To think that you should not use the parent/child spaces at the supermarket once your kid is over, say, 5?

[SuzysZoo]

Ok - fine if your child has special needs over 5 but otherwise you should not park there. Surely it means you have a non-walking child/toddler/buggy/car seat. Kids getting out of cars in those spaces in school uniforms annoy me...AIBU?

Oooh goody, a P&C parking space thread.

a 5 year old is still in a car seat!!

oh,and YABU!!!

Oh sorry - has it all been done to death on here? I am so cross I now lurk about the P & C spaces telling off people who don't have any children with them (including old/disabled people cos they have their own spaces!). I mean, I can't park in a disabled bay can I? So why should they park in a child one? I think maybe I am unreasonable but I am a stickler for the rules!

Yabu I have a 5yr old who still needs help to get in/out of car seats these spaces allow extra room for that reason!

Yes they have been done to death!

Tesco iirc used to have a 5 yo cut off. These spaces are a courtesy service though so you have no more right to them than I (with or without an under 5 yo).

I agree with you OP, but then DS is only 20mo. I might feel differently when he's 5

In theory, I don't think you are BU.

The debate is where you put the limit, and that's where noone will ever agree, because everyone thinks the way they use the spaces is the right way and everyone else (particularly if they are using the last one, or it's raining) is wrong.

Of course imo all the spaces should be bigger, especially as a lot of cars are bigger too now.

Were there not p&c schemes where you had to be a "member"/display a badge at one point - at least then the carparks could state a rule and ensure it got stuck to.

YANBU to think that parents with ds over 5 should not be allowed to use them.

YABU to think that disabled people shouldn't.

I think they should be used by people that need them. Unfortunately the world has a few miserable arseholes who think P&C parking is to get them near the shops (with their moody teenager), not for parents struggling with buggies, etc. I think 5 is a little harsh, as tiff said they are still in car seat so may need help getting in and doing up the buckles. YANBU to think they aren't really meant for any P&C though.

YANBU it annoys me too. It is perfectly possible to manage an older child who still needs help to get in and out of a car seat in a normal sized parking space. It's usually just laziness that has people with older kids parking in p&c.

Sorry, that was supposed to read as dc over 5...

I shouldn't be allowed to abbreviate.

I agree that I don't have a right to the spaces. But I suppose I think that occasionally in life you have to put yourself out so that someone else in greater need gets a benefit. So I might offer my seat on a bus to someone who needs it more, decide that I will walk my 5 year old a little bit further in the car park, so that someone with say, twins, can park in one of those spaces.....

Now the disabled issue has been raised as well.

I stopped using P & C spaces when I was sure DCs could be trusted not to need be to lean through the and fasten their seat belts. Somewhere around 5 or 6 when the had the strength in their hands to do the buckle and the skill to get in without moving their booster cushions over it.
They would certainly have been in school before they could do this.

I like the ones that say 'parent and toddler' space! In IKEA once I saw a couple of women get out of a 2 seater sports car (with no child of any age) and I went to customer services and complained with their number plate and they did a tanoy announcement! My son?s 2 and my step daughter?s 4. It?s much easier getting my stepdaughter in as she can climb in the seat herself ? all I have to do is the strap. Whereas my son I have to lift and pop him in ? much more difficult with little space. Also, the 4 year old stays next to me, doesn?t run off etc? my 2 year old isn?t quite as obedient so I prefer being closer to the shop!

you need any sugar in that Exit?

Sorry no preview on the app and stuff scrolls off the screen, anyway you get the idea

Welcome to Mumsnet Bingo time Folks!

I think it depends on the child, and possibly the car. If it's a really high 4x4 they may not be able to get in and out, but my kids were both perfectly capable of getting themself in an out of cars without bashing the car next door and not running away when they were 5 so I stopped using them ages ago. Kids are 6 and 8 now. I remember feeling agrieved when my two were babies when I say a bloke with a kid about the age of 9 use the last childs space. They SO didn't need it!

hope this isn't a members only prize game

The rules on most of the boards above P&C parking spaces saychildren up t the age of 12. So for that reason alone YABU.
People with no kids really piss me off when they park in P&C spaces. But otherwise each to thier own.

No thanks Monica - gave up sugar a while ago...