To think that people who use parent and child spaces without children are selfish *****

[hotcheeto]

Fill in the starred swear word as applicable.

I've only started truly noticing how many idiots do this since I had my baby 4 months ago. I can't believe how many people I've seen do it. And yes I always call them out and have had some pretty disturbing abuse thrown back.

I have also always reported to the shop staff to be told it isn't illegal and there's nothing they can do bar having a parking attendant out constantly which isn't possible (I know this isn't the shop staff's fault).

No disabled spaces? Fair enough, crack on. But this isn't the case 99% of the time. People use them because they are close to the entrance. I would rather the spaces be far away from the entrance with a small trolley park nearby with car seat/child seat trolleys.

Yesterday I purposefully parked straight down the middle of two normal spaces because I didn't want to risk having to reverse out just to get my baby's car seat back in. As I was walking in I witnessed 3 separate very able bodied people walk back to their cars without children.

Just really pees me off 😒

If you park in a P&C space as a fit, healthy adult without kids, you're an absolute dick. Not sure why anyone would try to argue against that, unless they are one of the utter dicks themselves.

There may a small minority of people who feel they are justified to park in a P&C space because they have some sort of disability but not a blue badge. That's their own decision, but realistically most of the wankers in these spaces don't fall into this category.

It honestly baffles me that something simple designed to help and support parents and young children is regarded with such a level of vitriol from some for no good reason whatsoever.

It's mental isn't it! 'uhh what are they supposed to do ... drive on???'
Yeah, the space isn't for them so of course they should drive past it.
Do these people use the same justification to park in a disabled space?
If you don't have a young child or a blue badge neither of these spaces are for you. Why is that so hard to process?

But it's just nasty to take a space that is for the benefit of a particular group that needs them out of pure convenience / laziness.

Confronting people doesn't go well often but I've done it occasionally too. I remember a man sitting waiting in the car, in a P&C space who said his teen was in the shop, hence why he was parked there.

Or the woman sitting in the car with her sleeping toddler while her H went into the shop.

Really entitled horrible behaviour.

Well said 👏👏👏

All of this.

I bet the same people get pissed off if people push into a queue

I’m going to continue to use the queue analogy - it would be the same as looking at a load of queues and deciding they’re too long and then deciding to just push in. Then saying “What - you expect me to wait?!”

@Hufflepods

Exactly!

I am now at a stage where I no longer require P&C spaces as my children are older.

Yes, I've passed P&C spaces when the car park was full but it would never occur to me to park there. Because I don't need the extra benefit they provide.

For me, the benefit of the parent/child spaces are not the proximity to the shops but the extra space to get baby in and out without navigating neighbouring car doors. I would be happy if the spaces were further away if it meant lazy people didn't take them just because they can't be bothered to walk an extra 30 seconds to get into the shop.

There is a good solution here, stop taking the seat in and out of the car. It’s not good for the baby to stay in the seat longer than absolutely necessary so you really shouldn’t be using it for shopping anyway. Get a good baby carrier or sling and it’s much simpler to get baby in and out of vehicle.

p&c spaces are courtesy spaces. You need to stop calling people out. You are only raising your own stress levels and accomplishing nothing.

I'll bite.

I've parked and jogged away from the car in both a P&C and a Blue badge space. Normally because I am picking my Mum up, dropping her off, or meeting her at an event and I have parked then jogged to meet her and escort her to the car or escorted her indoors then jogged back to the car. It might also be that I am taking the shopping to the car and going back for her.

Sometimes disabled spaces aren't close enough for her and I have to move the car to the door, and while in a supermarket I probably wouldn't use a special space if I was doing that in a big shopping centre or town centre I would still need the space so I wasn't leaving her alone for too long.

Wake a newborn to put them in those gross and uncomfortable plastic supermarket seats? No thanks.

How about people without kids just stop using P&C spaces?

Also, not being enforceable doesn’t mean they’re just a courtesy.

How do you feel about queue jumpers?

Where did @Sirzy say that?

I always use a carrier around the supermarket with my baby but I still find the parent/child spaces much easier to use as I still need to open the door wide enough that I can bend up and down to pick up baby from the car seat and get them into the sling without risking contact with a neighbouring car door.

Such over-privileged middle class nonsense. What do you think parents do who can't afford a car and need to haul their kids and shopping around on the bus!!

So because some mothers take the bus, anyone and everyone should be able to park on P&C? By that logic can bus takers push into queues (yes I will keep using this analogy until someone answers)?

Well you would hardly be carrying two infant car seats

I couldn't care less.
Like I say, I don't use P&C spaces myself, although the entitlement on this thread is starting to convince me that I ought to.
The huge issues going on in the world at the moment and THIS is what people are choosing to get so irate about.

Maybe as selfish as those who occupy one of these spaces but leave the children in the car with another adult!

Back in my day we used to walk 10 miles in the snow wearing nothing but a thin tshirt, whilst carrying 3 babies and 5 shopping bags, you lot don't know you're born.

I am genuinely shocked by the number of people on this thread who are able and with no child and feel completely comfortable taking up a space designated for parents with child and would happily watch a mother struggle getting a baby out of a normal sized space because all the parent/child spaces were taken...simply because they want to be marginally closer to the shops.

My gasted is flabbered.

I have two slings and two carriers, my baby screams in all of them except one, my ergobaby embrace but I've also got complications from an epidural that mean I can't wear them for long anyway. Not that lugging the car seat around does my back any good either, but at least I can set it down on the specific car seat trolleys.

I am looking forward to putting him in a child seat trolley. I still think they're a bit gross though.

Haha, I'm only in my 30s! Still nonsense.

Surely you need to open the door just as wide to get a young baby in and strapped up as you do to take the car seat out? 🤔

Yes.

I like to pop my big 24 year old child in the parent & child space, either that or I park like a wanker over 2 spaces. It would be 3 if I could spread it that far.