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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that mother & baby spaces are for people with babies & small children?!

354 replies

cranberryx · 08/07/2015 19:12

Parked up at asda before work and low and behold what do I see?

3 vans, an elderly gentleman and a young couple all park up and get out of their vehicles and stroll into asda. Not one car seat, not one small child in sight!

I know it wasn't a busy time (8am) but still, I would be so peed off if I parked up with my little one and couldn't find a space with space to get a car seat out of etc!

Next time I might have a word! Or am I just being a grump!

OP posts:
GreyBird84 · 09/07/2015 06:48

Ourye there was no car seat & I watched the couple walk into the shopping centre. So take your diagrams & stick them up your arse?

Mehitabel6 · 09/07/2015 06:54

If only shops could be persuaded to put them in a far corner you wouldn't have this problem. You need a wider space but they do not need to be near the doors of the shop.

SoupDragon · 09/07/2015 06:55

Usually when we are trying to keep the 2 year old out of the rain

Yes, because it is well known that toddlers melt in the rain.

I used P&C spaces for the width. In ordinary spaces there was a big risk that neighbouring cars would get their doors bashed by an over enthusiastic child, I would be able to get a small child into their seat or a baby seat in through the door.

Distance from the store is largely irrelevant I think, other than in multi storey carparks where step and manly kift free access is a boon.

I think it is bad manners to park where you are not eligible to park without good reason and it is the tossers who do that who are the entitled ones.

ilovesooty · 09/07/2015 07:10

So GreyBird they couldn't have had a disability because they walked?

I don't park in them but if I had a disability and needed to I would. And if some 11 year old questioned me I'd tell them not to be so bloody rude.

Sirzy · 09/07/2015 07:20

Even if they didn't have any children why shouldn't someone disabled park in the space which best meets their ongoing needs? Would people really rather someone who was disabled had an increased struggle rather than having to walk a bit further with a healthy child?

AuntyMag10 · 09/07/2015 07:25

WhyCant if your 11yo asked me that I would have told him off and to not be so rude. You seem proud of that though.

Mehitabel6 · 09/07/2015 07:29

I feel so sorry for people with a hidden disability- why should they have to explain it to everyone? It would be better to educate the 11yr old about disability.

sandgrown · 09/07/2015 07:38

It made me very angry when DC were young and I needed the space to.manouvre the car seat out. I actually gave a middle aged man a lecture and rammed his trolley with mine. His wife came to see what the fuss was and she told him off too. I was having a bad day!

Icimoi · 09/07/2015 07:41

Cars were much smaller then. Nowadays cars are bigger but the spaces are the same size.

Myth no. 28 in these discussions. Cars were different sizes pre P&C spaces, just like they are now.

As for the notion that car seats are much more complicated now - take it from me, no they aren't.

SoupDragon · 09/07/2015 07:53

It's not really a myth. There are fare more larger cars about now then there used to be. Of course they are still different sizes but the larger ones are more common. It's more usual to see a family with a big car where they would struggle to get the doors open sufficiently to get a car seat or small child in and out of the car.

Mehitabel6 · 09/07/2015 07:53

I am sure that if you went and parked in a far corner you could have plenty of space and be able to open the doors.

SoupDragon · 09/07/2015 07:54

The first car I remember as a child was a humongous Ford Zephyr. However, we had no child car seats or even rear seat belts so it was easier to get kids in and out.

SoupDragon · 09/07/2015 07:57

I am sure that if you went and parked in a far corner you could have plenty of space and be able to open the doors.

I'm sure that if people had manners they wouldn't park in a space designated for a particular user when it was not appropriate for them to do so. Then all these threads would die a death.

Whathaveilost · 09/07/2015 07:58

Such a first world problem!

Bulldogclip · 09/07/2015 07:59

The most popular cars have grown: mini, VW golf, Vauxhall Astra and corsa, fiat 500.........

Damnautocorrect · 09/07/2015 08:23

I've done the 'you've seem to have forgotten your baby'. I just got a defiant walk as the prick strolled in.

IF there's plenty of p and c spaces left and your literally running in and out, at 8am. If I'm honest, I can't see an issue. But if there's 1 or 2 spaces left, yes it's a problem.

I stopped using them when mine was 4ish. I have a rather unusual 2 seater car and it was great getting death stares as I pulled in to them until they saw me get the baby out.

morelikeguidelines · 09/07/2015 08:28

Yanbu . Except the elderly gentleman maybe , as I guess he might have found it hard to walk furthwr.

Weirdly mumsnet, or rather aibu, has a thing about p and c.spaces and many on here seem to think they should be free for all.

Have little ones is hard, and you can do.with little helping hands like this. It's not vital, but a nice thing and it doesn't really hurt able bodied childless people to park further away.

I do use them sparingly myself and might leave them free if I have dh or another adult with me so as to leave for someone who is struggling alone with kids.

It's the big space by the side that is useful not.proximity to the door as has been pointed out many times.

TheHormonalHooker · 09/07/2015 08:45

I park in P&C spaces when the disabled ones are full. In fact when I go to Sainsburys I always park in them because they're nearer the door than the BB spaces. I couldn't give a rat's arse who I upset, it causes me so much pain to shuffle along on my sticks that those extra 25-30 feet does make a hell of a lot of difference to me.

If anyone's 11yo deemed it fit to ask where my children were they'd get a telling off!

itsmine · 09/07/2015 08:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Kamden · 09/07/2015 08:50

It's not that MNers think they are a "free for all", it's that indignant parents have no right to question why someone is parking in a space that they are legally entitled to be parking in.

Plus, we always get twats saying that because someone walked, they can't be disabled. Are people really that thick that they can't work it out?

happylittlevegemites · 09/07/2015 08:55

To everyone who suggests just parking at the back of the car park where there is more space: ha ah ah ha hahaha ha. Ha. Ha ah ha ah ah ah ha ha ha ha hahaha ha bloody ha. Ha!

This isn't about not wanting to walk, this is about not being able to get the children out of their car seats when the door will only open 4 inches. And this is about not wanting to put the pusher inches from where cars are wizzing past.

Dawndonnaagain · 09/07/2015 08:58

I seen (sic) a disabled badge holder in a M&P space, wonder what's the law on that?
On private property, it seems that it may not be acceptable, but on other property the blue badge wins, every time. However, it's your complete lack of empathy that concerns me more, are you jealous of bb holders? You certainly give that impression.
I shall continue parking in the parent and child spaces when I use a particular supermarket because when they refurbished it, they put the P&C spaces nearer to the door than they did the BB spaces. Both my dds are disabled.

Enidblytonrules · 09/07/2015 08:58

YAWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!

Lurkedforever1 · 09/07/2015 09:05

I can't believe anybody would even think twice about a blue badge holder parking in a p&c space. What sort of thought process even leads to that level of twattishness? 'Oh look a selfish entitled person with a disability taking a p&c space, they should be more considerate and think of people with real disabilities like me, who face the daily battles of the fact I have reproduced'. Ffs.

WhereAreMyDragons · 09/07/2015 09:07

Just out of interest, what's the general consensus wrt what age you can use p+c spaces until? My youngest dc is 3 and I'm thinking the clock is ticking.