Parent and toddler parking

[mumbojumbo]

I completely lost the plot today at my local M&S / Tesco in Camberley. I had been hunting a parking space for some time when I spotted a parent and toddler space become vacant. Before I could get there, another car nicked the spot. I noticed pretty quickly that it was full of adults (senior citizens). I have nothing against seniors but being 39+1 weeks pregnant with a 23 month old toddler in tow, the red mist decended! I went over and had a word with the driver to the tune of.....did he realise that this was a space for parents with young children.....the reply from one of the passengers was that they had someone who couldn't walk very far and there were no disabled spaces (no disabled badge either). Normally I'm quite laid back about this, but I did point out that I'm 39 weeks pregnant and I can't walk that far either.......!

OMG, I've never taken it out on someone before, it must be those pregnancy hormones again .

What got me even more incensed was I spotted another car with adults in and no kids hogging a parent and toddler space on my way out!

There, rant over feel much better now.

I park my trolley over the end of their car before I leave so they can be inconvenienced too

We have a blue badge as ds 3, has mild cerebral palsy. TWICE i have been questioned by busy bodies at Sainsburys and they were both elderly! One had the grace to aplogise when i put them straight but the other one said ' he looks allright to me' and drove off. I was , unusually , totally speechless!

We have a blue badge as ds 3, has mild cerebral palsy. TWICE i have been questioned by busy bodies at Sainsburys and they were both elderly! One had the grace to aplogise when i put them straight but the other one said ' he looks allright to me' and drove off. I was , unusually , totally speechless!

We have a blue badge as ds 3, has mild cerebral palsy. TWICE i have been questioned by busy bodies at Sainsburys and they were both elderly! One had the grace to aplogise when i put them straight but the other one said ' he looks allright to me' and drove off. I was , unusually , totally speechless!

sorrreee

Mabs I agree that must really wind you up. And the disabled space thing is a lot less clear cut than whether you have a small child or not which is pretty obvious.

this is what worries me MABS. I am entitled to a blue badge, but shopping with ds1 is enough of a chore without having to justify his disability to all and sundry. I'll have to be like Davros and have my answer ready.

Which reminds me I have a DLA mobility form to fill out. yuck yuck yuck yuck yuuck

Jimjams - have just filled in the mobility dla form for ds, horrendous isn't it. Sent it off this week but don't really hold out much hope. You have my sympathies - best of luck. BTW - go for the blue badge, it really helps and i have only been challenged twice on it.

Coddy - love the trolley across the back of their car trick. Will make sure I use it regularly.

While I was complaining at the gym yesterday the ladies behind the desk told me that someone parking in P&T places without a child was parking illegally, and that they do paste notices on cars they are informed about and that they "have a clamp" (although no indication that they use it).

If it wasn't so frustrating it would make me laugh a lot that it is a the gym I have these problems - these people go and work out for an hour, but can't be arsed to walk an extra 10 metres to their car!

I totally agree that there are never enough mother & baby/toddler spaces and it would be great if something coudl be done to get more. However, I don't think anyone should be questioning the ratio to disabled spaces but to other/normal spaces. Leave the disabled out of it. As for sharing spaces, NO WAY! Have you heard the things that parents of disabled children and disabled individuals have to go through? I would not be happy to find disabled bays unavailable because every mother with a baby/toddler was also allowed to use them and I do go shopping with just my baby and have to park without using the disabled badge. In fact, that reminds me that today I went to B&Q (ugh) and there were NO baby shopping trolleys so I went to the inforamtion desk and told them. A couple of dumb staff members said "oh well, we don't have one". So I had a firm but nice word about, so people with babies can't shop here? One of them got off her a#+e and fetched one from Sainsburys up the other end of the car park

Davros,
I only used the disabled spaces as an example of this shopping centres inconsistency. They have a brilliant number of spaces and I'm pleased that they do - they are in an excellent location (to my non-disabled eyes) and they are never all taken, which means there are enough to cope with a sudden rush. If they didn't have any Mother and Baby spaces at all, I wouldn't have even thought about it. I just think if they are going to offer them they should do it properly, have a good number in a suitable place and make them a bit wider than normal.

btb, totally agree. The proportion of mums 'n' babes must be quite high in any shopping centre or supermarket and the number of special bays does not seem to reflect this. Also agree the spaces should be bigger.

I think there are planning and building guidelines which specify the number of disabled spaces - its not entirely at the discretion of shops and other public places

Davros our local B&Q is obviously much more forward thinking than yours. They have the grand total of 1 baby trolley and one twin baby trolley. None suitable for baby/toddler mind you. BUT... because all of the other trolleys are on the pound deposit thing and these two aren't usually someone with neither a pound nor a baby has normally taken them.

Talking ouf trollies our local ASDA has a fantastic array of the. We have normal child seat trollies with either 1 or 2 seats, baby ones with either an attachment for a car seat to go on or a baby seat affixed, trollies which are a combination of both. BUT on top of that we have other ones. For example there is one with 3 baby seats and one toddler seat. There is another with 2 toddler seats and a baby seat. And some even have places for the pushchair to go underneath. Not sure where the shopping goes though!

I would sgree that theres seems to be no end of disabled spaces. am sure the ratio is wrong.

In Germany they have womens spaces in underground carparks - sos that they are particularly well lit and on the street level

The thought of shopping where you'd need 3 baby seats and one toddler seat in a trolley fills me with horror!!

Slightly off topic, but I find that most supermarkets have a range of trollies, even ones for disabled children, but what they don't have are highchairs suitable for disabled kids, in their cafes (or any eating place in general). Lost count of the times we have struggled to get ds2 into a highchair, and had to leave, so now we bought our own to take along. Last time I asked if they had anything more suitable, I was met with a blank stare, before the "assistant" wandered off.

Yesterday while at Tesco, I was sitting in the car while dh loaded the shopping in, and watched 2 cars pull into mums and tots spaces with no kids and obviously fit adults in them. And the car park was nowhere near full.

And our local sainsbury's doesn't have double toddler trolleys- only small baby + toddler. So I go to tesco instead when I have ds2 with me. Yep at 4 he is perfectly capable of walking, but try telling that to an autistic kid who has always sat in a trolley- I wouldn't get him in the store (i've tried tokeep him out of the trolley Tesco).

Remember that Mums and baby spaces were only introduced as a marketing ploy- Can't remember who introduced them first, but they were popular and the other supermarkets followed suit. I think the disables spaces are far more of a necessity than Mums and toddlers to be honest. And I don't have ds1's blue badge yet so I've never used one in my life- I'm not being biased.

today i spotted 7 people using the parent and toddler spaces who didnt have kids. i spoke to someone at asda and they have just introduced parking wardens, and in future anyone using the parents and baby spaces or disabled bays with no kids or a valid badge they'll be getting a £40 fine.
the parents and child spaces are abused at the galleria,(hatfield) spotted two 'older' ladies using the spaces with no kids in tow. anyone who has ever been there will know that access to the shops is very hard as there is only lift access on level 7, level 3-4 is for disabled and parents with kids as these levels give direct access to the shops. all the rest u have to use the stairs or the ramps in the car parks.

The Galleria parking layout is crap really isn't it?

it is bloody awful. worse now the students have taken over......

Students?

Lou33, the university has moved and there isn't enough parking so the students are allowed to use the Galleria car park.

And for all you mums of disabled kids, you could ask the manager to order a special trolley for disabled kids. I know that at Safeways (where I used to work) one mum asked for one and one was ordered.....