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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

... to expect people who use parent & baby car parking spaces to have children with them?

465 replies

fryalot · 05/02/2007 15:11

Or am I the only who gets fed up of waiting for a space because they are all filled with lazy b***ds who can't be bothered to walk an extra yard?

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Pleasegodgotosleep · 08/01/2025 13:46

I used them when pg as I was huge and couldn't open car door wide enough in a normal space 😆

I also use one when the kids aren't in the car at the moment but will be when I leave - so need to get able to get them in.

I suppose people could think that was unreasonable 🫠

latetothefisting · 08/01/2025 13:43

DUNGBEETLE · 05/02/2007 15:20

What about if their car is too big for regular sized spaces? What age should you stop using them then? What if they are collecting a baby or toddler from a friend at the shops?

big car = tough luck. They aren't 'big car' parking spots. Park in the furthest away spaces where there's more space and will cause the least inconvenience if your gas guzzling tank needs to take up two spaces

the asda by me says spaces are for people with children under 15, but I think that's ridiculous. 8 is apparently the age at which kids are expected to be able to go into a swimming pool and change alone, so I would say that's an absolute upper limit. At the end of the day the main reason is space, so really no need to use the p&c once they are out of pushchairs.

picking up a child - fine, maybe that make sense but that's going to be pretty infrequent, isn't it. I doubt the majority of people going to the shops are doing so for child handing-over purposes. It's reaching a bit.

SoupDragon · 08/01/2025 13:21

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it's nearly EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD

Nanny0gg · 08/01/2025 13:03

ItsMeMellowma · 05/02/2007 15:42

Okay so shoot me butI do this regularly at my local supermaket... I would never use a disabled space but I have a baby car seat in my car so, hey why not!!

Why be a dick?

Nanny0gg · 08/01/2025 13:01

madmarchhare · 05/02/2007 15:31

Oh here goes nothing, Ive used a P&T space without having DS in the car.

Shoot me now.

Sorry, but I dont think its really that big a deal.

To parents with children, clearly it is

Is there something wrong with your legs that you can't park elsewhere?

Anyotherdude · 08/01/2025 12:59

Also, @DUNGBEETLE , children should only be considered eligible up to age 10 max, unless they have a disability, in which case, the disabled spaces should be used…

Anyotherdude · 08/01/2025 12:57

DUNGBEETLE · 05/02/2007 15:20

What about if their car is too big for regular sized spaces? What age should you stop using them then? What if they are collecting a baby or toddler from a friend at the shops?

  1. Tough. Unless you have a baby or a toddler, use a normal space
  2. Also tough. These spaces are for people arriving with babies and toddlers. Whoever they are picking them up from can assist with child departures. The spaces are provided for people who have no choice than to arrive at shopping with their LO’s, not as a convenient place to collect them from E.g. a childminder…
SoupDragon · 08/01/2025 12:48

For the love of zombies, this thread is almost an adult!! Well past the age of needing a P&C space itself.

IT'S FROM 2007!!

ridl14 · 08/01/2025 11:34

I think it depends on the disability tbh but maybe that's worse of me. I wouldn't want to leave a wheelchair user or anyone physically disabled stuck because there isn't enough provision/ people without blue badges have taken up their spaces and they do need the extra space either side of their car.

I also think there's an argument for heavily pregnant women (I am one but don't use parent and child spaces) who struggle to fit out of the car in a normal space to use them.

But yes in general YANBU! I also don't think anyone with older children should be using them, they really ought to be for people with car seats, prams, wayward toddlers etc.

HamptonPlace · 08/01/2025 11:25

At what DC ages does one stop using the P&C spaces, my youngest DC is 8 but occasionally (when there are loads, and there are always plenty in my local sainsburys) still use P&C spaces.. am i evil?

Nsky62 · 08/01/2025 10:20

fryalot · 05/02/2007 15:17

how about disabled people using the parent & child space because there aren't any disabled ones left? That gets to me, because we wouldn't use their space!!

Nasty, being disabled is very different to using parent/ child space, inconvenient yes, be more thoughtful

CouldItBeAnyMoreObvious · 08/01/2025 10:18

Of course, we are being daft enough to respond to a thread from 2007! I suspect @fryalot 's DCs are big enough for her to park in ordinary spaces by now. But no doubt those 'damned disabled people' are still making her teeth itch!

Bushmillsbabe · 08/01/2025 10:13

CouldItBeAnyMoreObvious · 08/01/2025 09:39

Oh, how very selfish of them, my dear!
Does it not occur to you that a disabled person has far greater needs than those customers with a child?
Yes, it is shitty that if the disabled bays are taken up by non-disabled and then there is a knock-on effect to the P & C space, but to be so irate about it and 'we wouldn't do it to them' is just playground stuff.

Show quote history

Absolutely.
And 'we are not doing it to them' is because it's illegal, not out of any angelic moral code in many cases, judging by the amount of ableism visible on here.

CouldItBeAnyMoreObvious · 08/01/2025 09:39

fryalot · 05/02/2007 15:17

how about disabled people using the parent & child space because there aren't any disabled ones left? That gets to me, because we wouldn't use their space!!

Oh, how very selfish of them, my dear!
Does it not occur to you that a disabled person has far greater needs than those customers with a child?
Yes, it is shitty that if the disabled bays are taken up by non-disabled and then there is a knock-on effect to the P & C space, but to be so irate about it and 'we wouldn't do it to them' is just playground stuff.

Bushmillsbabe · 08/01/2025 09:26

lazyline · 05/02/2007 15:32

DUNGBEETLE: I think that when your child is old enough to get themselves in the car and strapped in, you don't need a special parking space anymore. IMO.

I agree with this. Both mine are still in car seats, but 9 year old can do up her own seat belt, so I don't use p and c space if just have her. But my 5 year old struggles due to the height/shape of her cat seat, so will use with her.
The spaces do usually say with a child under 12, but I think this is excessive. Maybe under 8 would be more appropriate, with allowances for children of any age who, for whatever reason cannot do up their own seat belt

Goldengirl123 · 08/01/2025 09:19

Sorry I didn’t mean you I meant the person you were answering

Goldengirl123 · 08/01/2025 09:18

WingsofRain · 08/01/2025 09:10

You would like me to go without food or other shopping because I can’t get a space wide enough to get my wheelchair out of my car?

That isn’t a good look, is it? There are far more parent and chid spaces than accessible ones at my local supermarkets so it’s not an uncommon problem.

Show quote history

I take it you aren’t being serious????

WingsofRain · 08/01/2025 09:10

fryalot · 05/02/2007 15:17

how about disabled people using the parent & child space because there aren't any disabled ones left? That gets to me, because we wouldn't use their space!!

You would like me to go without food or other shopping because I can’t get a space wide enough to get my wheelchair out of my car?

That isn’t a good look, is it? There are far more parent and chid spaces than accessible ones at my local supermarkets so it’s not an uncommon problem.

Casuallydresseddeepinconversation · 08/01/2025 09:05

Jimjams2 · 05/02/2007 15:33

I do think that anyone who really can't cope with shopping with children unless they park in a P and T space (why would you wait for one to get free - park somewhere else fgs - and yes I have 3 children and grande scenic I know all about getting babies out of oversized cars) should go without children, after they're in bed. There problem solved.

I'm a single parent I can't go alone when the kids are in bed 🙄

Goldengirl123 · 08/01/2025 08:58

They shouldn’t have!!!!

Goodadvice1980 · 08/01/2025 08:58

Zombie thread.

Goldengirl123 · 08/01/2025 08:57

But you can walk!!!!

Goldengirl123 · 08/01/2025 08:56

I don’t park in these spaces but I do chuckle to myself. Why do you need these spaces? Go to the quiet part of the car park, use those spaces and walk! I used to have to get my 3 very young children on buses to go everywhere so I find this very entitled. I now have a blue badge and literally cannot walk far but find disabled spaces taken up by people with no badges. If I had to, I would actually have to park in one of your spaces. You can walk, I have difficulty. I also see people using these spaces and getting out of the car with a child that is preteen

VickyG333 · 04/12/2010 22:27

I have never, in any shopping centre or supermarket or wherever I have been shopping but can't find a space, seen all the disabled bays taken - there are always empty disabled spaces even when the rest of the car park is rammed. Without exception. Anyone ever seen them all full?!

handlemecarefully · 12/02/2007 09:51

"Its about engine and fuel economy and emissions"

If only it was...but actually it's about politics and scapegoatism (and easy targets ).

I've done a fair bit of research into this and fuel economy of large MPVs is pretty much the same as fuel economy of many 4 x 4's

It's 'pick m mix' environmentalism

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