put her into the convertible car seat 20 days ago.

I just suck it up and do the in and out of the car seat bit - it's my new "normal", kwim?

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

I thought it was relatively easy to run errands with an infant. We had a travel stroller system so I'd transport DS in the infant car seat to the stroller base.

Once he became a mobile toddler, it was much more difficult.

Then I had a second DS. Forget about running errands with the two of them together! When DS#2 was an infant, I would often run errands with him alone while DS played with older DS.

Now I just run errands after I drop them off at preschool, during lunch or after the boys go to bed.

How do you run errands with an infant

I cant stay home, so even if we went to only 2 places and I could get 4 done by myself, I didn't care. We go out pretty much every day unless it is down pouring. You do it a couple times and you figure out whats easy and whats not. Bring snacks, go to stores in the same vicinity, and you will get it done fast.

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

I have tried to take DS everywhere with me from the beginning. I try to leave to do things right after a bottle so I know he wll be happy, but as long as I can stop and give him a bottle where we are, then I just do what I have to do. Changing him in the back of my SUV is pretty quick, easy and painless

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

I found that I just had to get used to being very inefficient. It takes longer to do everything, you might only get 1 thing done, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Lessening your expectations also helps... there will be meltdowns, diaper changes in bizarre spots at inopportune times, and much more, but it gets easier as they get older I found. Longer between feedings, able to shove a few cheerios or pieces of fruit in their mouths on the go etc.

I also found it helpful to change where i went to run errands. If I could walk to a rite aid rather than driving to a cvs, consider it done! Switch the Target I go to that has other stuff nearby so we aren't doing the car seat shopping cart shuffle 8 times in 2 hours, absolutely. It might just be easier for you to do 1 or 2 things a day rather than expect that you wil be able to have a mega productive day.

At the very least, as each month goes by, I found it got easier and easier to go out. Now if I could just figure out how to get them into a shopping cart during a rainstorm I'll be all set myself!

How do you run errands with an infant

I dont think that theres a secret-LOL! It's hard but I just do it. Especially now that DD wants to touch everything. The only one place I dread taking her is to the supermarket! I will do that alone after DH gets home from work and she is asleep.

What I did find easier is her using her car. This may not work unless you can put your items in a basket BUT, if Im running into a store to pu a few items, I take her out and put her in her car (car with a handle that you push) and I push her in that. It saves me the trouble of using the shopping cart cover, setting up her stroller and shes entertained in it.

Message edited 6/20/2013 2:10:58 PM.

Re: How do you run errands with an infant

I time it out like you do so we're always going somewhere after a nap. I only do short errands with him. If it's something like food shopping I wait until DH is home from work and I NEVER take him clothing shopping because he has a fit pretty much as soon as we enter the mall. Typical male.