to use a disabled toilet if I've got the buggy?

[MrsHelsBels74]

Pretty much as the thread title says, if you're out in public & need to loo but can't fit the buggy into a normal cubicle is it acceptable to take the buggy into the disabled toilet? I'd never use a disabled parking space but did this today in desperation. So, is it ok or still a no-no?

people aren't trying to make that choice, people are saying she should get off which she should. If the person with the disability makes that choice that is fine but nobody else can make that decision.

The woman who is preganant could with help from others sit in a normal chair on the bus, the person in the wheelchair generally couldn't.

What people on these threads seem to forget is that able bodied people (pregnant or not) have plenty of choice. People who are disabled (especially those who are wheelchair bound) have much more restricted choice meaning everything needs precision planning.

They can't just nip into the nearest toilet, get the next bus or hail a taxi instead. Everything needs to be planned to ensure they can actually get to their destination (and thats before getting into the problems actually entering the destination)

Surely I can't be the only person who since having children has become even more aware of the difficulties faced by those who are wheelchair bound? The amount of times I have had to struggle around a shop with the pram I dread to think how people in wheelchairs manage it. It must be a daily battle just to go and pick up a birthday card for a friend.

I'm not saying she shouldn't move. Im saying that you can expect someone to live without harping on about it being her fucking choice to be pregnant and acting like it's no big hardship! Let's all just hope that those of you who seem to be so cold about it are the able bodied people who would then get off the bus to allow both the wheelchair user and the pregnant woman to stay onboard.

It certainly opened my eyes when I took my mil out in her wheelchair,some people either dont see the person in the wheel chair or just carry on as if they are not there,some people expect you to get out of their way rather than vice versa and trying to negotiate the aisles in a supermarket was a nightmare,we even got stopped by one women and told off for using the exit to get in to the shop yo escape a downpour.

Someone in advanced stages of pregnancy is not temporarily disabled.

That demonstrates a complete ignorance of the issues facing those with disabilities.

Not automatically temporarily disabled, saintlyjimjams no, but some are if they have SPD or the like, that is as temporarily disabling as a broken leg.

Sirzy, I agree that pushing a buggy has given me an awareness of what it must be like to navigate a wheelchair around, particularly the times when the lift on the tube is out of action and I have to bump down a flight of stairs, for example.

Oddboots - well yes if they're wheelchair bound or on sticks then of course they're temporarily disabled. A surprising number of people seem to think that a perfectly normal pregnancy is akin to being disabled though, and it isn't. If people understood that maybe the princess pregnancy would disappear.

Anyone who thinks a normal pregnancy is the same as being disabled should spend a bit of time working as a PA for a wheelchair user. Perhaps it should be covered in school phse lessons - get around the building in a wheelchair.

See thats it,you could bump your buggy down a flight of steps or what should have is some decent passer by should grab the front of your buggy and help you carry it down the steps,but you cant bump a person in a wheelchair who may be in constant pain down a flight of steps.

It's not the same as being disabled, but it can still pretty shit. It's not particularly difficult to understand that just because someone struggles less than you, they still struggle.

saintly, employment law and policies reflect that pregnancy can be considered a temporary disability. I'm not trying to equate pregnancy for a few months with life long disability beyond saying that I consider a heavily pregnant woman (or someone with a broken leg) eligible to use facilities designed for disabled customers if necessary.

If I couldn't imagine scenes of wheelchair racing along the corridors I would say it was a good topic, using a chair for a few days like the crying baby dolls. They could use my walking frame if they liked though...

But it's apparently impossible to understand that a normal pregnancy is nothing like being disabled

Do you have ANY experience of wheelchair use easilybored, either as a wheelchair user or PA? Your post suggests you don't have the faintest idea.

Radar key/ stun gun combination would solve a lot of these issues.

Yes, pregnant women should be allowed a seat, an able-bodied person should always give theirs up.
No one should be on a bus or a train with a buggy they can't fold if necessary.
Disabled toilets are for people with a disability.
Same with car parking spaces.
OP, plan your journey in the same detail as a disabled person has to and you will not be caught short. Failing that, Tena ladies Max.

If you have the energy, MonthlyAFIWish then I would recommend emailing/writing to the the shopping centre and ask if they would be kind enough to put signs in/on the doors explaining that they are for the use of people with disabilities and asking that people without disabilities do not use them and directing them to the family toilets.

Families are you sure that that isn't to allow the pregnant woman to be able to refuse to do things like lifting?

Again I say if you think a 9 month waddle is the equivalent of being a wheelchair user then you need to give it a go. My friends with wheelchair using teens - all fit healthy women- struggle with the weight to the point that they're having to get power packs fitted to the chairs - an independent wheelchair user is lugging that weight around themselves with reduced mobility.

The radar key would be enough if mothers didn't buy one do they can get their buggies into the ones exclusively reserved for use by the disabled threads passim

Is it me or is the number of radar key toilets reducing?

I gave never denied the difficulties if using a wheelchair. I'm never going to, and it's something I am thankful not to have to cope with. I work with carers so do understand that life with all kinds of disabilities is very hard at times. What I am trying to say is that some people are coming across like everyone who dares to use a disabled toilet, or who isn't thrilled about having to walk up a hill in the rain while 38 weeks pregnant pushing a double pram, is some kind if ignorant disablist cow. You can have empathy and sympathetic to both situations. Just because one isn't as permanent or difficult as the other, doesn't mean it isn't difficult and we shouldn't try to accommodate them too.

I've been thinking that too, saintlyjimjams - I wondered if I just wasn't noticing them as I have been able to use the regular toilets the past couple of years (if I avoid shopping centres on my bad days, which I do as getting my frame through a crowd is horrible).

'and it's something I am thankful not to have to cope with'

So far.

I just wanted to clarify that at no point did I recommend leaving your baby in their buggy and going off for a 2 hr saunter around the shops! Thus, making the comparison to leaving your baby alone for an extended period of time absolutely ridiculous! Some parents here have said they leave the buggy outside the door for 30 secs, I said I would take my baby in with me.

Sometimes people with buggies may genuinely not be able to fold/unfold them. I still have SPD and don't have the strength for unfolding mine, as you need to stand on one leg and push down! Wish I had known about that before I bought it. Though actually, I'd probably just get off the bus and wait for the next one if a wheelchair user needed the space. Fortunately there are a couple of spaces for wheelchairs/buggies on the buses here, so it's never been an issue.