Supermarket trollies... AIBU

[LK2boyzma]

I think that parents/ adults should not be allowed to put older children inside supermarket trollies for health and safety reasons. I am a bit OCD and this totally winds me up. These little shoes go into toilets, step on all sorts including spit whilst walking out and about then they come to the supermarkets and get to stand in the trolley with the same shoes on! 😳
AIBU to think this should be a no no!

[kali110]

what about clothes that go in the trolley

[dillyduck]

Many years ago I worked in the head office of a major supermarket. One of my jobs was to review the injury claims. If you had seen the horrific accidents with children scarred for life you would never put a child in the main body of the trolley.

[dillyduck]

Severed fingers, teeth gone through skin under the lips, broken bones, face gashed all the way across. I vividly remember those images 20 years later.

[Crocodillian]

Op I can kind of see where you're coming from, but 5 things:-

1- The trollies aren't clean to begin with
2 - The products in the supermarkets have been in warehouses, in transit, in storage, packed, unpacked, handled by staff and by the public choosing and changing their minds before they even touch a child-infested trolley
3 - How clean are the conveyor belts or self check out areas?
4 - How clean is your car boot really?
5 - What harm have you come to by consuming products that have been in trollies?

[maddiemookins16mum]

Dear god......I've heard it all now.

[kali110]

dilly the accidents are horrific

[Mycatsabastard]

Don't care about the hygiene. Everything is packaged anyway.

However, I was in the shop the other day, double trolley with twins (about 10 months old?) in the front, bigger sibling about 3 or 4 trying to climb in. Mum about 10 ft away, back to trolley, chatting on the phone. I had to grab the trolley to stop it tipping the babies out.

She gave me a look. Next time I'll just let your babies smash their heads on the floor love.

[MsJudgemental]

I agree- this pisses me off too. It wouldn't be acceptable for an adult to stand in a food trolley with shoes that have walked on spit, dog shit and piss, so why is it considered OK for a walking child?

[dillyduck]

dilly the accidents are horrific

They were. The most common everyday accident was broken fingers. The children held on by putting their fingers through the wire of the side Fingers got bent back and broken, they tangled with other trolleys etc

[honkinghaddock]

Supermarkets could help by providing more of the trolleys designed for older children. I know some children are in the main trolley section for 'fun' but for others it is because there is nowhere else for the child to go. I got told off once for squeezing my then 6 year old into a trolley seat and I was told it would tip over but they had no alternative to offer me.

[dillyduck]

I got told off once for squeezing my then 6 year old into a trolley seat and I was told it would tip over but they had no alternative to offer me.

Is your 6 year old disabled? The disabled trolley doesn't fit onto child sized wheelchairs. I don't think that they are made.

[FastWindow]

All of the posters being horrified over children being put into the trolleys... Which have been fairly roundly agreed to be covered in fox wee, drunkard vomit and rat shit (pick your poison) Should you not be more horrified for the children being exposed to this level of bacterial minefield, than your potential death from the dirt on their shoes?

[honkinghaddock]

Dillyduck - There are trolleys with seats in them that are designed for older children. Ds is 10 now and fits into those comfortably. The problem is most supermarkets have only one of them( or none). Ds can walk but he can't walk in a supermarket environment.

[dillyduck]

Sainsburys have large trollies for children with disabilities . I don't think that to only have 1 or 2 per store is unreasonable- they are often kept at/near customer services and so they are not be available of general use which should mean that people who need them can get access. Maybe you could call the store before you go and ask them to hold it for you?

As I said the main wheelchair trolleys don't fit onto child sized wheelchairs and I don't actually think that anyone makes one that does, 1 do not think that it is just that stores don't buy them.

[honkinghaddock]

One trolley per store really isn't enough considering how many children with sn there are.

[TwatbadgingCuntfuckery]

Ive seen elderly people use Those trollies for larger kids. You can't point out yet are for kids. They think they are for them to take a rest when going shopping. Annoys the hell out of me.

My new local store doesn't even have one so up until 7-8 DC went in the trolley.

I can't shop with DC. Even with ear defenders, sunglasses (to dull the light) and distractions I spend all my time managing them than I do shopping. Summer is a nightmare. If they had a trolley designed for us I would be able to shop.

[honkinghaddock]

I suppose they must be using them like people use a trolley bag that has a seat attached. I can understand why. It is all the more reason for supermarkets to have more than one or two of them.

[onecrazycook]

I used to work in a supermarket and saw three horrible accident due to older kids being in the trolley. Please- just don't do it

[TwatbadgingCuntfuckery]

francis The risks to my DC out of a trolley were far greater than in one. My child is impulsive with sensory processing difficulties. Supermarkets for DC are like us stood in a club with loud music and flashing lights.

There is only so much you can do to filter that out. Couple the reactions to being overstimulated from lights, sounds and smells to needing intense deep pressure stimulation to help calm the anxiety and the unexpected actions of people around DC meltdowns were huge.

From 18mths DC would rock back and forth in the pushchair whenever we went into a shop so it has been a long time issue.

Anyway, the only 'safe space' for DC when shopping was in the trolley. Being in the trolley stopped unexpected bumps from strangers that would cause extreme reactions. It meant DC could wear ear defenders, cover up with a coat to block out the noises and flickering flourecent lights and I could go do my shop in 20 minutes instead of an hour + greatly reducing DCs exposure to a very stressful situation.

Whenever DC was out of the trolley I could guarantee we would have a meltdown in the middle of the shop. With DC crying. We'd have to leave until DC calmed sometimes we were asked to leave.

So yes, we are well aware of the risks and every day we have to make choices like this because often there aren't the facilities available for us to do it any other way.

[arabellalady]

I haven't really given it any thought

If it bothers you, you could buy those bags that clip on to the trolley so no food is touching the metal, sat on by children or not.

Link here
www.longacres.co.uk/homeware-gifts/kitchen/foldable-shopping-trolley-bags-original-vibe-reusable-set-of-4-tb001/?gclid=CjwKEAjw652_BRDfkebVrdOGkDISJAD0Q2Ru_bUmvZz-_jJw1Iyoyj3UlJ5M2T9TmZZOrevNImGBnxoC4I3w_wcB

[kali110]

onecrazycook i've never forgotten the last accident with a child in a trolley. Haven't worked in retail for years now, but it's never left me

[MrsJayy]

Trolleys are boggin kept out side birds hop about on them stuff spills on them i cant get worked up with a 5/6 yr old standing in one tbh . I did see a boy fall out of a trolly once somebody caught him so thats why im not keen on kids standing in them

[honkinghaddock]

You don't do an online shop for half a dozen items, there is often no one to leave an autistic child with and some children cannot walk around a supermarket holding on to a trolley. Ds who is 10 has reins on to get from the car to where the sn trolley is kept but even with that he sometimes ends up on the floor or trying to hit and bite me because having to walk in that environment stresses him out. As soon as he is in the trolley he calms down because he feels safe.