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?

The money you use to pay for your shopping is probably more contaminated....and then you load your shopping into bags....

accepting I'm with you too. Although we have disability trolleys in our local supermarket and my daughter is 3.5 and fits on the seat still and I tend to mostly order online. However, having a child with special needs has taught me so much about the importance of not being judgemental. Socially I have become so thick skinned I feel like I have an invisible suit of armour. My child doesn't do what other people's typical children do, she sometimes looks naughty, loud and odd. Her legs work fine but she might not walk, she might not listen, she might not cope. She's never really naughty, she's actually a little angel. When she's in her buggy or an enclosed space she feels safe in an overwhelming environment and less likely to feel anxious or to have a meltdown. I wouldn't walk her through a supermarket, I just couldn't.

I hate it from a safety point of view. Having twice had to “catch” strangers children who where about to fall out (because with the best will in the world no parent can keep an eye on the trolley the whole time).

Ds has special needs and can’t walk around a supermarket. Where ever possible I simply don’t take him but if I need to I use the trolleys designed for disabled people to sit in.

I did see this the other day in a packed supermarket - the child looked about 5 or 6 and was surrounded by the food and didnt look that comfortable either - i can see why you would do it but it can't be that hygenic and i must admit i do tend to put a bit hand gel across the bar of the trollies sometimes ( if i remember) as they must have a multitude of germs on them - i cant control other germs that may be about though on the actual packaging.

I agree with you @37KAT It's disgusting. I know that trollies aren't cleaned daily (or ever) but people really shouldn't be putting their dirty children inside them.

If the child is small enough they can go on the seat in the front, otherwise use a twin trolley or one of the ones with a larger seat for disabled people. There is no need for able bodied children to be sat inside a trolley.

I agree with you OP and all the replies disagreeing with you come from exactly the sort of person who believes the rules don't apply to them. Supermarkets do not like children sitting in trollers because it is a H&S issue.

You never see children sitting in trollies in Waitrose. Why is that?

The hygiene aspect doesn't bother me. But when I see a 5 or 6 year old sitting in a trolley, surrounded by packets and tins I do question what on earth the parent is thinking. Children can and do topple out of trolleys quite easily which is why once they're too big for the little seat thing - at around 3 or 4 - you are not suppose to put them in the trolley at all.

I also don't believe that every single one of the school age children I have seen in the main parts of trolleys has some sort of special need.

Two out of four of the nearest supermarkets still don't have a trolley for children with disabilities. The other two have only one and you can wait ages for someone to find it and a child can have gone into overload before they do.

I put my four year old in the trolley sometimes because she is too big for the seat and some people push their trollies around like maniacs with no regard for other people, especially little ones. I’d sooner look common (or whatever the MN judgy brigade derogatory word of the week is) than have my child hit in the face with a trolley or basket. And that includes in Waitrose Agatha

Totally agree OP.
Have seen children tip the trolley over.
Also have seen parents told to stop doing it.
laughing at all the foxes,dogs,cats,pigeons and seagulls throwing themselves at shopping trolleys when no one is looking

None of my local supermarkets have twin trolleys (2 child seats). I have 2 young toddlers. Why would I struggle to push a trolley and restrain a potential bolter when they'd be happy sitting in the bottom of the trolley? Safer for them, easier for me and less annoying for everyone else in the shop

Sorry OP but I disagree. Much better sat in the trolley than running amok in the supermarket, or standing right in peoples way like DD does. I don’t understand how she doesn’t have the awareness to realise that she is in peoples way!

Why don't you all teach your children how to behave in public?

I let mine, it makes shopping with a 3yo so much more enjoyable.
Raw chicken packets etc that are placed in the trolley are much more ‘germy’ than the bottom of shoes. I’m also guessing the handle and the self service screen/pin key pad are just rife.

.... that being said DD wouldn’t fit in a trolley now. Quite sad about that. At the age of 10 and 5”4 we have no such luxury of lobbing into a trolley to keep her out of peoples way. We just end up being the parents who continuously say DDs name as we realise she’s stood right in front of someone’s trolley.

I wouldn't worry about the trolleys.
My DH works in a supermarket, he text me 3 days ago to ask if I could have a hot bath ready for him when he got home, he didn't want to contaminate the house or the baby with all the rat shit he got on himself cleaning the shelves in the warehouse in the back of the store. A very regular occurrence in lots of supermarkets. The warehouses are cold and dark with lots of food around.

You never see children sitting in trollies in Waitrose. Why is that?

Perhaps you should come shopping at my local waitrose then

I’ve done this a handful of times. When I’m ground down by the Dcs and I don’t have the mental energy to negotiate them in the supermarket with loud fully engaged parenting, so in they go.

They’re older now so it doesn’t happen. We rarely take them to the supermarket for a big shop which makes life so much easier.

It’s not about my child’s behaviour, she sits cross legged and is not allowed to stand up. It’s is about the behaviour of some adults pushing trolleys at speed, not looking where they are going and ramming into children walking next to the trolley. It’s happened several times to us and both times my DC has been hurt so now I put her in the trolley to stop that happening

I put one kids in the trolley and one in the seat. I have to, or the little fuckers run round ASDA like a feral bunch of morons and I lose them. I try and pretend their not mine when asked but when they call me mummy they give the game away.
As for your contamination bullshit well that's what it is... bullshit! Everything is in bags is it not? Unless you lick the bags before you eat the contents? Or maybe your one of those hippy types who uses less packaging and slows your carrots and suedes to roam free in your trolley to become bruised and hurt!
Maybe get a basket next time!

I've seen them in the M&S food section Agatha does that count?

Doesn’t bother me at all xx

Wow, only one other comment on 'sat'. Your thread title was more offensive grammatically than I could ever find the concept of kids and shopping trolleys.

Incidentally, I used to stand on the back when ours had been reasonably stacked (and my mum was in a good mood), and it was fun. Maybe you should loosen up a bit.

‘Their dirty children’

I am almost certain children are washed more frequently than trolleys and I don’t eat my food off of either.

When my daughter got too big for the seat I'd sometimes sit her in the trolley, she has some very serious and not necessarily visible medical issues and would struggle to walk all the way round the supermarket. Some days she managed, other days she asked to sit in the trolley, can't get myself too worked up about kids in a trolley.

The title grated on me too Soren but you get (metaphorically) lynched on MN if you dare mention a grammatical mistake.