Toddler shoplifting affects 62 per cent of families

Getting home from the shops and finding a stash of goodies your fast fingered toddler has helped themselves to appears to be a common parenting problem.

Shops who insist on putting displays of products attracting the attention of little magpies so close together that buggies have to be forced through the gap are not helping the situation.

Neither are those stores who shoot themselves in the foot by trying to pull in the parent pound with their child catching chocolate displays.

A whopping 62 per cent of parents admitted that they had discovered goods their toddler had got away with shoplifting whilst out on a shopping trip.

Of these parents, just 43 per cent said they would actually bother taking the item back.

While 42 per cent of parents said their child just took random products, 31 per cent would discover stolen chocolates and sweets.

A smaller 7 per cent noticed their child would steal items with their favourite TV show character on.

The results from research carried out by online voucher website MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, found that Liverpool, Newcastle and London were the top three cities with the most prolific Toddler shoplifters.

Boys were found to be more likely to swipe something they fancied with 71 per cent helping themselves compared to 53 per cent of girls.

Parenting expert Matthew from MyVoucherCodes.co.uk said: “More than the fact that so many babies, toddlers and children have taken items from shops, I was surprised at the sheer number of parents that don’t return the item. I would have thought that this is the right way to teach our kids right from wrong.”