Do you use parent & child spaces when you don’t have a child?

[incognito1991]

I’ve just got back from my local retail park, which is where my nearest supermarket is and getting increasingly wound up. My 2 year old DD was asleep so I sat in the car for 10 minutes until she woke and we could go to the shop. Within those 10 minutes I saw 3 different cars parking in a parent and child bay and it was only them, no child, not pregnant, just selfish. No matter where I go I struggle to get a parent and child space because they’re all taken up by idiots with no children, I even see people with older children use these spaces, I think they should specify it’s for babies and toddlers not your 10 year old. I really struggle getting my DD in and out of the car in a normal bay as I can’t open the door wide enough, can barely squeeze her in aswell as leaning in to strap her in. If you park in one of these spaces I’d love to hear your reasons please.

I don’t and haven’t done since my kids can do seatbelt up. But saying that I was still using one until age 7 as the way the car seat is in my car meant they struggled to do the seatbelt so had to lean in either over him or from the other side.

I wouldn’t use a space if I was on my own or with able bodied partner.

if the car park was super busy and there were bays free then I might use with the kids as I’m able to according to the signs.

I think part of the issue is that cars are so much bigger nowadays. It never used to be an issue because cars were smaller so the space between cars were larger.

in in of our local shops it get so busy and only a few parent bays. I mostly see big vans there with a guy eating his lunch. That I think isn’t on.

I also think some car seats and pushchairs have got more big and fancy. Not all but it does add to the problem.

I do remember parking in a parent bay when heavily pregnant!! I just couldn’t get in or out otherwise. I was huge!

with bigger cars we need bigger spaces!

I wonder if they were further from the entrance they would be less abused.

the one near us by entrance is abused by van men. The one in other shop with the bays further away are used more sensibly.

Some people are just lazy and selfish I think.

I have said before, 'wait, you've forgot your kid.' 🙈

To be fair, I don't think its laziness with vans, but is more because of the width of them so it's either take up 2 spaces or park in a wider space which are generally parent and child.

Yep I do. I have a blue badge and require the extra space

I’m almost 38 weeks now with a 2 year old. I don’t care about parking close to a shop, we generally try and find a space with a free bay next to it so we can get DC out.

i needed to pop into a shop for a pair of flip flops for my hospital bag and there were 3 spaces free right in front of the store that were just normal bays so I said to my partner just park there ok only be a couple of minutes. Unfortunately I have severe pelvic girdle pain at the moment so I literally have to have the door wide open and manoeuvre myself out with the help of my partner swinging my legs for me ( it does look very dramatic 🤣) . As he was helping me a very impatient lady started revving her engine and honking her horn as I was taking a bit of time to move but bear in mind there was another free space on the other side. When we came back out she’d parked so close to us I couldn’t even get my bump through the gap. I could see her in the shop looking and laughing. I wouldn’t have parked in a disabled space as I’m not disabled and there were no p&p bays. I just couldn’t believe her pettiness and obvious deliberate obstructive parking.

I don't need to, I park across the other side. I did this when my kids were little too, before P&C spaces were a thing.
I have seen disabled and elderly park in our local supermarket carpark in the child spaces, because the spaces are close to the door. Parents need space, not necessarily to be next to door. Disabled and elderly need to be close.

Disabled and don’t live in an area where supermarkets deliver. Is that alright

That and the lower priced ones (Lidl and Aldi) do not deliver at all.
And maybe some people want to do something normal like visit a supermarket. Maybe have a tea if they have a cafe.

I do this with my mum, she doesn’t have a blue badge but has mobility issues I just drop her at or very near the door then go park the car and meet her inside

Na your not allowed to, disabled people should be neither seen or heard. Yetone’s post is the most privileged, ego driven , inappropriate comment I have read on here in a long time. Everybody is one move away from accidents and illness that could leave them in a position they thought they would never be in.

None of that is correct.

Sure, you have many good reasons to use it but others might also and there's no point judging and getting annoyed. The people you saw might have been pregnant, disabled, sick, or picking someone up who had a problem, how would you know.

They don’t exist for safety and practicality at all.

they exist because of marketing.

Not at all, It is absolutely no skin off my nose where people want to go and where they park. I just don’t understand why anyone with walking difficulties would want to go to a supermarket. They are awful even without disabilities or kids in tow. I always have mine delivered.
I don’t know where you live but I thought there was almost universal coverage by supermarkets for online shopping within the UK.
@XenoBitch Yes some supermarkets who don’t do online deliveries are cheaper but then you have fuel and other car costs, especially if you live far from the supermarket.
I have no objection to anyone going out for a coffee. Why would I?

When you've been housebound, alone, for months, even making it into the supermarket, and interacting with the cashier, and getting to pick decent fruit and veg, and good date stamps, and avoiding dodgy substitutes, feels like an achievement.

I don’t use them anymore because my kids are 11 and 8 and I don’t need to. But it’s only been recently that my 8 year old has been able to strap himself in. Before that I would use the p&c spaces when he was with me as I needed to open the door wide to reach all the way over. It’s not just for babies and toddlers, some primary aged kids still need help as well as older children with SEN who might not qualify for a blue badge etc.

People with walking difficulties want to go to a supermarket because they don't feel they should be shut up indoors at home.

I would use CAB to help you appeal this blue badge. Get his consultant to write a letter backing his condition.

Of course people don’t want to be shut at home but there are better places to go than the supermarket.

Says who?

But provided that your children can get themselves into the seat you can reach a cross from the front to strap them in. I am in my 70s and I do this for my grandchildren.

Little Tesco mini supermarket near me which has two parent and child parking spaces.
My child no longer needs to be assisted out of the car but those two spaces are usually used by men in vans, people without a child and often a Dad with kids in the back with car engine running as the Mum runs into the shop to get something.
Some people are selfish wankers of the highest order of wankdom.

Exactly how did people cope before they were a thing?

However did we manage before this was a thing🤔🙄