Getting out of the house as a mom

Leaving the house with a newborn is a rite of passage in motherhood. For the first 6 months of my oldest daughter's life, I would sit in the backseat with her while my husband drove. I was nervous to go anywhere alone with her at first. I worried that she would cry and people would judge me, and ended up staying home most days. That isolation was a contributing factor to my postpartum depression. Now that I am the mom of four kids, I know that I have to get used to being out alone with all my kids. 

When I had my fourth baby, I worried about my first outing with all my children. I won't lie: the first time was a disaster. My 4 year old and 3 year old ran off in the store. My three-year-old tried touching every piece of fruit and my toddler kept trying to open all the groceries we were getting. However, it could have gone a lot worse. Here are some things that made it less of a disaster. 

1. I always use a baby carrier when my babies are young. I will put my baby in the carrier while I carry the groceries upstairs and as we’re walking around the store. 
2. I teach my kids the skills that would be most helpful for me. I spent the months before my baby was born teaching my three year old to stay near the shopping cart. I also taught my toddler how to go up the stairs on her own, allowing me to only have to carry one child at a time. 
3. We prepare to leave the house an hour before we need to go. I will try to feed the kids a snack or nurse my baby 30 minutes before we leave to lessen the amount of cranky cries. I change diapers and tell my son to go potty 10 minutes before we leave. 
4. I carry as little as possible out to the car. I keep spare clothes, diapers and wipes in the car so that I don't have to worry about it later. I keep these things in the car for any outing less than an hour long. It took me three kids to realize that I almost never change a diaper while grocery shopping and that the bag just took up space in the shopping cart.