Parenting parking bays Rant?!

[LittleDidIKnowThen]

I have recently had a baby and I’ve suddenly noticed the amount of people using parenting bays who think it’s okay as they have a car seat in their car with no baby well today I struggled to get a parenting bay as there isn’t many so I had to park across the other side of the car park so the chances of somebody parking next to me are slim as I have to get a car seat out.

I noticed a lady use a parenting bay with her son who was around 10-12. Am I wrong to be annoyed?

Why couldn’t he get out of the car in a normal bay?

Tell me your thoughts maybe I’m wrong

This has been done to death. It's annoying BUT parent parking is not a legal right.

I think alot of the bays are up to 12 years of age

You don’t have to get a car seat out. You have to get a baby out. Babies are pretty small. They stay still, and they don’t run into the road when your back is turned.

I’m not advocating people taking the piss, but children and car seats do get progressively larger and more awkward...

Brace yourself...

Here we go

Yabu, parenting does not stop as soon as your baby walks. The other parent had her child with her, perfectly entitled to park there. Stop being so precious and entitled.

Chankleybore I do have to get a car seat out as mine clips into the chassis

I've parked with my 10 year old son in one of these bays because being a type 1 diabetic he was having a low blood sugar episode and I had to get him something sugary asap.

I hope you never find yourself in that situation.

Be wary before you judge. And yes, to a pp a lot of these bays are for up to 12.

Cantmovewont that’s obviously justified not every 12 year old has diabetes.

There’s no legal right to park in a parent and child bay they’re a courtesy. your child won’t melt if you park far away.

Some people need to be close - parents are not included in that category unless they have a child with disabilities or are disabled themselves. I wish they would put parent and child spaces further away tbh to stop the entitlement.

Ours are closer than than the bb spaces so I park in them all the time (with a bb) with or without children.

YABU what's everyone's obsession over these spaces if you can't use a normal space maybe you shouldn't drive

You really don’t. You have chosen equipment that means you want to take the car seat out - but you don’t have to. You can choose many other ways to transport a baby that don’t rely on the availability of extra wide car parking spaces.

Please don’t judge, not every disability is visible. Shame on them if they abuse these spaces unnecessarily. But as PP says parent bays are not a legal necessity as opposed to disabled parking bays.

We don’t take our car seat out, they’re not meant to be in them for long anyway so why leave them crumpled up in it for any longer than needed.

12year old could have multiple different issues some visible some not I wouldn’t object, rather that than him swing the door full force n dent a car.

What I do object to is sports cars/fancy cars with no car seat/child or ability to fit one in etc parked in those bays so no one touches their precious car.

This comes up a lot on MN. Fwiw, I agree with you OP. And while there are many hidden disabilities, there are also lots of entitled cunts.

@LittleDidIKnowThen Babies shouldn’t be in car seats unless they are travelling and even then no longer than 1 hour at a time. They can cause positional asphyxiation and have been responsible for some babies deaths sadly. It’s why supermarkets are slowly stopping the trolleys that you attach a car seat to also. You really should be just getting baby out and leaving the car seat.

This shows the latest research.

Oh, here we go again.

1. done to death
2. she did have a child
3. your PFB is not the first baby on earth, people have been managing for donkeys without these bloody spaces
4. done. To. Death.

I always just used to park on an end of the row so the door where I needed to get the car seat in and out was on the 'free' side or in a very quiet part of the car park and hope for the best. I'm not sure why people feel they cant cope without special spaces.

I appreciate everyone’s opinion I am well aware of the guidelines with car seats. Please don’t be rude to me.

FFS. Having a baby does not entitle you to a parking space 🙄. Park your car, get baby/child out, walk to shops/wherever you’re going. I often wonder how some people get through life...

They’re not parenting bays, they’re parent and child parking bays.

They are a courtesy. Not a legal right. Practice parking in normal bays so you get better at managing the car seat removal. There won’t always be a parent and child bay. They never used to exist and we all managed fine.

Some people have disabilities that don’t require them to Wear a sign proclaiming it. They might park in a P&C bay if there are no disabled bays free. They don’t have to explain this to anyone.

I guess everyone is guilty of making a judgement error & perhaps on this case I’m
Guilty of that. I just wanted others opinions.

I might have to ditch this thread & run...

Why are you bothered? You found a parking space and got your baby out. Job done.

You might want to look at other threads where this issue has come up. There are a LOT of them.