Snapped in the parent and child parking

[seize]

Juggling my 3 month old from their baby carrier trying to get them into the car seat, a car pulls in and asks me to close my door, while I’m halfway into getting my baby in their seat.

Out hops a child in school uniform about 10 years old, not help needing any help to get out, my face must have had an expression of surprise. Someone in need of this space being asked to stop what they’re doing to allow someone not in need of the space to use it. The adult said “ignorant” loudly at me. So I snapped back, “these spaces are for people with babies and children that need help getting in and out, they aren’t for older children” she snaps something back at me about not knowing how old their child is (the one that is in school uniform, fairly tall, that needed no help getting out and is now safely stood in a car park without the adult needing to have them in their line of sight) and the bratty child screams “yeah!”.

I’ve had it with these spaces, they aren’t a convenience for people that happen to have a person under the age of 16 with them. They’re for people who genuinely need the help getting them in and out and need the extra space.

Anyone can park in a child and parent space. It's not like a disabled space. It doesn't matter how old your kids are or even if you have kids no-one can stop you parking there.
The woman in question sounds like a twat though. She should have just waited or parked somewhere else.
My local supermarket have moved the child and parent spaces to the back of the car park and they're normally empty now..
I also had a run in with a parent at a different supermarket who was shouting at me for using a parent and child space. I had my disabled mother in law with me and there were no disabled places left. She shut up pretty quickly when she saw MIL. The best bit was I saw her in the supermarket with a child who looked about 9 or 10 so she didn't actually need the p&c space.
OP was in the right but it's not a protected space and the other woman was entitled to park there ( but shouldn't have been a twat)

I live in a major city and the prevalence of people carriers/landrovers/range rovers is insane. The parking spaces could be bigger, but for reasons unknown people choose to- or struggle to- drive humongous, gas guzzling monstrosities. I would hazard a guess that the majority of people do not actually require a land rover in an urban area. Perhaps people should choose smaller, more eco-friendly cars?

I don't think you over reacted to the comment but when mine were in carriers I would have stood and pulled the door in whilst they were parking

I can't understand how these people dont get ticketed, if we parked in a disabled bay we get penalised yet mother and baby is a free for all 😤

A few days ago we parked in between two cars in Mother and baby our DD is 3. Both were adults, no children, just sat scrolling on their phones. My partner challenged one of them and he instantly pulled out his disabled badge saying I am entitled to park where I want. That's ok except all the disabled bays were empty so why park there? My partner apologised and we nipped into morrisons for a few bits. As we came out and was loading our car, both owners of the cars were walking back to their vehicles with trolleys... not trolley full of amazon parcels 😡 we were fuming to say the least and why that fella had a disabled badge is completely baffling when he was clearly up and down on his feet. Some people are a disgrace....

I can't understand how these people dont get ticketed, if we parked in a disabled bay we get penalised yet mother and baby is a free for all 😤

The only way the two are comparable is they are parking spaces.

Disabled spaces are a legal requirement, those who NEED them often can’t go out without access to one.

P and C are a courtesy provided by shops. They are handy if free but they aren’t esssential.

Place baby in seat, one hand on baby, make sure door isn’t jutting out with the other, 1 second tops, it’s not rocket science?

For what it’s worth the other parent should have just waited but if your door was blocking that much it’s also a bit unnecessary.

You need a blue badge to park in disabled spaces. Parent and child spaces are a courtesy.

Also who are you to determine if he needs a BB?

OP has a 3 month old plus another one under 3 (going by the double pushchair). Of COURSE she was annoyed. Everything is annoying when you're knackered and the kids are small. Getting small people in and out of car seats is a massive ball ache.

I once lost our on the last P&C space to a couple with no children when I had 2 under 4 and was heavily pregnant. I'd have happily run them over with my buggy!

@seize next time tell them to wait. People are dicks!

Maybe they needed it, maybe they were a dick. We’ll never know, but I tend to assume that if someone is using them with an older dc then there’s other challenges they face and quite honestly picking up a baby from a car is probably a lot easier.

DISABLED BAYS You may only get 'penalised' if there was a traffic warden etc on duty. And they tend not to be in supermarket car parks.
It's not illegal and you won't get points on your licence.

As PP has said, parent and child bays are a 'perk' offered by shops. They are not legally just for people with children.

I've seen so many cars parked in my supermarket in those bays that don't have child car seats in them, so even if there is a child in they probably don't need to use those bays.

I admit to using one once when I HAD to go into the shop to collect something and no other spaces were available at all.

They are 'perks' for parents to make it all a bit easier but years ago we all manged fine without them.

More of an issue is that bays in car parks are too small for cars now which are bigger than ever and many families drive massive 4 x 4s.

Love how the old old woman goes from saying ignorant "loudly" per OP to "yelling" it! Next she'll shoving the OP and swearing

The woman with the older child was rude and out of order, but I'd have bitten my tongue and moved on. These things are not worth getting into a spat over, no matter how 'right' you feel you are.

It just creates bad feeling.

I remember those days. Trying to strap a baby in the car in a tight space because someone had parked too close next to me. The P&C bays are a dream. That woman was being ridiculous. Athough technically she could use that bay, there was obviously no need for her to use it so she should behave herself and not try and dominate someone who does actually need to use it.

The worst thing in supermarkets were the loos if you couldn't go into the baby changing loo. My baby carrier was too big for the door to close so sometimes I ended up going to the loo with the baby on my lap. I was ridiculous with my first child. Made everything so hard for myself!

You’re annoyed at yourself for not setting a completely sensible boundary.

You should have said “one moment” and finished putting your baby in properly.

you don’t have to accommodate every request.

No, CFs are not normally embarrassed by their behaviour. It's a feature, not a bug.

How was OP being ignorant by stopping what she was doing as requested? No words had been exchanged at this point

YANBU!

As soon as as a child is out of a car seat then they don’t parents shouldn’t be using the P&C spaces (disabilities aside).

It’s so selfish and inconsiderate.

I would be ashamed of myself if I used one just for convenience with my 8 and 11 year old children whilst a new mum was having to use a normal car parking space whilst trying to get a car seat out of the car too.

Some people’s selfishness and self-entitled attitudes really baffle me sometimes.

Why can’t people just be considerate to other people?
I don’t get it.

Your 8 year old is out of a car seat?

You should have the child lock operational so that your child causes no harm either to himself or to other people/property.

i hate thus drams around parent and child spaces. put them at the very back of the carpark, problem solved.
you re not disabled, you need room to get in and out.
if they hadnt put them at the front, they d be no drama.

also how do you know that child didnt have some invisible disabilities?

i get that you were pissed but why did you not ask them to wait?

I’m a bit confused by this - how exactly are Meadowhall enforcing the spaces ? As. Far as the law is concerned anyone can park in a P&C space. Unlike blue badge disabled parking they are not legally enforceable so how are Meadowhall actually policing them ?

Wow, leas scrutinize the difference between loud and yelling, it was called out loud enough for me to hear once I had walked around and was getting into the drivers seat on the other side of my car that she was stood on, it was called out as an insult. I have never called a stranger ignorant before, that’s the rudest aspect surely, the quantification of volume by the victim of the insult is surely the irrelevant part.

omg I yelled at someone last week about this. I had my young child and my toddler with me. Regular spot. One car beside me on driver side. Empty spot beside passenger side. Got older one out and had them standing at stroller, holding it, to keep them near while I was half in the car un-doing toddler's seat and lifting them out. A car in the aiskeaay was starting to turn INTO THE SPOT while my car door was wide open, I was lifting child out and other child with stroller in their path. I screamed: Jesus Christ just wait a minute! What's wrong with you?! (Or something like that). Not my finest moment with my children. Other driver did look surprised and drove away though! 🫣(it was an older man and I didn't think before I let loose) to be fair, i think he was trying to be first into the empty spot in a busy lot with on-coming traffic and made a poor decision turning quickly as opposed to trying to hit my child etc. But, jeeezus!

They were being dicks for not waiting when you were clearly getting a baby into its seat. The 10-12 year old could easily have nipped across and got out the other side if they were in that much of a rush. I think if it happens again just ignore - it takes as long as it takes. I wouldn't have got onto an argument about the age of their child- they're clearly looking for confrontation in the first place and it's best not to feed it.

This is not correct. Disabled bays marked out in yellow with a wheelchair symbol in the centre are for blue badge holders only and they are legally enforceable. Doesn’t matter if they are on street or in a car park, you’ll get fined if you park without a badge, whether it’s by a traffic warden or a car park attendant.

Disabled bays marked in white are advisory only and the advice is to leave them free for badge holders, but these are not legally enforceable.

There are on street bays in residential roads which are marked out in white for the use of a disabled resident. These fall into two categories - standard bays which are advisory and should be left for the resident, and legally enforceable permit specific disabled bays which are for the sole use of a severely disabled resident. These will have the permit number printed on the outside of the bay marking. The resident has to display the corresponding permit as well as the blue badge and the fine is £1000 for unauthorised parking.