About 'mother & baby' parking spaces...

[toohardtothinkofaname]

And that those without kids who park in them should get bollocked?

I can never get parked in one & today a woman trying to park in the space next to me BEEPED at me struggling to attach the car seat to the pram because she couldn't get in beside me. The baby spaces were opposite, no spaces for me, and of the 4 people In them I saw get in or out of their cars, absolutely none had children

The bloody spaces aren't even closer to the doors so no idea why they insist of taking up space.

I'm sure there's been threads on this before but need to rage & OH sick of my driving stories haha

[toohardtothinkofaname]

Question; for those who 'managed fine' in their day without P&C spaces, if you went to the supermarket today would you park in the spaces? Even though your kids are grown up etc.

[toohardtothinkofaname]

zeekzeek

[Sometimesithinkimbonkers]

Did I miss the popcorn?

[3littlebadgers]

I got shouted at by some guy for not parking in one. I was parked in a normal space at the retail park as I only had a tiny newborn with me so easy enough to slide out with not much space. Anyway getting back into the car I had to grapple with the seat belts, and as I went to fold up the pram he unleashed all of his fury on me, telling me there were special places where people like me had to park. Funnily enough I had to drive past the p&c spaces on the way out of the car park and one whole space was taken up by a motorbike!

[GabiSolis]

Oh dear, this again?

These spaces are a marketing ploy and nothing else. They are not a right or an entitlement and I personally would like to see them scrapped in favour of having all spaces slightly larger, or having them relabelled as for general use by anyone who feels they need a bit more space (for whatever reason).

zeezeek

[WaitrosePigeon]

Don't worry Lamu, I will.

Op, only on mumsnet will you encounter this reaction don't worry

[bloodymaria]

YANBU.

It's hardly safe to try and manhandle a buggy into a workable state and insert baby in a normal space. I know they're a privilege not a right but it's not being pfb to worry about your child's safety.
Zeezeek you sound lovely

[zeezeek]

Is it unreasonable to be quite excited that I got my first biscuit?

[Amummyatlast]

If it's exciting, here's another one

[SilkObsidian]

I agree with OP.

They should be reserved for parents with young children, not people using them for convenience. Of course everyone likes extra room but it doesn't mean you should poach it from the group it's intended for! If you actually need the extra room (eg mobility problems/need to get equipment out) that's a different matter.

I can't believe OP is being told she shouldn't use a travel system, when P&Cspaces are designed for parents who need to get a car-seat out and assemble a pram! IMO parents with babies/toddlers should take priority over those with older children, or someone with a sprained ankle who would like (but does not NEED) extra space around the car. Far too often I see parents struggling to assemble prams and get car-seats out, often in the way of oncoming traffic/reversing cars, because all the P&C spaces have been taken up. Often by vans, taxis or able-bodied young men with sports cars!

At 36wks pregnant, I did not feel entitled to use a P&C space. I managed in a normal space, if it was tight I got DH or whoever was driving to let me out before parking, or to leave extra room on my side. Same when I had my leg in plaster.

They are a godsend when you need to assemble a travel system and get the car-seat attached.

Unless you physically can't get out of your car without the extra room, I don't think you should be using a P&C unless you have a young child with you.

[MorrisZapp]

Yanbu at all. It's only on here that p&c parking spaces are controversial.

[grannytomine]

I think unless you've had a baby and wrestled with Prams and car seats you probably don't realise what parent & child parking is for. Maybe it should be in the driving test!

And people of your generation will never understand why that is so hysterical to people of my generation.

[allsunshineandroses]

The other day I went to my local Sainsburys, toddler in tow. As i headed towards the last remaining P&C space another car coming in the opposite direction reached the space at more or less the same moment as me, maybe a mere fraction before, and indicated to pull into the space. Being a decent, reasonable person, I stopped and flashed them so they could pull in front of me to go into the space and I pulled into a tight, normal space opposite. As I was struggling to get my child out of the car I noticed that the people in the car I flashed delayed in getting out. When they finally did (I was routing in the boot trying to sort bags) they were a middle aged, seemingly able bodied and child free! I was so angry, they could see that I had a child, we arrived at the space at around the same time but they still felt their need was greater than mine.

[ctjoy103]

Yabu. These PC spots should be done away with and allocated towards disabled parking. Or they should be at the very back of the parking lot.

[FlowersAndShit]

Whenever I go shopping with my mum she always parks in one. "but you are my child!" she says. I'm 25

[Crwban]

Just because people may also be women, it doesn't mean they always have to agree.

Freedom of speech and all that.

Got nowt to do with freedom of speech. Got everything to do with not slagging off other Mothers for their choice of cars, baby seats, prams etc FFS. We all have our own personal battles despite how it looks to uptight judgemental fuckers passers by.

[Redderred]

I suppose. But then I think people with older children not requiring prams/pushchairs/to be strapped in shouldn't use them either.
Someone I know temporarily required a wheelchair and used these spaces. I don't think that's wrong. Why would anyone think they are?

[NeedsAsockamnesty]

I have a bit of a problem with people using stuff that does not belong to them in a way the owner of the stuff does not intend.

The car parks are owned by people who happen to have designated the use of certain areas for certain groups of people.

So what if it's only a courtesy,it's one the owners of the car park can choose to give and if they do then the instructions for use should be respected.

[Sirzy]

It's be about slagging people off for their choices, but if they make those choices they can't then complain about things being harder because of those choices. Don't complain about not having enough space to pull out your big travel system and car seat of you have made the choice to have a generally pretty impractical pram!

Just like because a mother has a great big hard to collapse pram on a bus that doesn't change the fact that if needed they would have to move that pram.

[IggertyZiggertyZoom]

Most P&C spaces I encounter are on private property (e.g. Tesco). The landowner has stipulated that a few designated parking spaces are only for parents with children. It is a condition of using the space. It's not up to a random shopper to decide that they are entitled to use it for another purpose.

To do so is akin to deciding randomly to park on a stranger's drive. Because you have decided (for whatever reason) that you are entitled to ignore the rights of the owner.

[nocoolnamesleft]

I have parked in p&c spaces without having a child with me. For 6 months I was hobbling painfully on 2 sticks (well, some of it was actually bedbound, then on a zimmer frame). I mainly shopped online, but being completely housebound is bloody depressing. I did not qualify for a blue badge. But all the non blue badge parking near the local supermarkets is p&c. I needed to be able to open the door fully to level myself up, and if I had to walk a distance to the entrance I couldn't make it round the shop. So I have absolutely no shame that I used the p&c spaces.

[kawliga]

There are two types of mothers in this world. Those that can survive without P&C spaces and those that cannot imagine surviving without them.

I would be interested to hear what other things you find difficult in life, OP? What other accommodations do you feel should be made for you, as you now have a child and hence should no longer be expected to get on with it like everybody else?

[toohardtothinkofaname]

kawliga don't have to imagine surviving without them, I'm surviving right now because I can never get parked in them!

[NickiFury]

Those spaces make life just a bit easier. I'm not sure why everyone gets quite so puffed up about people liking to use them tbh.

[MorrisZapp]

How rude. Supermarkets and normal people recognise that doing a supermarket shop with babies or toddlers in town presents unique challenges. So there's a helping hand provided. I found being the mother of a baby to be so far beyond my capabilities I lost my mind and I'm still on the tablets five years later.

I didn't take ds anywhere on my own really until he was four. Yup, I'm truly shit at this. I'm so bloody grateful for businesses who recognise that to get my money, they have to accommodate my needs as a parent to a small kid.

If they didn't, I'd just stay home. My dad is a sweetheart and drove my to asda each week while DP did the childcare at home, so I've never done the screaming toddler/baby seat/supermarket thing. But not everyone is as lucky as me and I'll be damned if I'll let arrogant know it alls sneer at parents who might be struggling horribly.