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)

I will admit to sometimes being a bit judgy in the past when I saw people parking in the p and c spaces with older children. Having spent six months with a very ill older child and having to use them (because to walk from far side of the car park to the shop would have exhausted her) I was very aware of the looks I got from other people. It taught me a valuable lesson that we can't always know why people need to use those spaces.

I use them with my kids, aged 7&5. I don't wait for one, but if there is a space I'll use it :)

I always park in parent and child places when im with my mum and im 55!

That isn't getting funnier the more it's said

Maybe not....but when i had my kids we never had 'special' parking spaces just because we got pregnant..and we managed fine.....big fuss about nothing....whatever next....parking spaces for tired people....parking spaces for people with big handbags....countrys gone over the top on the bloody rights of people who think they are something special.....gee you had a baby.....get over it!

There's no real need for parent and child spaces.ill park in them if there's a spare one just for the luxury of space to open the door all the way.

If there's not a spare one, I park further away from the store and, brace yourselves, actually walk to the shop

Marilyn I'm guessing that in the 60s none of those children were in car seats - probably no seat belts either.

potato et al - did you have car seats you had to strap your children in to?
And there were fewer cars on the road. Most women especially didn't drive...people didn't tend to do big supermarket shops. So more parking spaces ( I'm sure they were bigger spaces) and there was more choice of parking spaces.
People tended to have smaller cars -even if you don't have a big car there is always the chance someone parks on either side of you with a massive one.
(Actually as an aside - has anyone realised how big the new Minis are? I saw one parked next to a zafira the other day and it was the bigger car )
No parent and child parking spaces aren't essential.... but they do make parents lives easier...as do baby changing rooms... and lightweight easy fold prams (actually low floor buses, don't even necessarily need to fold) - and washing machines and tumble dryers ....and disposable nappies. A whole host of other things...
I had my DCs later in life so I am nearly 50. I remember not even having a landline phone, never mind a mobile. I had an accident (cut my head open) - my DM walked me to the ambulance station (nearest vaguely health related place) and I went to the hospital in an ambulance because the alternative was the bus - no money for a taxi. (Can you imagine that happening now?) I guess she could have used the pay phone to phone my DF at work but I don't think he would have been able to get time off to come home to take me to A&E ....(I do remember waiting after I'd been stitched up for him to finish work to come for us, I was starving and my DM worried that the neighbour would be ok looking after my siblings for so long)
My DM had 4 DCs (inc twins). Couldn't drive, didn't have a car. Was more less stuck in our village when the twins were babies as she couldn't get the double tansad on the bus (which probably contributed to her PND) ...she also washed all their nappies in a semi automatic washing machine for the first year ...apparently it was marvellous when she got a twin tub...

I'm sure we can go back to my GM and hear how hard it was her...but there isn't really much point is there?

It doesn't hurt to leave spaces that help parents free for them even if you don't think it's needed so not sure why people would deliberately use them just because they are a recent invention, seems quite mean spirited.

People who don't need them, I mean

That is exactly it fanjo. To deliberately use one for no reason is to deliberately prevent someone else that may have a need for one. Life in general is fucking hard enough without people who deliberately make it harder for others.
Disabled parking is a fairly new concept too isn't it? Maybe we should do away with that too, since they could just park further away, and walk, or get a taxi to drop them off at the door

I hate this 'we/my mum managed without so you should too' bollocks. It's so mean-spirited and miserable. Life with small kids was much tougher a generation or two back. So how about saying 'how wonderful that there are all these things nowadays that make life easier for parents with small children, because it can be a difficult job' Had she been alive, that's what my fabulous, warm-hearted, generous granny would have said. And she was born in dire poverty in 1910 and went into service at 13, and had my dad during the London blitz. Thank God none of us have to endure a life like that now.

blimey.....my children were born in the 80s and 90s.....of course we had car seats and plenty of women drove cars back then.....and i went to work and had the right to vote!.......it wasnt like Little House n the Prairie, where we stayed in all day stirring a big pot on the stove while my husband was ploughing the fields and my only trip out was on a horse and cart to church on a sunday!.......struth .....im shocked at how young women nowadays think that pre 2000 mums must be like dinosaurs......in fact we had it harder.......we didnt have childcare help....we didnt get tax credits and we didnt have forums to moan about how hard our lives were/are because we needed bigger parking spaces!

i dont think im mean spirited......life is hard .....theres more going on in the world than whether you can park in a parent and child space....look around you....its not hard to see how pathetic it sounds!

I don't use them and just park in the far corner of the car park on the rare occasion I take my 3dc to the supermarket. I still have to plug dtds in as they can't do it with 3 car seats in a row. They're 4. Yanbu and that's why I started online shopping. The day I had to put my baby twins into their car seats through the boot was a turning point for me.

But not as hard as my DM? Or her DM?
The point is these things were introduced to make parents lives easier - there was a perceived need. And like Fanjo, ALice and Zoe say - why use them if you don't need to ...why make someone else's life harder just to be mean spirited...

And there were fewer cars on the roads even in the 80s and 90s.
My DM iirc passed her test in 1989...she must have been 45. Lots of her friends learned/got cars around that time - when their DCs were grown up and they had more time and there was more money to spare...
(I know several women in that age group now who still don't drive, because when they were growing up 50s/60s there wasn't the expectation of two car families and equality isn't what it is now. I live in a house built in the 60s - it is pedestrianised estate with communal grounds (family friendly). There are car parks but there are nowhere near enough spaces for 1 car per house never mind 2)

Well if you are going by the statement there are more cars nowadays, then in 20 or 30 years time we will all be gridlocked.. .unable to drive anywhere.... better all start walking then......start a petition for pram parks at supermarkets!

I think all 'parent and child' spaces should be re-designated to 'disabled' spaces. P&C is an unnecessary sop; larger spaces should be available - at the back, where you'd want to be anyway if you need to open your doors wide/avoid other people scratching your car.

I was at the hospital this morning and whilst driving in saw a disabled driver have to park on a pavement with a high kerb and negotiate that with sticks. There are as many P&C spaces (all full, of course) right by the door - as disabled spaces. Get rid of them once and for all.

i use them with my 7yo and 9yo and i don't really care.

Ds has autism, adhd, spd and DCD, trying to get him across a carpark safely is a nightmare. If i can't park next to a walk way/pavement, you bet i'm using the P&C spaces. We o get lower rate mobility DLA for him (and higher care) so i'm quite willing to argue the toss about our need to use them as we can't get a blue badge without higher mobility.

I have never been challenged, but then DS wears an 'autism awareness' lanyard when we're out.

Adrift... perhaps if we got rid of the P&C spaces and had more 'disabled' spaces, you wouldn't have to even think that you'd be challenged. Most people wouldn't park in 'disabled' spaces and, if you parked there, I wouldn't give it a thought, if I noticed, I'd just assume that you had a good reason.

Those lanyards seem a good idea. I've not seen one before.

If you need more space just park next to a free space, it's not rocket science.
go shopping when car park is emptier, get a taxi anything but bloody moan about a courtesy given by the store.
If somebody without kids has parked there, so what.
I agree, they should be turned into disabled areas, far more of these are required.

get rid of C&P spaces. They are absurd.

though it may cause a vacuum on MN..

Park next to a free space? Except that when you've got back to the car, it's not free, someone has parked badly in it and now there's no room.
I used to not really care about P&C spaces, would use one if available but otherwise I didn't mind.
Two events changed my mind. On one occasion, I got back to my car, pulled the buggy up to the door and the car next to me pulled out and nearly ran me down. I hadn't heard the engine start as he was driving a Nissan Leaf and he didn't seem to think that giving me any sort of warning was a good idea.
The second occasion, I parked and got out. The person in the next car was on the phone, so I concluded they weren't in a rush to be leaving so I got my pram out, put the baby in and was getting my handbag out of the car when she decided to pull out, heading straight for my car door. I banged on her car to get her to stop and her response was "Oh, well I waited for you to get the baby out!" I'd have been two more seconds at most, but no she was too bloody impatient.
That's why I think P&C spaces are important now - the number of sheer selfish assholes out there who wont allow you a bit of extra space and time to safely get children in and out of the car.
I'd be quite happy if the P&C bays were not right by the entrance, just as long as they're close to the trolleys.

More blue badges are needed. .as sadly lots people would notice and give you hassle if you parked in a disabled space without one. .people seem to be disabled space protecting warriors.