AIBU to expect to find a "Parent and Child" space when I go to the supermarket?

[BikeRunSki]

I tend to shop at a huge Asda. We live in the countryside and it is our nearest supermarket.

Since DS was born 19 weeks ago, I guess I have been about 10 times. I always check out the Parent spaces and, so far, have never found one free. So I end up parking at the very far end of the car park where I can find two or three spaces together so I can open the car doors to get DS's car seat out and carry him miles to the shop. A lot of the time there have been cars in the P&C spaces that I suspect are not actually P&S cars (two seaters, sports cars with luggage all over the back seat).

On about half my visits there have not been any of those trolleys that I can put his car seat in either.

I have asked customer services if they could consider adding more P&C spaces or policing the existing ones. They have not been interested and have suggested that I shop at different times of day, although all my vists have been at different times of day! (well morning or afternoon, DS hasn't really got into 24hr shopping yet).

I would shop online, but they won't come to us.

The flip side is that our local economy is thriving as I can't be bothered with the big supermarkets any more. But they are handy for things like cans and breakfast cereal.

Were there literally no other spaces in the carpark, Starlight?

One possible solution for either a disabled driver or one with small children, if the disabled/P&T spaces are all full, is to find two empty spaces together and park squarely in the middle of those two spaces. Yes, it will look like crap parking, but there are plenty of people who park craply with no excuse so why worry; and yes, it may well be further from the store, but that might be better than going home without your shopping.

In that case, I can certainly understand your ire, Starlight.

On a related point, those valet spaces annoy me - meaning those spaces that are used by some car valeting franchise so that there can be several empty spaces that you can't use unless you pay £5 or more to have your car valeted. The carpark is supposed to be a facility for the shoppers.

I remember getting blasted for parking in a P&T space when pregnant with ds. Didn't have dd with me but could barely walk the spaces at our local supermarket do say that they are for parents with small children and expectant mothers! Person having a go was quite surprised when I waddled over to them and told them to go away as they didn't have a child with them either and as far as I could see he wasn't pregnant either!

i saw a non-mum parking in the P&C place last week. She got out and waltzed into the shop. I went up to her and in a very "nice i'm only try to help" voice told her that i'd heard cars were being clamped if they didn't have a car seat in the back. She ran back to the car as fast as her little legs would carry her [evil]

when you are lucky enought to have a disabled chid like me,and many others on here, you can park in p&c or disabled space.
So why is it that at my local sainsburys both are always full! I never get a chance, always have to drive back without ds.

Strangly, we have a smallish Waitrose in our town, and there are both p&c and disabled bays free about 90% of the time. Could you not move to Newmarket?

we used to use a very busy supermarket car park in south Dublin, and I once couldn't park in the P&T because they were full, but one of the cars in the P&T bays was disgorging a man and a reasonably elderly woman, and they had the disabled badge - but no children. I went and found an ordinary spot. When I came out I saw that another person who didn't have a badge but did have a MPV with 3 car seats for children had parked in a disabled bay and had got a ?50 ticket.

A battle over victimhood is never a pretty one.

I wonder - has any supermarket ever tried having spaces that are both disabled and parent and child? You could have some of each, and some that were dual use, iyswim - which would allow for some latitude for despairing mums like Starlight and for disabled people when all their bays are full.

Speaking personally, I've always thought that, if the disabled spaces were all full, then a disabled person had more need of the Parent and Child space than I did.

our local saisburys has bays that are P&t and disabled, so I had to wait for a bay whils a mum and a dad strolled to their car to put thei tiny baby in the car.

having a baby is not a disability.

Oh Miamla's post made me lolololol....that woman was definitely NOT a mum than....otehrwise she would have seen teh error in that logic

Well hear goes, I hav'nt read all post's so not sure if i'm gona be the one or not to start you all off, but as a DISABLED non able bodied mum of 5, we DISABLED, too have the same problem. When ever I go to the supermarket, I would like to be able to choose from one of the two catagories that I fall into, mum & child or DISABLED, But never can. I have MS and because of it cant always walk far, but everytime I go shopping I have to go a long distance. Why cant you walk?

ohhh. Post's like this make me so maaadd!!(angry)

My last GP told me I couldn't have a belt as they don't work (my physio told me to ask for one) and that I needed to exercise more as the pain helps! My physio wasn't impressed. I can't get out without a car so going to the GP is bit of a hassle anyway, I'm changing GP at the moment so will bring it up with them when I go to ask for my orthopaedic referral.

BTW I don't take a P&C space if I'm childless, but then I rarely am, if there isn't a space close enough I get dropped at the door. Pregnant women can use the P&C spaces too as they usually need the extra space.

I always thought P&C spaces were not about being close to the door but about being wide enough. I think some posters (and my local Tesco) have forgotten that.

You're right, TinkerBellesMum - like saint2shoes comment about having to wait whilst a mum and dad with a tiny baby took up the parent and child parking space she wanted. It may be some time since I had to do this, but I do remember that it's not easy to get a babyseat into a car - and strapped in safely - if you can't get the door open wide enough.

Any car park attendents out there that wish to make a bit of cash?? Well come to my local Mothercare World where assholes people park, without blue badges, in the very few disabled bays all the time.