Pregnant women,no child,parking in parent n child bays.what do u think?

[katsbump]

Omg, the expectant mother and people with small ones spots in Canada are amazing and yes yes yes I used them when I was last home. I don't know about these ones in Ireland, it's just a picture and I'm not sure if they are meant for pregnant people, so i haven't used the spots here. Oh Canada and loblaws with your wonderful pregnant lady spots, thank you! I would never use a disabled spot in any country, you need a proper permit for that and, c'mon, I'm pregnant not disabled.

 

[xx~Lor~xx]

Honestly no, I don't think it's right. Here, at least, in my opinion, the larger bays for parent and child parking are to be able to open the door wide enough to get children in and out. YOUNG children that is. I'm overdue with my third but if I go shopping without my 3 and 2 year old, I never park in a parent and child bay...

 

[missmayhem]

i think it all depends, I had sever SPD and was on crutches from 16 weeks last pregnancy. I used them from about 28 weeks when i could barely shuffle. I think in a case like this its ok. were as just parking in them because you cannot be bothered to walk an extra few feet is a different matter. I went out the other day on my own and used a normal space, this pregnancy is a breeze, some other person needs that space more than i do, it's hard to get a baby out of a car in a tight space.


but what pisses me off no end is non pregnant men using the spaces with no car seats let alone kids in side........ I'm the horrid bitch that reports them to the store!

 

[Lara310809]

It's illegal to park in a disabled space unless you have a blue badge (UK). They're hard to come at even if you ARE disabled.

I don't think that just because you're pregnant, you have he right to use a parent and child space. I say that because being pregnant doesnt necessarily make it hard to get out of the car - I have never had a problem. But women with SPD etc I would imagine have more difficulty, so I'd expect them to require more space. If they're by themselves and they need the space to get out of the car, then fine, but if they're a passenger and the driver can reverse out of a space to then let the pregnant lady in with more space, I say park in a regular space. Baby spaces are so limited, and they're hard to find at the best of times, so if someone uses one without genuinely needing it, it's very frustrating.

If I'm forced to park in a regular space, I have to negotiate everything and its hard. Not only do you risk dropping your baby (while trying to squeeze one arm through the open door with your baby in it, then precariously putting it in its seat), you risk scratching cars, and risking your kids' safety while you leave the buggy in the road (since theres no side section for you to load/unload the kids). Sometimes we've had to reverse out of the space just to be able to get our kids into the car. It's impractical and very dangerous, because you're obstructing the road and you're putting your family's lives in danger.

Okay if you have no other choice, but just because you feel like it? no.

 

[lau86]

I wouldn't have a problem with a heavily pregnant lady using the parent and child spaces. What bugs me is a parent with a teenager!! I think there needs to be a physical need

 

[sue_88]

If actually anyone has bothered to enquire with the individual stores, parent & child spaces are also for pregnant women after 7 months of pregnancy (I.e with a bump!).

I have friends who work for the retailers & happily passed this information on. I don't personally park there yet because I find it quicker not to & Im not in too much pain yet but sure enough soon I will!

Disabled though is a no no - that's illegal.

 

[Pink Petals]

My grocery store actually has "expectant mother only" stalls. Today, I saw a single male with no kids use one. Grrr. What a tool!

 

[misspriss]

They only have expectant parent parking spots here, I've never seen a "parent and child" spot. The only time I parked in the "expectant parent" spot was the day I got out of the hospital after my c-section. No, I was no longer an expectant parent, but if anyone said anything to me...I mean my DH had to go get a wheelchair from the store for me! That was just one day though.

Not disabled spaces though! I think pregnant women should get short term disabled passes when they are pregnant and shortly after birth though, but that is just me.

 

[Pearls18]

It's never acceptable to park in a disabled bay just because you are pregnant, you are pregnant not disabled. I never used parent bays until my baby was born, there was no need, however I understand if someone has got SPD or similar.

 

[MrS. MaBrEy]

My husband and I parked in the mother and child bays in the garage last week in a downtown location and i never considered that those might not be for pregnant mothers as well I speak almost no German so I was guessing that "mutter und kinder" meant mother and child parking. Being from the US I just assumed that it meant pregnant or new parents...
My mother is handicapped. She only has 1 leg. If I go somewhere with her and we can't find a spot I check the tags on the cars parked in the handicapped parking. I call the local police station and report tag numbers of people parked illegally. I'm sure that ticks people off...but watching my mom struggle to get inside of a walmart from 15 spaces down is not easy when I see a 17 year old hop in his car with 2 perfectly good limbs and drive away when we reach the handicapped spots. I feel that reporting them to the police does a lot more good than trying to speak to them myself.

 

[waitingfor]

I would never park in a disabled space but have no problem with parking in a parent and child space when pregnant if you need to.
Don't forget that everybody's cars are different and some are more difficult than others to get in and out of when heavily pregnant. Also, some car parks have ridiculously narrow spaces that are impossible to use when you can't get the door open wide enough to get in with a big bump!
I have a toddler and know how difficult it can be to get her in and out of the car safely in some carparks but I found it much more difficult when heavily pregnant

 

[bekkie]

I didn't even want to park in expectant mothers parking until I was ready to pop - it just didn't feel right... I always thought 'there's another mama to be out there who might show up and is more pregnant than I am' and once he was born, we had the stroller - so I never used the 'and small tots' parking unless the only other stalls were a long long ways away and it was freezing out.

One day, we did use the expectant mother parking at the mall a few weeks before my due date, and by the time we walked to the other end I was too tired to walk back... so my hubby ran over to grab the car - he was given so many dirty looks!!! he ended up having to say 'My wife is on the other side of the mall, she's too tired to walk back' haha.

I do like that the stalls are wider typically though!

I would never ever even consider parking in a disabled parking spot though, unless I am actually disabled.

 

[sevenofnine]

I certainly used them, but only at the end when I was big and more uncomfortable. To be fair, in the US the ones I've seen are also labeled "Expectant Mothers".

Disabled parking I of course wouldn't use; I wouldn't want to get a ticket!

 

[charleybootS]

Parking in a disabled spot, no way!

Parking in a Parent & Child space, nope!

Regardless of how big I now am and I'm huge I wouldn't dream of taking a parent & child space just because I'm pregnant. As far as I'm concerned they're to help parents with car seats and pushchairs...not because I'm like a whale

 

[Pearls18]

Parking in a disabled spot, no way!

Parking in a Parent & Child space, nope!

Regardless of how big I now am and I'm huge I wouldn't dream of taking a parent & child space just because I'm pregnant. As far as I'm concerned they're to help parents with car seats and pushchairs...not because I'm like a whale

Yeah this was how I viewed them I didn't realise they were for pregnant women, I never had a problem getting out of the car? Although I understand women with severe spd needing assistance. Tbh I'd be annoyed if I was struggling to get DS out of the car as the parent spaces were full and then see a pregnant woman get out of one. Having a bump isn't the same as wrestling with a car seat lol.

 

[bekkie]

I have never had problems with my carseat - I can imagine that once I am dealing with the LO and my (will then be) 4 year old it might be tough, but with just the one... snap and go

 

[Pearls18]

I just found to snap in the baby seat or take it out you had to have the door wide open which was why a bigger space was preferable (especially when trying to do it very carefully so not to disturb a sleeping baby!!) so yeah it wasn't difficult it's easy now DS climbs n himself (but I strap him in!)

 

[lozzy21]

There were a few occasions when i was out with my mam some prat had parked so close to my mams car that she had to squeeze in and reverse the car out for me to get in. Had i been driving i would have had to wait for the person to get back so yes i would use the parent and child parking or if there was room park in the middle of two spaces.

 

[babydevil1989]

why not just park in the middle of two bays?

parent and child bays are there to keep children safe, normally near the walkways so you dont have to be near the road with a toddler/baby, also trying to get a childs seat in and out of the car.

surely if pregnant women think its ok to use them - the same can be said for overweight people?

this is coming from someone who has spd too x

 

[Pearls18]

why not just park in the middle of two bays?

parent and child bays are there to keep children safe, normally near the walkways so you dont have to be near the road with a toddler/baby, also trying to get a childs seat in and out of the car.

surely if pregnant women think its ok to use them - the same can be said for overweight people?

this is coming from someone who has spd too x

Only problem with that though is you can quite often get a ticket for not parking within the lines depending on the company that invigilates the car park, happens at our local co-op, I personally like seeing people being punished for bad parking haha.