Every parent knows how hard it is to do your grocery shopping while dealing with a fussy baby. Baby’s get overstimulated by the bright lights, the people, and everything else at the store, and become increasingly fussy, wanting nothing more than to be held and made to feel safe. So, it’s really important to know how to get your baby to nap while you shop. 

Wait for Naptime

The simplest way to do your grocery shop while your baby is napping is to plan your grocery shopping around your baby’s regular nap time, assuming one of those times is convenient for you. As a parent, you should expect your baby to take between three and five naps a day. Nap time usually takes up to two hours, giving you ample time to do your grocery shopping. So, when your baby’s nap time is approaching, make sure to get everything you will need for your shopping trip ready. 

Babywearing

Babies are at their most comfortable when they are held in their mother’s warm embrace, where they feel comfortable, safe and loved, all the ingredients for falling asleep. So, if you want to get your baby to nap, then one way to achieve this is by wearing the baby during grocery shopping. Your baby will feel right at home and fall to sleep very quickly. 

Mom Loves Best shows that there are many other benefits to babywearing. Perhaps the most directly pertinent benefit is that babies experience lower stress levels during babywearing. This is important in the overstimulating environment of a grocery store where your baby faces so many stressors. 

Drive Your Baby to Sleep

Sometimes, your schedule just does not allow you to wait for baby’s nap time, and the next best thing is to drive until the baby falls asleep. 

The combination of the car’s gentle purring, white noise and sleep deficits, make cars a very easy place to fall asleep. Naturally, if a baby spends a lot of time in a car, that baby will drift to sleep. So, if you cannot wait for nap time, then taking your baby for a drive just might do the trick. 

Feed the Baby Before Your Trip

You only need to observe a baby to know that when they have had a good meal, they start to feel sleepy and want to nap. So, if you plan your grocery shopping trip, or perhaps your trip to a Happy Mango baby boutique, for when you usually give the baby its biggest meal, your baby is likely to feel sleepy when you go to do your grocery shopping. As a guide, babies tend to have their biggest meal somewhere between late morning and the early afternoon, which is when this tactic will be most effective. 

Now, needless to say, not all babies are the same. So, you should not assume the baby will fall asleep, instead, you should look for those tell-tale signs that it is starting to feel sleepy after eating, so that you will have a decent chance at getting it to nap.