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Parenting

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Original poster

Some new mums are worrying me

119 replies

Marekesque · 29/07/2014 19:51

I feel very strongly about what I am seeing so I have found this place to share my thoughts...

Today I saw three separate incidents of mums leading their child / children out into the road to get into the baby seat fitted to the off side of the car.

In some countries it is against the law to get into, or out of a car on the off-side ( road side ) for obvious reasons. It is dangerous.

Seeing these little children being walked into the road just looked so wrong. Surely a mother would park her car to make sure the baby seat is on the near side ( pavement side ) to ensure the total safety of her baby / child getting into and out of the car ?

Whilst I'm here, two other things...

Baby buggies are very handy, the child is almost on the ground so no fear of it falling out of the buggy, and buggies are light etc... but, from what I see, the baby/toddler is facing forward, and cannot see its mum and is detached from its Mum. Add to that along the typical busy high street the poor child is at exhaust pipe level of all the traffic, breathing in all those fumes, and how many times have I, as a driver, seen the front of a buggy being pushed out from behind parked cars, before I see the mum safely behind the child she is pushing into the road.

Lastly, with the proliferation of mobile phones, I cannot count the number of mums I see pushing a sad looking toddler in the buggy looking ahead with no connection with the mum, whilst she is talking on her phone. The apparent lack of connection is hard to ignore.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

SlicedAndDiced · 29/07/2014 20:05

Actually our car seat is on the roadside of the car.

Dp read something about most collisions impacting the drivers side so we did that. I don't think it really matters.

I generally do tend to have a quick peek in the road before I shove my child into it though

MadameDefarge · 29/07/2014 20:05

Welcome to MN, OP.

Thumbwitch · 29/07/2014 20:06

What did you want to get from this post, Marakesque? A bunch of people agreeing with you? Not very likely.

With more than one child it's not always possible to put them in from the pavement side of the car. I, for e.g., have my older son getting out on the pavement side because he is 6, can get out by himself but has insufficient road sense to get out roadside. So the baby has to be put into his car seat on the roadside as I couldn't manage that from pavement side. Did this consideration even enter your head, or do you have only one or no child?

With the pushchair - what are you expecting? Everyone to go back to carriage prams that don't fold up and go into a car? As for "pushing the buggy out first" - well what exactly do you expect parents to do, pull it along like being a horse in a carriage?

As for the "sad faced babies" with mother on mobile phone - you are seeing a moment in their lives. You have no idea how long she has been on that phone, whether it is in any way related to the baby's sad face or anything about them really.

But it's nice for you to sit in such judgement on all these people, I'm sure.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Families General parenting

morethanpotatoprints · 29/07/2014 20:06

Well OP, some of us have brain cells and didn't do stuff like that. In fact most parents don't. They must have seen you coming love.
Back to school soon

magpiegin · 29/07/2014 20:07

I would worry about yourself and your own kids if I were you OP?

isthisanacidtest · 29/07/2014 20:07

DD is currently on her mobile phone. I can do a sadface. Would that redress the balance somewhat?

OneSkinnyChip · 29/07/2014 20:07

We're not allowed to do the whole thing any more, are we?

OneSkinnyChip · 29/07/2014 20:07

Acid I love you for the sad face X-post :o

KeemaNaanAndCurryOn · 29/07/2014 20:08

I have two children, one on each side of the car. I doubt that the mums in question will have chosen to take their children onto the road side in the face of heavy traffic. Suc

Top tip - parents LOVE it when someone tells them how they could parent better. Make sure that you start with that at any groups you may go to or when you meet other parents. I guarantee that you'll be an instant hit!

isthisanacidtest · 29/07/2014 20:08

oneskinnychip

KeemaNaanAndCurryOn · 29/07/2014 20:08

Suc? What the heck happened there.

Heathcliff27 · 29/07/2014 20:08

What??? No hard hats anymore pfftt

ThisFenceIsComfy · 29/07/2014 20:10

I have a pushchair and the seat can face me or face out. When DS wad about one, he started to prefer looking forwards instead of facing me. I was a bit teary about it at the time actually!

However you must look at me and think "what a terrible mother"

Thumbwitch · 29/07/2014 20:12

Back to the parking/car seat issue - in Australia you're only allowed to park on the side of the road in the direction you're going (so the left side only), unlike in the UK, so I know that Ds1 will always be pavement side and DS2 will always be roadside - but they also have wide parking bays with solid white lines along the edge of many roads where shops are in the "country" towns around where I live, and the roads are wider, so usually you can open your car door without fear of having it sliced off by passing traffic.

pommedeterre · 29/07/2014 20:13

Hilarious op!!

...it was a joke right?!

ShadowFall · 29/07/2014 20:14

OP - I have 2 children. They both need to sit in a car seat. The car seats are in the back of the car, one on each side. The toddler can get into his car seat unaided if he's in a rare co-operative mood (if he's feeling uncooperative, we're into wrestling an octopus territory), but the baby is unable to get into his car seat unaided.

What's the approved method for getting them both in the car without ever going on the road side?

Babyfishcakes · 29/07/2014 20:16

Bwhahahaha OP. Seriously? Ain't nobody got time for this!

ShadowFall · 29/07/2014 20:20

Although as far as pushing the pushchair out into the traffic first goes - perhaps the OP is talking about people who don't check traffic properly until they are at the edge of the curb, meaning that they've pushed the pushchair into the road before they stop to check for traffic.

I've seen people do that a few times and that's not really safe for the child in the pushchair.

Jinty64 · 29/07/2014 20:21

My first two dc's are very close in age but, dig this, I didn't have to put one of them on the road side of the car because.... Wait for it..... Drum roll..... We put the rear facing baby seat in the front of the car. We didn't have airbags in those days (dh's car still doesn't).

My babies faced away from me, looking out at all the interesting things going on round about them. They didn't need to sit looking into my eyes because, guess what, I was able to chat and interact with them at home where they spent a lot of their time. Luckily we live in an area where we don't have a problem with pollution.

When they were babies I didn't have a mobile phone. Luckily despite this they have survived my neglect and are now young adults (yes, spending a lot of their time on their mobile phones.) Bless!

Sleeptimenow · 29/07/2014 20:22

Far far too much time on your hands Op, run along now dear.

PfftTheMagicDraco · 29/07/2014 20:22

Peter Andre would never treat his kids like this.

CultureSucksDownWords · 29/07/2014 20:27

Where has the OP gone... I would like to read her considered responses to the points made

Viviennemary · 29/07/2014 20:30

You could always put your ideas to good use by writing a book about perfect parenting.

iK8 · 29/07/2014 20:40

Tsk you are totally right op. They should put the children in on the pavement side. Should they have been foolish enough to have more than one child without retaining the services of a Suitably Qualified Adult (SQA) to assist in the management of said children who will assist by driving a second car so that the children may be loaded curbside only, then they should of course strap the child securely to the roof rack, thereby avoiding the need to enter the road.

Any mother pushing a buggy should in fact stop and use the car, thereby avoiding the need to have a child at the height of the exhaust pipe. Some "progressives" might say a better solution is to have fewer cars on roads in residential areas but that is just silly talk. As for those poor children in forward facing seats it's a wonder they even know who their dear mama (or SQA in the case of a second child) is when they get to the shops! Surely such a brutal enforced separation where they have nothing to do but gaze around at the whole world around then is dangerously harmful.

As for mothers using mobile phones?! What possible reason could they have for doing this? They should be gazing adoringly at their little cherub's face and practising phonics flash cards and junior algebra. Heaven forbid they might be trying to get on with stuff while walking with a buggy!

Op you should write a book. May I suggest Patronising Parenting as the title? Be sure to include your childless credentials because we mothers love a bit of "expert" advice :)

PushPineapple · 29/07/2014 20:47

Are you currently pregnant or planning on having a child soon? Because if you are, just a heads up that you will be judged just as hard as you are doing so here.

However, that's not going to be a problem is it, seeing as you're so perfect?

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