Parking in parent and child bays? Help?

[MotherOfBeagles]

Oh wise ones of mumsnet i need your help!

I am currently 33 weeks pregnant, huge and uncomfortable and struggling with awful PGP/SPD with a very severe limp. I have been using normal parking up until today and really struggling to get in and out, the last few times its been physically impossible for me to get in the car so i've been having to ask passing strangers to pull my car out for me (my DH has not been impressed with that). So my family and friends have been telling me to stop being stupid and use the parent bays.

So today i did and now i'm really wishing i hadn't!

Stopped at tesco on my way home and parking in the parent bays there was a couple next to me loading their newborn and shopping into their car. Once i was close enough it was obvious no child or child seat was in the car, so they began pointing and angrily glaring at me before i got out. Fair enough they couldn't see i was pregnant or limping yet.

But when i got out and it became apparent just how huge and obviously in pain and struggling to move i was they didn't stop. But instead starting to call me disgusting and pathetic, now normally id just argue back but my hormones are seriously messing with me so i just burst into tears and (slowly) waddled off.

There were easily another 10 parent bays free but parking was otherwise busy. So aibu to park there? If i am i genuinely will park elsewhere again, just feeling very upset and pathetic right now .

Take absolutely no notice & be prepared if it happens again to give a bit a verbal

From a fellow SPD sufferer it really is so bloody painful. I was off work from 26 weeks. I too had acupuncture & was sceptical about it but oh my god it really really helped. It didn't take it away completely but enabled me to manage & avoid crutches! Hope it's the same for you op.

They were horrible shitty bastards to you. You are a parent. You are carrying a child. You use the bays all you want

It is unreasonable for any pregnant women to park in them (minus children) when there is no need.
But you are heavily pregnant and getting in / out a car is extremely difficult.

I use them for my 2 year old, not so much my 5 year old.
I suspect I could get him out easier in a smaller space than you could being heavily pregnant.

I remember having to climb across from the passenger seat at around 39 weeks pregnant because someone had parked to close. Really was not a good idea but was that or walk quite a distance back to store which didn't appeal either.

Yep you were bu, clue is in the name, if you don't have a child with you you shouldn't park there.

first, it's nonsense as said repeatedly.

More importantly, if you want to argue the child point, the OP being pregnant was with child... So go for it OP!

Oh god here we go again

P and C parking 'police' are arseholes and best ignored.

In my view it's the modern day busy body at its worst. The neighbour who curtain twitched of old is now roaming car parks busy bodyimg themselves there instead.

Can I just point out that, in supermarket (i.e. private) car parks, even the disabled spaces are a courtesy and not legally bound by the Blue Badge scheme. If you are 'disabled' in any way, you can use the spaces. Personally I'd say somebody who is very large with pregnancy, and limping from SPD, is pretty much disabled at that point in time; and I wouldn't personally object to that person using a space that is marked for disabled people. So I certainly wouldn't object to them using a Parent & Child space!

I would object to anyone without a blue badge using one of those spaces. I have no issue with anybody with mobility troubles etc using p and c spaces but blue badge spaces should be different.

Have you bought a car seat yet? If so, it might be an idea to just stick it in one of the back seats of the car to fend off twats giving you a hard time.

YANBU. I used one when I was 38 weeks pregnant, and so huge that I struggled to get out of my car without bashing other ones in a normal space. I didn't have SPD, but I was so uncomfortable and desperate for a wee (so wanted to literally heave myself out of the car and waddle as fast as I could to the toilets before starting my shopping!) so I gave in to my 'I would never do that' thoughts and used one. It was 7pm and most of them were empty anyway.

The lady parked next to me did start saying something as I was opening my door. When I got out and she saw the size of me and the murderous look on my face she shut up pretty quickly.

I wouldn't ever begrudge a heavily pregnant woman from using one. People who just use them when they have no need to are selfish pigs. No, you don't have a child with you, but you do have a term-sized child IN you and sometimes that's harder to manoeuvre than a newborn and a car seat!