Being a Mom for the first time is absolutely amazing! I love having the opportunity to teach our little angel about the world around her. She’s learning a lot with our variety of outings such as grocery shopping, Christmas shopping, dog walking and visiting our local library (yes, I read books to our 3 month old). As quickly as she is learning about her world, I’m learning #1 she goes everywhere I go (I’m her food supply) and #2 how to be efficient when doing errands.

With that being said:

Step 1: Set up baby girl in her car seat
– Roll a receiving blanket and place beside her in car seat (useful to wipe her face, keep her warm or use as change mat)
– Attach a toy to car seat handle (she loves to play)
– Cover baby girl with a warm blanket
– Give baby girl her soother

Step 2: Pack survival kit
– 10 Huggies wipes
– 3 Pampers diapers
– 1 Sudocream jar (sample size)
– 1 baby outfit (onesie & pants)
– 1 extra soother

As you’ll notice, the ‘survival kit’ is a condensed version of what I’d pack in her diaper bag. In fact, it all fits in my Lug waterproof purse. I love being able to grab my purse and head into a store so easily. Not that I mind carrying her diaper bag around everywhere, my purse is simply more convenient; especially since I’m carrying around our little angel in the store in her car seat as it is.

Now, some stores are gracious and provide wonderful shopping carts that either a) fit the car seat or b) have a specific holder for the car seat to sit in (it’s a remarkable invention really). Nevertheless, there are some stores insistent on this Mom getting her free workout in for the day. Holding a static bicep curl with a 20lb weight in my arm (yes I’m referring to my baby) while walking around the store for 15-20 mins is a great workout.

And as much as I never leave the house without our little angel, I never leave home without her survival kit either.

I remember the first time I left the house with our baby girl. My goodness, I packed enough things to last her 1 week! Wishing I had packed an extra soother while juggling her diaper bag, her car seat & my goodies …well, let’s just say I needed to grow an extra arm! However, as time has gone on, I’ve fine-tuned my outings as a Mom and realized exactly what I need to pack for her to last 3 – 4 hours & for me to have a peaceful, stress-free shopping experience.

May this story provide some insight into your shopping endeavours, so you may skip the juggling part or the “I should have brought that” phase. Happy shopping!