great places to visit with baby & toddler

[Note: Parts of this post ran on Rookie Moms]

When deciding on an outing for your Baby Bunch (aka children less than two years apart), there are a few things to keep in mind to increase your chances that everyone will come home happy, or at least not miserable. There are three main things to consider when planning where to take your bunch. These include: 

-- A place that’s easy to keep a watchful eye on everyone—This can mean everyone is corralled in one place or a wide open space big enough where you see everyone at the same time (the triangulation method). Chuck E. Cheese is NOT one of these places.  Keep in mind that the corral set-up is definitely preferable if you expect there will be crowds.  Corral with an armed guard at the door.

-- A place with an easy exit strategy—By exit we mean you can quickly make a mad dash back to the car to take everyone home in the event someone melts down.  Another key component to “easy exit” is free or low cost – this way it doesn’t matter if the trip is a bust and you have to bail 10 minutes into it.  You’ll be much more likely to cut your losses if the time/money investment was low.

-- A place that is safe—There are tons of places that are safe for toddlers or safe for babies. But it may not be fun or safe for the other one. A playground with mulch may keep your two-year old busy for hours, but may not be the best idea for your 10-month old who now puts everything in his mouth. And while sitting in the shopping cart at Target could be great stimulation for your 10-month old, watching your toddler try to climb out of the cart yet again, will scare you to pieces. 
 
We’re sorry to inform you that if you are in your first couple years of Baby Bunching, places like the library and your favorite coffee shop may be off limits for a while.  Here are a few “safe” alternatives to consider:

--A friend’s house—This by far the safest and easiest place to frequent. Friends are forgiving and will usually baby proof as needed without so much as a blink. You can nurse and use the bathroom and maybe even grab a snack.

--An indoor gym—Do your research on these before you go. Those filled with moon bounces might be hard if your kids are really little, but some have baby play areas where you can keep a close watch on your toddler.

--The mall—If you’re not actually doing any shopping, the mall can be a great place to take your Baby Bunch with ample food establishments to meet everyone’s needs (aka McDonalds), usually a play area for kids, and lots of stimulation for both toddler and baby. Best of all, it’s free because there will be ZERO opportunity to get any shopping done with your bunch in tow.

--A park—Playgrounds and park areas are perfect, depending on the setup (see our recommendations above). By bringing a picnic you can really have the best of all worlds. But do note that playgrounds are age specific, and if you have two under two, keeping with younger playgrounds and easier play structures means you have less safety issues with your kids. As a bonus, you might even meet a few other moms with kids as small as yours.

--A farm—Depending on where you live, a farm might be a harder place to find, but anything with animals is good. A zoo can be overwhelming, but a small public farm can be great for little kids. Horses, cows, rooster, rabbits, tractors have potential for big time fun and animal noises as well.

Comments

[JessPond]

We've done the farm (uh, cause we LIVE in farm country) with three children under 3 (ages 1-mine,1.5-mine, and 2.5-friend's child) and it worked VERY well. The zoo works, too, for us, if there are strollers.

Aquariums are good, too...we've done several of those with all three, several with just my one year olds.

We find that the beach can work well, too...we go on 2-4 beach vacas a year and the kids love the water. When younger, you can use something like a superyard to corral and we now have a big canopy that we drag along. They make screened in tents, though, too, if CONTROLLABILITY is your issue. :)

We did New Orleans, too, which worked with strollers. We did a few plantation homse that trip, and an aquarium....and we had along two one year olds and a 10 month old.

My kids, though, are fairly versitile...and there is ONLY TWO. If there are ever three....we're going to have our hands full! lol

[Moby Wrap]

By bringing a picnic you can really have the best of all worlds. But do note that playgrounds are age specific, and if you have two under two, keeping with younger playgrounds and easier play structures means you have less safety issues with your kids.

[summer for kids]

I found a beach to be a great place for toddlers and kids...with a lot of sunscreen aof course and light clothing :) but my little one is always hapy there and there are so many things you can do on the beach