To think that parent and child car parking spaced should have an age limit of 5 years.

[buntingbingo]

Or be put at the back of the car park?

I have 3 dcs eldest is 9. Youngest is 2 months. Going to the supermarket is now a massive pain in the arse as there are never and p&c spaces.
I see people with giant kids who are perfectly able to walk, why do they need them? It's not the closeness to the shop that's useful, it's the extra width I need.
I end up struggling to get the baby seat out.
I think if they were at the back of the car park then people wouldn't bother with them unless they need the extra space. Or enforcing a lower age limit might stop the lazy people with big kids taking up all the spaces.
Rant over.
(Disclaimer. Obviously I'm not talking about anyone with special needs or disability, just kids capable of walking and perhaps shock helping to carry a bag or two)

Not all disability is to do with walking and physical mobility. Are you usually this unaware of others?

YANBU. Absolutely. Is there no such age limit though? I always kind of assumed there was. I wouldn't dream of parking in one of those spaces even with a 4 year old, to be honest.

Oh please not again, there was a loooong thread about this last week.

Why 5 years though?

Most 5 year olds are as able to walk and get in and out of a car as much older kids.

Personally I don't really see that most people need them past about 2. I still use them though.

Shop online

How many posts until someone says BB holders can't park in P&C spaces?

Yawn, not again. Get a bus to to the shops, or walk.

And this is why online grocery shopping is the future!

In all seriousness, I don't use them. We have a 10 and 5 year old, the 10 year old has Aspergers and DH often declares "lets use the P&C spaces" when we venture near supermarkets. I refuse on the grounds that both are able to get in and out of the car/across the carpark safely, and it's better to leave spaces vacant for parents who need them. He says nobody pays attention to age limits; he saw a teenager and his Mum getting out the car a few weeks ago, came home and moaned about it, but what if the teenager has a disability we can't see, or needs we don't know about? None of my business what other folks do, so best to stop caring.

It's the weekly P&C parking thread.

I know it's a tired old subject.
I mainly do online but sometimes you just have to pop to the shops.
Of course some people have disabilities that you cant see, I totally understand that, and I'd never challenge anyone just in case.
5 was just a suggestion I wouldn't bother using them for a 5 year old.
I just wanted to rant

I hear you. I think what we need is not so much an age limit as a healthy dose of self awareness for some people. This would solve the problem so that only those in need used the spaces.

Sadly it's not something one can buy at the local waitrose!

My local asda has a sign saying parent and child spaces are for those with a child still in a car seat, those using it without a child in a car seat will be fined.
Everyone still ignores it and no one has ever had a fine.

It wouldn't work. For a start the stores would have to have someone paid to be stood at the spaces all day to stop people parking there which will never happen.

I agree it's a pita trying to get babies out of a car in a normal space that can be a struggle for an adult to get out of but I can't see a way of enforcing anything without it costing the stores money.

Apart from those with hidden disabilities obviously, people use them because they are lazy or like a bigger space. Like the people who park in disabled spaces rather than walk round corner to gym.

Selfish barstewards.

That is the bottom line.

Something about cars makes some people lose the use of their legs temporarily when out in them.

I hear you OP. It used to drive me nuts until DS got older. He is autistic with ADHD. Mostly it doesn't matter where we park but there have been occasions where he is particularly off the wall. On those rare occasions I have used P and child parking so I can propel him straight into the shops without negotiating a car park.

However I hate doing this,as I am well aware of how it looks.

There is a big campaign just now for blue badges for kids with autism..I hope it succeeds. There is a trial about to start in all Scottish authorities where children with autism can have a blue badge for next year..in case anyone didn't know.

We really need a topic for this subject.

In the town where I live we don't have any P&C spaces. Problem solved.

We needed p&c spaces until my DS2 was 5 and a bit as is small and light and was still in his group1 5 point harness car seat and I needed to be able to open the door wide to strap him in and unstrap him.

Once a child is capable of getting into and and out of the car and strapped in/us strapped independently, you shouldn't used p&c spaces.

But tiny, how do they define car seat? The dts are in a harnessed car seat still. Is that what they mean?My ds's high backed booster is a car seat. As is dd's booster. By law they both need them.

Perhaps we should all just get over ourselves and use the law to define what's classed as a child. Ie if they still need a seat/booster by law then regardless of how able or easy they are to get in and out of a car, they should be able to use a parent and child space without fear of recrimination from parents of other children.

I do agree that they should be further away from the shop entrance though, with a defined walkway for safety. The only reason I use them is for the safety of getting 4 DC in and out of a car. I can and do get them in and out of the car in a normal width space. But sometimes it can be a hair raising experience crossing a car park with drivers who are just looking for a space and not watching out for pedestrians, much less a smaller pedestrian who barely comes up to the height of their window.

I sometimes use them just because I'm fat and don't like wedging myself out of a normal space.

I didn't park in them once the youngest of mine was much beyond two and a half ish.

I found that many of the parking spaces at our local Tesco are quite wide anyway so it wasn't an issue for us.

I think the whole thing could he solved by making all the spaces a bit bigger.

I didn't drive until youngest was 4 so as a rule I don't use them as my kids can get in and out of the seats themselves. so I save them.fir those that need them. people managed befire so the obsession with using them is beyond me. but I also think oral and car seat choices should reflect a person's life style. if you go shopping alot and use public transport then don't by massive tanks you are going to struggle to assemble/transfer baby too if no P&c spaces are available or the bay on the bus is taken.

as I said I don't use them when with kids as I don't need too.

however I take someone shopping every couple of weeks and that's when I use the P&c as she's a little unsteady and needs space to get out.

It winds me up when parents park in them and then one parent stays in the car with the kids whilst the other goes to the shops! WTF???

Yup!