Mother and Baby parking slots when did you stop?

[hmb]

As I was getting the children into the car on the way back from Tesco's a thought occured to me. When should you stop using them? I know that Tescos say 5. Dd is 6 and ds is 3, but they can now both get into and out of the car on their own, and I only have to do up the seat belt. This is a long way from the difficulties of, say, a parent with a toddler and a baby in a first stage car seat. So the question is, when should you stop using a parent and child car parking slot, and when did you stop?

I don't know really, I suppose maybe about 8 years old??? Anything under that seems so young still and anything over feels a bit too old for me to think of as a 'baby'.
I think you're safe from being hit over the head with a salami by an angry mother with a 19month old for a while yet!!!!

Our Tesco Parent & toddler permit is dated up to DD's 5th birthday (4 years to go). I would say that this 5 year policy takes road safety into consideration too, ie there is less car park area for the mother to shepherd her unruly 5 year old accross the nearer they are to the entrance. I would assume that they are confident that a 6 year old is a bit more aware ?

I am always struck by the number of infuriating people who park in those spaces who have NO children with them or even evidence of children in the car (car seats, crisp crumbs etc). The same goes for the ignorant bstads who park in the disabled spaces.... Grrrr.

Still haven't stopped hmb, I feel justified with 5 yo and being pregnant but do try to park near the shop but not in M&B if I can help it to leave those spaces free for people with tinies.

Sorry, obv I mean the ignorant people who park in disabled spaces who are clearly not disabled and/ or are not displaying a blue badge. After all the spaces are 'labelled' for blue badge holders and not as 'disabled spaces'.

On the disabled parking slot issue, I saw signs by them in France, 'if you take my parking slot,please also take my disability', which I thought made the point quite well. Mind you, the Frence seemed to have even more people who use these slots when they shouldn't than we do in Britain

Honestly, it drives me up the wall.

DS1 is 4 and DS2 is 2 and I just look for the closest parking stop to the entrance, excluding disabled one of course.
I'd say 90% of the time it happens to be a normal space and I keep a tight grip on their hands until we get DS2 into the trolley. If DH comes shopping which is rarely he will drive around the car park for ages trying to find the perfect space, whilst driving past about 10 spaces that are close to the doors/cashpoint just to get a baby/kiddie space. I drives (no pun intended) mad!

What about those helpful people who park nice and close to the child seat side of your car so you have to squeeeeeeze in?

Olive - Twice I have had someone park so close that I had to put dd through the hatch back and almost climb in the boot myself to get her into the car one day as someone had parked so close I could not even get down the side of my car - lucky the back as split seats you can lay down....

Hope you didn't have a sharp zip or the like on your bag that dragged down the side of their car. All the way along. That would have been awful.....

DS is 2.5 and I have stopped using them. In my car he has a booster seat he can climb into on his own so don't need to open the doors that wide and I just think that its more hassle than its worth trying to fight for that last space that some harassed mother of 3 probably needs more than me. Although it seriously peeves me that some lazy sod minus child will probably benefit. If I had a 2.5 yo and another (say 4.5) I might use the spaces but as it is a just tend to park in an ordinary trolley bay, take DS, put him a trolley and then head off to the shop. My Asda has a 5yo age limit sign.

To answer hmb's original question I stopped when DS was able to walk reliably to the trolley bay and we had the high back booster which makes it less like posting him into his car seat (approx 22 months).

I will stop when ds is old enough to climb into the car himself. I thought the whole idea of child parking was that you need space to open the door and stand there for ages trying to buckle up a baby or toddler who doesn't want to wear seatbelts......

It really irritates me when I see people parking in these spaces and theyr 14 and 16 year-olds come out of the car. Shouldn't they at least be able to remember the times when they really needed these spaces ?

Until I no longer need to open the door fully to allow easy access to the car seats. But not past the age restrictions set by, for example, Tescos.

I also parked in them when heavily pregnant with DS1 on the grounds that I couldn't get out of the car in any other space!

I think that most of you feel the same as I did this morning. I'll be avoiding the Parents and Children slots from now on. Now all we need is for the parents of teenagers to stop using them

And I saw a mother in the front pasinger seat of a car holding on to her under 2 dd as they drove past.....

no Olive but I felt like leaving a sign requesting they leave me a canopener next time so I could get into my car..

when i no longer need the buggies and the car seats i'll stop.

I stopped using them when we moved to NZ ... 'cos they don't have them here!!!!!!!!
No, seriously, I think a good time to stop would be when you no longer need a buggy and your child can climb in on his/her own.
I complained at Safeway once as I saw a young chap park in a M & B space and just sit there snogging his girlfriend. After finding my space (10 minutes later at the end of the car park) I walked past and they were still at it. Then she got out and was wearing their uniform! ... I am normally one not to make a fuss but I saw red and marched up to customer services and pointed her out to the manager! So out of character for me, but I was fuming!!!!

probably when we move to aus as they are quite rare around the stores near where we will live.

But having said that when dd can walk by herself - about 5 or 6 perhaps.

When my first two daughters were able to get in and out the car themselves I stopped using the spaces...I started using them again when I was heavily pregnant with dd3. I think there should be a cut off point and I too get really angry when I see parents with older children parking there.

My married but childless brother thinks nothing of using M&B spaces wherever he is. I have argued till I'm blue in the face but the way he sees it, he has as much "right" as anyone else to park there. Have tried to explain its not so much as "rights" as "necessity" but have had no effect. Oh, and did I mention he's a police inspector. He does my head in!

Send your brother out in the car with your children and see how he gets on in an ordinary space! Would he park in a disabled spot? He has as much right to park in one of those as a M&B spot (ie none).

I used to use them when I was very pregnant, even if I didn't have my toddler with me, as I often found that I couldn't get out of the car in an ordinary space. The new Asda in Park Royal is very civilised: as well as Disabled and Parent-with-Toddler bays, it also has Pregnant bays!

Wiicked Stepmother I agree with you on the no evidence people. I also infuriates me when disabled drivers uses the PAT bays. I don't use theirs so why should they use mine?
I stopped 1st time when DS1 was 5. DS2 and DS3 are both still under 5 but I only use them if I have one, other or both of them with me.

I had a big row with an old man who parked in a pat space when my dd was tiny and it was raining. He kept waving his disabled badge in my face so i made him come and look in my car at the baby, he moved to the next bay....a DISABLED one!!!!! It felt great at the time but i was in tears that night to my dp saying, "oh poor old man i bet i upset him....." (dont regret it now though)

Some people are just plain lazy.