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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to use the parent/child parking spaces whilst being heavily pregnant??

175 replies

STIGZ · 30/12/2009 17:08

was jst wondering wot ppl think of this??

my boyfriend has parked in these spaces a couple of times for me if the only other available one is 10 miles away from the door!

I feel bad when he does this but it must admit its great not have to walk any further than i have to in peeing rain with my dodgy back and preganacy waddle!!

he says "you are a parent with a child....you jst cant see it yet!!(well not all of it!!)

am i being a pregnant lazy sod ??

OP posts:
carocaro · 31/12/2009 02:37

I use to towards the end, when I was massive, I had to be able to open the car door the whole way to be able to get in and out, and in normal spaces you can't ever open the door the whole way or even half way most of the time.

I once had to get this guy to reverse my car from a space because some 4x4 had parked really close to my door and I just could not get in any which way! It was in a car park with no P&C spaces.

carocaro · 31/12/2009 02:42

I use them now with my 2 year old, but not if I am with my 7 year old, he hates them, he's gwon up don't you know! If we are all together he growns if I use a P&C space, I use it the space so I can get the door open wode enought to wrestle 2 year old into his seat.

It's about being able to open the door wide enough and not about being a lazy arse!

sarah293 · 31/12/2009 05:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

mvemjsunp · 31/12/2009 06:17

If it is space you need, there is usually loads at the far end of the car park.

sweetkitty · 31/12/2009 07:08

There's usually such a fight for the P&T spaces and it's a pain to reverse when the supermarkets busy as there's usually some idiot sees you getting back into your car and waits (holding everyone else up) for you to reverse so they can nab your space. I actually prefer to park a little bit away from the P&T spaces and get some room and usually a drive through space which means it's a lot easier to get out, even pregnant with SPD and toddlers.

My cousin always parks her 2 seater sports car in P&T spaces as she thinks no one will bash the side of it with a trolley

meangreenmotherfromouterspace · 31/12/2009 07:59

At our sainsbury's the sign clearly says the P&C spaces are for ppl with 1 or more chn up to 12 years of age.

If i have my 3yo with me, I park in a P&C space for safety and convenience. If I only have my 11yo with me I wouldn't dream of it.

Far more reasonable for a pregnant woman to park in one than a parent with a 12 yo imo!

bogie · 31/12/2009 08:05

If there is quite a few P&C spaces then its ok but if not then park somewhere else. I have a 3 yo a 1 yo and very preg with dc3 and I get super pissed off when I can't get in p&c and I can see that half the people in them don't have children or have teenages.

ben5 · 31/12/2009 08:10

shopping on line is great as long as the shops deliver to you.!!!! (had this problem when preg with number 1 in scotland). have since moved to australia and they don't have many parent spaces and even the disable ones aren't always close to the entrance of the shops. the advantage of this is that the spaces don't get abused!!!!!

Longtalljosie · 31/12/2009 08:19

YABU - but nowhere near as bloody U as people who a) use an unused carseat as a free pass despite the fact their children are at home or b) use them despite the fact their children are old enough to sit in the front (still fuming at an example of the latter who nipped into the last P&C place ahead of me in the pouring rain just before Christmas).

Longtalljosie · 31/12/2009 08:20

Oh and OP - the text speak is a bit annoying

flyingdolphin · 31/12/2009 09:07

It wouldn't bother me at all if a pregnant woman parked in the P&C parking, and wouldn't have bothered me when my dcs were little either.

I think YANBU.

morningpaper · 31/12/2009 09:11

I used these after an incident where I got my belly wedged in the car door

It's humiliating

They need special Whale Parking

TubbyDuffs · 31/12/2009 09:15

Wait until you have a couple of kids to get out with you and there are no p&c places left, then see how you feel.

If your not fit to walk through a car park, how do you manage to do the actual shopping?

whifflegarden · 31/12/2009 09:19

I wish they'd move the bloody things further away from the door.

smallorange · 31/12/2009 09:22

I never use the bloody things as I can't be arsed to look for them and think they are ridiculous anyway. As for pregnant women getting special hedges....FDA

smallorange · 31/12/2009 09:25

The text speak is totally unreasonable.

Anyway a bit of exercise does you a world of good in the last trimester

VirginPeachyMotherOfSpod · 31/12/2009 09:28

'what annoys me is when people use these spaces and they have older children (eg more than 7 or 8) because by that point the kids can walk and get themselves out of the car.'

That'sme then sometimes.GO on havea go next timewe meet (wellwemight, who knows?) I find people get rather embarassed when I xplain that we'vealmost lost ds3 twice in the past year due to his asd and the Council refusedme a pass so I have to do what I can to jeep him safe.

I dofeellike I don't exist though,accidentally parked in disbaled space (was badly signed, thought it was P&T) in sainsbo,got awarning for aticket;they saidcouldn't use P&T either.

In some ways I wish I'dget a fine as then the Ocuncil might be forced to address it rather thansend out standard mails saying Autism is not aphysial disability so no blue badge (it is BTW,its a form of brain damage, but addressing that would mean apile ofwork for them).

I have 2with asd btw so doubly hard tolock doors, carry bags etc when with them. I don'teven try unless its an emergency. Even with DH yesterday (we needed food) it was hellish with them fighting /running off/ stimming etc. wouldn't have nbothered only supermarket delivery cancelled for risk of snow.

wahwah · 31/12/2009 09:38

See this is what annoys me, a need is identified and people then put inflexible rules around it. Peachy is clearly in greater need than most of us, so she should have the spaces without being hassled. If OP feels a bit fragile, indulge her. I'd never moan at her for using a space up and I don't know why any woman would, moan at the store for not making all parking accessible to those in need. You're all abunch of meanies!

GhoulsAreLoud · 31/12/2009 09:42

I didn't consider myself temporarily disabled at the end of my pregnancy!

Many, many pregnant women are perfectly mobile whilst overdue.

Obviously conditions like SPD etc can make life really difficult but I hate all this preciousness about being pregnant.

smallorange · 31/12/2009 09:51

I agree ghouls. Plenty off women are coping with two dc while pregnant with their third child. Doing the school run/ shopping etc.

I live two floors up and regularly hauled shopping/ toddlers/ buggies u the stairs in the last trimester.

There is a world of difference between being pregnant and being disabled

CommonNortherner · 31/12/2009 10:05

Sheesh, I'm very overweight and I was a week overdue with a 12lb 4oz baby and still managed a 20 min walk into town to catch the bus to the hospital for an appointment!

And for what it's worth, no buses around here stop less than a whole car park away from a supermarket!

Morloth · 31/12/2009 10:35

It really would make more sense for them to be moved right to the back of the carpark, with some sort of easy path arranged between the P&C spots and the door - would mean plenty of room for loading kids/buggies and would free up some extra spaces for disabled spots.

Late pregnancy is indeed a PITA but bearing anything being wrong it isn't a disability.

nellie12 · 31/12/2009 11:14

of course its worth bearing in mind that the arguments that apply to a pregnant women sing p&c spaces also apply to parents of small children.

to make life easier one could a) leave dc with other half and shop in peace.
b) get oh to drop you off to start shop whilst he looks for a suitable parking space for dc
c) park at the other end of the car park so as to have plenty of space (the walk will do dc good and teach road sense)
d)do shopping online
e) oh could circle round car park with dc in car while you shop.

this would have several advantages.

there would be more spaces for the disabled who have to use p&c spaces when ther sector is full up thus engaging the wrath of irate parents.

It would mean more space in the shops.
And very importantly we'd all spend less - no dc whining "can I have?"

(you didn't think those spaces are there because out of the goodness of the supermarkets heart did you?)

Blondeshavemorefun · 31/12/2009 11:24

its a shame that shops dont put P+T spaces near the back - its the extra space we want- not the short walk to the shops (unlike disabled people)

i have reported a few people who park in P+T spaces who are on their own and obv not pregnant (like the man ) and got them clamped

op - yes you are being a pregnant lazy sod your boyfriend is driving so he can drop you off at door, find another space and meet you in the shop

piscesmoon · 31/12/2009 11:37

I can see that they need extra space for the doors but I can't see why they need to be near the doors to the shop.

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