To get infuriated by people mis using parent and child spaces?

[nothingbyhalves]

It's all in the title really. A woman just told me she had parked in one because she had a dog in her car. Aibu to think she is inconsiderate?

insummer Read the flippin' thread! People with disabilities may need to park in them and are not twats.

So they have now become 'new mum and baby' parking spaces have they?

You can't get a disabled blue badge for temporary conditions. So just park in P&C spaces

Thought you were told not to drive til post 6 weeks? When you are better healed?? Don't tell me that people put others at risk and drive before they are fit to!!

redlondonbus feel free to calm down and refrain from making accusations about ppl putting other road users at risk.
There is no legal requirement nor medical direction that states a woman should or must wait 6 weeks until after a caesarean section.
One is expected to wait until one feels fit to drive.
One does not even need to visit a physician to have that verified.

Insummer - the mum with a burning c section scar probably shouldn't be driving as she is risking her health and the safety of her baby and other road users.
The new mum running out of nappies and having to go shopping in the rain also isn't comparable to a parent with a disabled 7/8 year old who needs to park near the store (because some of those 7/8 year olds who you see using them spaces might have hidden disabilities), because the mother forgetting nappies is something that she has caused herself. Nobody asks to have a disability.
In any case, able bodied or otherwise, the supermarket nearest to me states that the P&C spaces can be used by people with children up to the age of 12 and in a car seat or booster seat, so a parent with an able bodied 8 year old can legally use those spaces whether you like it or not.

I would have thought that if your pain was do bad you couldn't get a baby out of a car without a P&C spot you weren't ready to drive though.

I've had three sections & wouldn't have driven with a 'burning' scar. I also found it easier to carry the baby NOT in the car seat immediately post section because the car seat is heavy & has to be held at an awkward angle.

That isn't true, Amanda.

If you check with your insurance company you will quite likely find that you aren't insured to drive for at least six weeks after major abdominal surgery.

And a section counts as major abdominal surgery.

Neither is it against the law to drive unless one is completely pain free.
From any condition.

Surely common sense should be used Amanda ? Please feel free to advise otherwise

I still don't get what is so hard about taking a baby out of a car in a normal parking space. Its nothing to do with thinking I am fucking marvelous. It is genuine confusion

It's not hard. But it's easier in a bigger space. So people who don't need them shouldn't park in them. Simples!

It is not against the law to drive so soon after giving birth, but if you had an accident, the chances are that your insurance would not be valid.

No I won't advise otherwise.
You said that you thought ppl should wait six weeks. I have advised you that is not the case.
Just because someone finds it painful or damaging to retrieve a newborn in its seat from a car in a space that does not allow a decent door opening angle, does not mean they are incapable of driving safely.

candy no, they aren't. But neither is the new mum who may have a very legitimate physical reason for needing a P&C space or who may, god forbid, have to use a disabled toilet with a pushchair.

MrsD it is difficult to negotiate a car seat out of a smaller space. All the more difficult if someone has parked too close next to you.

I maintain that there is a lack of understanding about these spaces and a bizarre reluctance to accept the needs of mums with babies and toddlers.

My insurance company specifically told me that I wouldn't be insured if I drove in the six weeks post-CS.

My mum's similarly told her she wasn't covered for six weeks post-hysterectomy.

What chances Grennie?
You a expected to consider yourself able to drive and to execute an emergency stop.
Being in pain does not invalidate car insurance.

Actually if someone is parked right next to you it is impossible to get a baby carrier car seat out of a car. I have been hemmed in tons of times. Due to inconsiderate parking, not being able to get the door wide enough.

And in response to an earlier point. Yes, I have gone home without shopping after being unable to open the doors wide enough to get the DCs out.
Not the end of the world, I don't enjoy grocery shopping. But I think I would have been a bit saddened to know that someone might have used the biggere space without needing it. But that seems to be an objective, so I guess I should be pleased to have bee of some use.
It's hard sometimes being a parent. We're prone to exhaustion and isolation and depression. It is a shame to be the brunt of derision and ridicule.
But before MN I wasn't really aware of the scale of it from other women.

I've heard that before on MN Mary

Maybe differs from one insurance company to another

Its not like I haven't had to get a newborn out of a car. That is why I cannot agree with posters who are making out that you cannot go shopping unless you have a wide space.

Yes, exactly this

YABU

There may be reasons you don't know about why someone needs the space.