To believe that kids sat inside supermarket trolleys is disgusting

[37KAT]

Just that really.
Never allowed my DC to do it.

I think it is gross that some guardians allow children to sit amongst the groceries in the supermarket trolley.
Makes me shudder that they could have dog shit or other unmentionables on their outside footwear. This would contaminate their shopping and the next unsuspecting persons. I also think it's dangerous having a kid hanging off the edge of a trolley. Pisses me off to see this. Am I alone?

Omg dog poo on kids shoes, bird poo on trolley handles, fox wee, Dave's scratchy pubes on packing boxes....
Add in festering raw meat germs and germphobia, and I'm amazed we are still alive or shopping at all.

"just cos any kid too big for the properly designed seat in a trolley should be able to walk around a supermarket!" Wow cricketmum, that has to be the most ignorant thing I've ever read on mumsnet.

My autistic son stands on the end of the trolley (shoot me now) they don't provide appropriate trolleys for him. It's either that to keep him contained (stimulated watching the floor passing under the trolley rails), or he will be all over touching the veggies before you buy them, and that's after sticking his finger up his nose.

Disabled people have a right to go into shops too before you tell me to keep him out and do home delivery.

So if you don't want his mits spread all over your food, i would rethink the complaint and let people be. Parents do what they need to do, they know their kids better than you and how to keep them safe.

Don't like it? Try home delivery. Just hope you don't get Dave doing your packing

Is it clearly not allowed, though? I have never seen any kind of signage anywhere suggesting this, never seen any parent who was doing it be told to stop, and on the few occasions we did it never attracted the slightest attention from any shop employee. I believe the people who say they've been told not to do it in Waitrose, and I've never actually used that shop myself anyway, but my experience is that it quite often is allowed.

No way should anybody be nabbing disabled seats other than the disabled. These seats are often in short supply as it is. When I complained about the doable trolley seats being nabbed by those that didn't need them the supermarket quite rightly said there wasn't anything they could do as they only have set amounts.

It's simple take toddler shoes off and stick in trolley. Not perfect but is the least amount of bother for all concerned.

Sainsbury's were fab with us,really understanding. I only ever came across one complaint ever and that was in Asda. As I said that was swiftly apologised for when I said I'd need to take my custom elsewhere.

YANBU at all.

Ps cricketmum, I promise next time I'm in your supermarket I won't break the rules, I will set my child free to walk 'properly' and stimulate himself all over your produce, I mean there's no official rules stating you can't pick up the fruit and veg to inspect them is there? And he loves doing that with his careful eye for detail and snotty hands.

@Everywhereilookaround knock yourself out love! Like I said upthread I wash all loose produce anyway and I would rather your little darling wander around touching than fall out of a supermarket trolley

It’s the safety aspect that bothers me, it’s really unsafe and yet so many parents do it. It’s a mystery to me. They wouldn’t dream of letting their kids on a trampoline without a net or on a bike without a helmet but set foot in a supermarket and it’s time to put your kids in an unstable trolley, which isn’t designed to take them with a lovely concrete floor available to hit their heads on from height. Marvellous! I’ve seen a kid fall out of a trolley. It wasn’t a good sight. I assume supermarkets don’t police it because so many parents seem unable to cope with shopping without doing it but I think it’s really lazy parenting. Having twins or children with additional needs does not make it ok, in fact it makes it even less safe for those kids. Two kids in a trolley is even worse as a tip risk than one. Whilst parents keep doing this there’s no pressure on supermarkets to provide more trolley shopping that can take multiple or older children.

PrincessCuntsuelaVaginaHammock
Is it clearly not allowed, though?

There's usually a sign on the handle of the trolley with a picture of a child standing in the trolley and a big red cross through it.

Usually? Again, I've never seen this. Which shops?

Well, this is the one that Tesco had but they are having to change the woman to something gender-neutral. It was in the news.

I put Donald Trump in the supermarket trolley today and wheeled him round while I did the shopping. But then I got told to leave the premises. It wasn't even about the trolley.

Oh for Christ’s sake! Give people a break! For some people, having the kids in the trolley (which most love), enables the knackered parent to get around the store and complete their family grocery shopping without any meltdowns. I work with children in care, so am aware there are SO many other examples of genuine bad parenting and neglect that you could focus your attention and energy on. Stop nit picking and giving otherwise good, decent parents a hard time.

So we should all do what we want because we're all tired ? Nope, doesn't give you a pass to be inconsiderate and unsafe.

Usually? Again, I've never seen this. Which shops?

I can remember the white ones on the orange Sainsbury’s handle even when I was a child.

They’ve been around forever.

Still not sure how it’s inconsiderate unless you’re taking about the hygiene. I think it’s been established that the trolleys are already dirty though and most people wash their unpackaged food! In actual fact, I think being a judgy onlooker is inconsiderate to the stress levels of modern parenting when there’s no clear reason for it.

I personally enjoy having my kids in the trolley. It means they can reach easier for the items that I draw on their special shopping lists for them to cross off and they absolutely love to arrange my trolley into cold, frozen, soft, hard, etc. I find it actually makes it a nice outing and they love to chat to the check out staff who always seem happy to initiate this.

In terms of safety - come on! I’m right there with them. I’m sure accidents have happened in rare cases, but no more than a child slipping from a tree that they’re climbing or a scooter they’re riding which (*shock, horror!) I allow too! I even allow them to ride on my shoulders sometimes! (Worst parent ever award goes to me!) I honestly think you’re getting way too upset about such a small thing!

but my experience is that it quite often is allowed.

You conclude (because you’ve failed to notice any of the instructions not to) that it’s “allowed”?

YANBU I think this too.

I cannot understand why people do it, the trollies arent toys, especial annoys me when there is a child seat, Saw a kid of about 10-12 sitting on top of the shopping recently. "Because the kids like it", they may well, like playing on a railway line. My Sainsbury used to have a sign ssaying, "no children standing or sitting in trolley", not in the seat, it also said just inside the shop, no skates,bikes,scooters, they have now given up. if you want to loook it up, Dr Charles Gerba of The University of Houston, tested shoes, 27% had e coli, 39% c diff. After just 2 weeks from new 440 units of bacteria on the soles, compared with 1,000 on a toilet seat.You walk in dog,cat,bird,fox,mice,badger, tpee and poo, you cant see it. I have seen kids with leaking nappies plonked in trollies, under 2 years old, normal gut flora contains c.diff.I have never seen any evidence of bird poo, in my local supermarket, but the trollies are under cover, I hardly think foxes, etc. are going to be climbing into the trollies. Dont see how kids can enjoy arranging the shopping when they are sitting amongst it. I suppose the poor little darlings just havent got the energy to walk round the shops.

That should have read 400.000 units on soles, no 440.

Parents do it at their own risk, knowing no compensation would be forthcoming from the store. I made my own, informed, risk assessment and never let DS move even to kneel on the trolley when he was small. He had to sit still in the middle (or he had to get out). I was right next to him, keeping a very close eye on him and firmly holding onto the trolley at all times, with an arm ready to pull him down to sitting should he disregard me. This was arrangement and is perfectly safe for a short shopping trip. Now that he is 8, he hasn't been put in for several years. I never had an accident, because I made sure I didn't have one. I would say that many do the same as me. AND this was allowed, even encouraged, at our Waitrose. They were extremely family friendly.

The minimum purchase level, price of delivery and having to wait for your shopping to arrive (often at least two days, depending on available slots and prices) made it impossible for us, like many others, to always shop online.

Just had a scintillating google of Tesco shopping trolleys there's a phrase I never thought I'd type and the little pictures do look familiar actually. Our Aldi don't have them though. I don't shop at Sainsbos so will defer to those who do!

In response to battle-ax, I base it on the fact that it quite often is allowed: many shops clearly do allow shoppers to do this. It's commonplace. This includes shops that have a sign saying not to, as I have seen it loads of times in Tesco, but still permit people to do it on their premises and serve them anyway.

No it’s not “allowed”. Any retailer permitting it would be on dodgy ground legally when the inevitable accidents happen. What you mean is that the rules aren’t energetically enforced.

The “I’ll do anything I fancy unless someone makes an effort to stop me” attitude is far more obnoxious than the child in trolley habit is in itself.

I have a 1 and a 3 year old and sometimes have no choice if there isn’t a double trolley they will both fit in .

On the food side not only are the trollies left outside they’re touched by 10000 of people a day. As is the food packaging , and I was my veg too. I’m probably more worried about contaminating my kids

You’re bonkers

I can't say I'm too bothered about the contamination risk.

However, if you'd have witnessed the accident I did where a child tumbled back from a trolley and split their head open - unconscious, blood everywhere, ambulance called - then I'm sure seeing children in trollies would give you a case of the shudders too.