'Parents with prams' parking etiquette...

I think the Parents With Prams should be labelled the same way as on trains: Reserved for people with special needs.... and have a sign with a pregnant woman, a wheelchair, a pram and a person on crutches. If a heavily pregnant women has her toddler with her and decides she can't manage taking a pram AND pushing a trolley at the same time then she should be able to use that Parenting spot regardless of whether she uses a pram. I think the terms should be broadened because a person on crutches probably should have precedence over a person with, say, a fit and healthy 4yo who can walk but is popped in a pram.

People seem to lack compassion and common sense these days :( It would be good if those "guilt trippers" made vocal sarcastic comments at the local selfish individual who just parks there because he's lazy...but to direct that comment at somebody with a baby who can't walk who has a mum with a healing c/s scar is rough. *thumbs down*

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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.

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Not everyone with a young child has a car seat in the car. Some people stop using them when their children are toddlers. Some people have them in the main family car but not in the secondary car. If I don't see a baby seat I don't assume that the car has no children, just that the owner's attitude towards car safety isn't as pedantic as mine.

I have used it when using a trolley. Parly because they are USUALLY a little wider therefore making it easier to gets bub/kiddie in and out of the car without hitting others around or them hitting you more to the point. These days though I can hardly be bothered as I get REALLY peeved if ppl are using them and don't have kids!! Also, I don't want people denting my car (only 6 months old) so I park away on my lonesome..lol. I should also think that the extra excercise is good for me?? lol.

I'm a seconder for your motion, Bath! Somewhere along the way, we stopped teaching kids empathy...( I have a few theories, they're not entirely mine - different place, different time, though!), so we have people who feel right to offload their first thoughts to complete strangers and who feel far more important in their errands than other people :(

Ozzie: Ha!!! Yes! People who park in Parenting spots (and don't have a child or special need) be warned! Your car will more likely be dented! I know my kids are a bit rough when they open their door... often Dh and I will have to leap and hold the door so that it doesn't bash into the car beside us. But... um... I wouldn't do that if I knew for certain the car belonged to a selfish hoon with no kids or reason to park there. *evil grin* Is that awful of me???

Im sure there was a Seinfeld ep about disabled parking. Very funny. The last post (dents in car) reminded me of it~!!!

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often Dh and I will have to leap and hold the door so that it doesn't bash into the car beside us. But... um... I wouldn't do that if I knew for certain the car belonged to a selfish hoon with no kids or reason to park there. *evil grin* Is that awful of me???

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Ummmmmaaaahh...pmsl. I hear ya honey!! ;)

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If a heavily pregnant women has her toddler with her and decides she can't manage taking a pram AND pushing a trolley at the same time then she should be able to use that Parenting spot regardless of whether she uses a pram.

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Yes, I would just LOVE someone to make a comment at me on my shopping trips. I am that Heavily pregnant women who can't notmanage the stroller & trolley at once. I have a hard enough time managing my THREE kids all at once plus a trolley. So yeah, like hell I am going to get the pram out too! Usually I don't even have it with me on food shopping trips as I have no room for my Kids, shopping AND pram in the car by the end of the trip.

I have to admit i ALWAYS use these spots if i have the 2 kids. DS is very hard to controll and doesnt matter how many times we have chatted about cars and dangers he still forgets and tries to run off into the shops. I park close so its not too far for us to walk safely. I have seem people without kids park there and i have said something but wouldnt begrusge a "parent with child" a space if he/she didnt have a pram or trolley.

I know there are "parent with prams" and parent parking at our local shops. The one for prams are bigger but like mentioned i think its worse when your kids arent restrained in the pram. Personally i think all parking spaces could be a tad bigger.

If you have a bubs in arms the person should have minded there own business... it wasnt like you were alone... and its not like you were in a disabled (that erks me) you were a parent and going to use a trolley so why not...

Hmm, I'm with you, I always just assumed it was OK as long as you had a baby.I will always use the spot id it's available at our supermarket.

What really annoying though is when people without children use it, that's happened quite a few times at our supermarket and means I have to park ages away.

IF I can get one and I have the kids with me I use it but I will try and utilise them more once Lach is born! All the parents parking at the shops i go to are about the same size as the disabled parking so you can open the doors wide enough to get the kids in and out without worrying about doing your back in or damaging the car next to you!

I think it should be call parents parking just like it is called a parentss room (the toilet area that isn't just for the paren't with prams)

i always see these parks as if u have car seats in and small childrenu can use them. not just using a pram. i mena if this is the case ill just take the pram with me everytime i shop without DD lol

I have never given the "Parents With Prams" any really thought as to whether or not you "should" be using a pram if you park there. I too have always taken it as a given that it means parents with young kids. There are no Terms and Conditions posted anywhere near the parks... so I'm sticking with my own rules ;)

I'm not ashamed to say from when Maddy was 4 days old through to when we left Brisbane (she is now 2), where there was to park in a parents' parking spot (some do say parents with prams, others family parking etc) I took it. I've never had anyone say anything to me where I've gone to do the grocery shop and climbed out of the car with Miss M in my arms and her nappy bag slung over my shoulder but no pram. I can now collapse our stroller down and actually fit it in the trolley with the groceries, but there was no way I could have done that with our old pram when Maddy was little.

I remember Maddy being about a week old and going to the local Westfields in Brisbane to lodge our baby bonus forms, medicare forms etc. It was a sweltering hot day (over 35 degrees) and very early January. We'd gotten in early and were leaving just before lunch, having secured a parents' park. Due to the heat people were 'ferreting' for parks...just trailing after people and speeding around trying to be the first to the park someone was vacating. It took us AGES to get Maddy into the car (we were new parents...*L*) but that whole time this Holden exec vehicle with lambs wool luxury sheep covers (which had probably never seen a teenagers' butt in it let alone a car seat) had no problem sitting there with his indicator on for 10 minutes and wait for the parent park. I actually stood there whilst DH strapped in baby and indicated to the 'parents' park sign which he vehmently ignored/didn't care about. I was seething at the thought of some poor parent walking half a k from parking in the sunshine in 30degree+ heat with a toddler or infant while this selfish bloke parked his posh car in a parent park.

I guess it's conceivable he COULD have been picking someone up with a baby in a capsule but I highly doubt it. Once I got my license after Maddy was born, I got into the habit of waving down a car that I spied had kids in carseats and indicating ahead to where I was parked. They never got fed up waiting while I was getting Maddy sorted, and I helped out a fellow parent. :)

Yes!!! That's what we do too for the same reason Becka.... wave down parents with a car full of kids if the carpark is "ferreting" (LOL good phrase!). Keep up the good work ;)

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I think the Parents With Prams should be labelled the same way as on trains: Reserved for people with special needs.... and have a sign with a pregnant woman, a wheelchair, a pram and a person on crutches. If a heavily pregnant women has her toddler with her and decides she can't manage taking a pram AND pushing a trolley at the same time then she should be able to use that Parenting spot regardless of whether she uses a pram. I think the terms should be broadened because a person on crutches probably should have precedence over a person with, say, a fit and healthy 4yo who can walk but is popped in a pram.

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People using crutches, a walking frame or walking stick are entitled to an ACROD sticker and therefore to disabled parking bays. I was with exP who (despite the fact that I told him not to several times) parked in a disabled parking bay and a woman with a mentally disabled daughter came up and yelled at him because she in fact has an ACROD sticker and wanted to use the bay (and of course exP didn't as he's not disabled). So even having a family member with a non-physical disability entitles one to an ACROD sticker, I gather.

I think it's rude for people who don't have children to use the 'parents with prams' bays, but plenty do. Unfortunately, it's not enforceable and it's hard to tell who has a lil'un and who doesn't, since some people have baby capsules that they take out of the car to carry the bub in, as has already been said. I get very unhappy when I see sports cars with only two seats in parents with prams bays though :wall: And yes, I agree that "parents with young children" would be far more appropriate.

"Parent and child" parking in the UK. No age on the child - so if I go shopping with my Mum, we're parent and child, we can use the space! LOL.

I use parent/toddler spots ONLY when with DS, pram or no pram. If I don't have DS, I do have the seat but don't need to open the door wide to get him out, so I don't use the spot. I did use a spot when heavily pregnant - I needed to open the car door to get out, no other spot would let me do that!

I would see "parents with prams" to be "parents with a child of such an age that a pram or baby carrier is generally needed to transport that child" (only a bit easier to say) - so if you have a 2-year-old then fine, use the spot. A 10-year-old then maybe not. 3-4, depends on the child really.

I don't get the whole 'you might not know that they have a kids because they use a capsule' thing. Any capsule I've ever seen, or used, has a base that is fixed in the car, that you clip the capsule into. So you can clearly see that while there may be no baby in the car at that time, there is a base for a capsule. Please enlighten me if there's another sort where you take the whole thing out! :D (Sorry, I know that's pedantic, but a few people have said it now, so I'm wondering.....)

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I don't get the whole 'you might not know that they have a kids because they use a capsule' thing. Any capsule I've ever seen, or used, has a base that is fixed in the car, that you clip the capsule into. So you can clearly see that while there may be no baby in the car at that time, there is a base for a capsule. Please enlighten me if there's another sort where you take the whole thing out! :D (Sorry, I know that's pedantic, but a few people have said it now, so I'm wondering.....)

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Ooooo, can I second that... I always thought with a capsule the base was left in the car?

Oh, and thanks for all the replies. I'll continue to use the 'parents with prams' parking even if I'm not using a pram. :)

I saw a woman park her car next to mine last night in the Parents with Prams section & stride off towards the shops. No child in sight. I so wanted to say something but didn't have the guts Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Ahh I just got back from shopping at my local Westfield (Southland) and I had a peak at the parents with prams parking and guess what it said..."Parents with Prams Parking - Permit Must be Displayed". Ummmm PERMIT?!!? What permit?! Are they for real? Is there such thing as a parents with prams parking permit? lol...

Holly, Westfield have their own permits. Go to the customer sevice desk and ask for one. It is just a sticker that you stick on the back of your car (dont stick it on the outside if you regularly park in the weather) and they do give out fines because it is on the T&Cs on the entrance to the carpark.

Wow I just always assumed it was a parents carpark, I didnt think you had to have a pram with you to use it. I can honestly say that I have never used the pram when going to the supermarket with Scout (unless of course I have walked there) and I have regularly used the parks when they are available. My local shopping centre is really good and has about 15 or so parks scattered throughout the carpark. I always put him in the trolley, now that he sits fine but in his capsule when he was little and I will continue to do this as well.

It reminds me of when I went to the hospital on a midwife visit and was only about 20 weeks. Lucky not to be showing yet, but parked in a reserved for expectant mothers parks. I was just short of been abused by a woman who was further along than me telling me that I should be ashamed of myself,and can I not read? that there are needy and deserving woman that need those parks.
She crept away with her tail between her legs when I showed her my appointment card but still tried to tell me it was for heavily pregnant woman.
It took alot of will power not to let her have it. I just put it down to her hormones.

yes its okay to use , you have small children with you will be fine. i had a incident last week where a man pull into a car park spot that was used for parents with prams . i showed him the sign , he told me to p... off . i said sorry to bother him , he went i rang the parking officers , they came to where he was parked , centre managment put over their speakers he left his lights on , he came back to his car , parking officers ask him wheres his child and pram i havnet got one , nice on the spot fine . i have no problem doing that again .

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yes its okay to use , you have small children with you will be fine. i had a incident last week where a man pull into a car park spot that was used for parents with prams . i showed him the sign , he told me to p... off . i said sorry to bother him , he went i rang the parking officers , they came to where he was parked , centre managment put over their speakers he left his lights on , he came back to his car , parking officers ask him wheres his child and pram i havnet got one , nice on the spot fine . i have no problem doing that again .

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:rofl: that's fantastic!

I never used a capsule, so didn't realise there was a base. Sorry for the confusion.

I agree with LR - good on you Mr dad of many. That is priceless. I have been tempted to do that before and now I will next time. Christmas is the worst for people using those spots and it makes me mad.

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yes its okay to use , you have small children with you will be fine. i had a incident last week where a man pull into a car park spot that was used for parents with prams . i showed him the sign , he told me to p... off . i said sorry to bother him , he went i rang the parking officers , they came to where he was parked , centre managment put over their speakers he left his lights on , he came back to his car , parking officers ask him wheres his child and pram i havnet got one , nice on the spot fine . i have no problem doing that again .

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BWWWHHAHAAAAAAAHAHHA!!! :) :clap::D:clap:

That's brilliant...I wonder if all Westfields do that. Our one at Parramatta is bad enough at NON-Christmas in my short experience, I can only imagine what it's going to be like this year. I with you there MantaRay...Christmas shopping time brings out all the charmers when it comes to trying to find a park.

Lordy me, I've stopped people before and asked where their child was when they park there.... I've often had my children in the car cranky & wanting to get out while I search for a park. I need one close if I have Matilda as she has panic attacks and massive upsets in shops, so I need a quick escape.