'Parents with prams' parking etiquette...

[suse]

Sensible centres label them as Parents with Infants spaces - I use them whenever I can get them and always use a carrier. They are closest to the centre entrances and it is safer with small children not having to traverse the carpark, and are usually wider spaces which makes getting infants in and out of car seats easier (which is impossible sometimes the way some idiots in 4WDs park).

I've never had anyone whinge about it, and if they did I would just point out that I have a pram in my boot and ask if they would like me to get it out just to satisfy their sense of self-righteousness.

[Janie]

LOL Suse!

That's interesting, none of the 'parents with pram' parking I can think of has extra space.......I've often thought that a bit of extra space would be handy! Maybe it's just where I live?

[jackrose]

people can be sooo rude!!

I think you had a perfect right to use the space. The signs cannot be taken so literally as to mean that you cannot use them with a "pram aged" child. My understanding of these spaces was that they served two purposes, one that they are closer to the door of the shops and two that they are sized slightly larger so you can manage with the baby/pram more easily. You certainly need the extra space with a baby in a car seat whether you are using a pram or not based on the fact that you have to get in to the back seat and manipulate a 5-10+kg baby out again!

I agree with curly, parking near the trolley return works better for me when I don't use the pram as then I can pop bub straight into the trolley, or drop the trolley off straight after loading the car with groceries.

And yeah curly,

It's really an honour system and it's not enforceable

it is funny the way some people attempt to be the enforcers even if they don't have kids themselves. My mum came to pick me up from the shops one day when I had DD in the pram, she used the parents with pram spot (was prob there for a grand total of 5 min in picking me up) and she was yelled at by a passer by for not having a baby! She was busy telling him to settle down as it was a legitimate use when I appeared with pram... he quickly shut up and disappeared. Pity it leads to such angst when the principle is really so good.

(BTW, I would love to have 'parked in' the teenager with the playboy seat covers! Let them have a little think about the use of the spot while they waited for me to finish my shopping!)

[Junglemum]

Von- that seems ridiculous. What was the reasoning? What is the different between a trolley and a pram with a small child in it?

[Mumma2three]

I definitely see it as a safety issue, and a convenience issue and think it's even more necessary without a pram!! I read it as small children. If I didnt' have a child in a car seat (say was above 4) I wouldn't use it. I think it should say "parents with carseats"! (or it could say "parents with young children that can't be seen behind cars, or parents with kids in prams, or parents with carseats, or parents with humans in their responisibility that would be lost or do the runner if they had to walk across the carpark...)

[jackrose]

I think it should say "parents with carseats"! (or it could say "parents with young children that can't be seen behind cars, or parents with kids in prams, or parents with carseats, or parents with humans in their responisibility that would be lost or do the runner if they had to walk across the carpark...)

Very Funny webmeg

[alioops]

I dont have an issue with people using the pram parks when they have a small child in the car. It is also fine for people with disabled permits to use them when there are no disabled parks available.

What really gets me is when a motorcycle parks there, or a 2 door 2 seater car!! and all the pram parks near us are narrow too which defeats the purpose of having them.

If I cant find a wide pram park I will either park miles away or try for an end park and go right as close to the island as possible so that I can open both rear doors fully easily.

I do think that shopping centres should put a trolley bay right near the pram parks and they should all be as wide as a disabled park.

If you cant find a pram park or a park that allows you to open the door fully, try placing a terry flt nappy between your car door and the car along side. prevents scratches and dents I hate seeing paint parks from other people's cars on my car.

I think it would be excellent to get an official permit system set up for pram parks, and make them as a legal requirement like disabled parks. Our children cannot walk / cannot be trusted to walk and if they were say 15 and couldnt walk tey would be given a disabled permit. A child that is not old enough to walk has an age related disability in that they cant walk, so they should be entitled to some sort of system. It would be lovely to be issued with a 2.5 year permit in hospital and be able to use it everywhere.

[briggsy's girl]

the Parents with Prams car parks at our local centre are half the size of a normal car park again (we know, cos you can see where they turned three into two!) - i don't have a drama with people using them when they have a youngster - whether they drag a pram out or not! who cares really? as long as they're being used by people need them (not teenagers too lazy to walk!). we regularly take my niece shopping with us - she's still in a car seat, but given that we don't use a pram or trolley for her, i don't use those car parks as i don't see a "need" for them - but we always park in the same vacinity. the parents car parks are agains a long wall near the entrance, so no need to walk through the car park - we ALWAYS park along that wall when we have our niece with us for the same safety and convenience issues that parents with prams have...

to be honest, if i was taking a two month old out of the car and anyone thought to have a go cos i used a HAB or trolley rather than a pram, they'd cop more than a nasty look - who can manage a baby in a pram AND a trolley when going grocery shopping?? it's ridiculous to take the meaning so literally!

it DOES peeve me when you see parents pull up with a car FULL of school kids, send one of the kids into the shop, and sit there taking up a car space - it's not difficult to drop someone off, park where you can see the entry and then go pick them up - why take up a car space that someone else genuinely needs...

[kirsty_lee]

LOL I must say, the day someone complains about me parking there without a pram will get an ear bollocking lol

[*Efjay*]

Can't say the parent parking in any places I go are bigger then your average parking space.
I always thought the spaces are reserved for parents with younger kids (pram or no pram) so you are not having to walk through the car park with little kids. Its safer if you don't have to travel in between heaps of cars to get to the shop entry.

I might email westfield or somewhere like that & see what they say.

[briggsy's girl]

i will just add to my comments and say i don't think all parents need it ALL the time. i sincerely believe that mum (or dad) going to the shops solo with kidlets has more of a "need" for it than mum and dad going together. that extra set of hands and eyes makes it heaps easier to cope kwim? i'm not saying we'll never use the parents car park when DH and I are together after Gremlin arrives - but i'm guessing i'll be more wanting to use it when i'm by myself...

and if all else fails, i'll take mum shopping - she has a disabled tag...

[Von]

Von- that seems ridiculous. What was the reasoning? What is the different between a trolley and a pram with a small child in it?

there reasoning was that the pram parking is wider for parents to be able to manouvre the pram..although they are not that much wider if at all then a standard park and that they are close to the door so you do not have to walk through the car park with the pram..when i said well isn't that the same with a trolloey you dont want to have to be walking though the carpark with a baby in a trolloy and they said well trolloys are higher and can be seen easier then prams

[Smoke Jaguar]

Von, sounds like they were grasping at straws and they dont' actually have a documented policy on it?? That reasoning is dumb!

I think the signs should say 'parents with small children'. That's how i interpret them anyway.

I, too, took it as a symbol for parents with kids in tow. Actually, when I have thought about it, I thought it made more sense to reserve these spots for parents WITHOUT prams, because then their kids aren't restrained and are safer closer to the centre! Also, if you're using a sling, just that little less hiking to find your car when you're carrying your child AND the shopping is far more convenient.
Quite frankly, I use the spots less (or look for them less) when I DO have the pram, because it means DS is restrained and I'm not carrying his weight on my dodgy hips...and walking further to the car is far less problematic!!
I love parking people in - we do it from time to time at the fire station where tourists can't seem to understand "No standing at any time, CFA vehicles excepted"...yeah, it's a bit vague, isn't it?? As vague as a spot with a pink line around it and the pink diagram of a parent and a pram...

[MantaRay]

I don't see why I should be discriminated against for not using a pram. I still need the wider spot to get the kids in and out safely, I still want to be near the entrance, especially if I am carrying one or more child. Even more so than if I am using a pram if you ask me. I think it is totally legitimate to park there (and I do in fact). Some places label the spots "for people with children in prams or in arms" which is what I think the intention of pram parking really is.

I say go for it and stand your ground if challenged.

[Smoke Jaguar]

Ezackerly, MR!! I think that is what I was trying to say in my slightly longer post!

[~Raven~]

As far as I know it's not only 'pram users' parking, it's parent parking, i park there all the time and not always use a pram

Ditto to that!

I think the pram symbolises that it's a parenting spot but doesn't define the only users can be pram users.

If one subscribed to that logic then that would mean that only a disabled person in a wheelchair can use a disabled spot as that is the logo for disabled persons, and I'm sure no one would say that to a person using a walking frame!

[Junglemum]

Good point Sammi!

[satya]

I wouldn't use a "Parents with Prams" spot unless I was using the pram. I pretty much always use it when shopping anyway. The "Coles Baby Club" (think that's what they are called) spots are different as it doesn't specify pram.

I wouldn't actually be upset about it if someone without a pram but with a young child was using one. I hate it when people use them who have no capsule or car seat in their car. Clearly they don't have a young child in the car.