Travelling with kids, especially young kids, comes with challenges that can make getting from A to B tricky.
Juggling everything, pram, shopping, changing bag, small human – it’s a lot.
Hopefully, we’ve got some tips that can help make your next trip to a car park and using parent and child parking a bit easier.
Location, location, location
Your first stop on a car park should be a parent & child space. They’re a huge help, wider, near the door, lovely.
But what about when they’re all full?
In a pinch where you can’t park in the right place, try and find a space out of the way with enough room around it to be able to get the door you need fully open.
A few spaces grouped together, or one in a corner of a car park, are things to keep an eye out for if you’re desperate.
Be prepared
Getting a kid out of a car and into a pram or a trolley can be like trying to wrestle an octopus (don’t ask how we know). Get set up, have the trolley ready or the pram unfolded and waiting.
Get everything you need out of the car and sorted out first, then once you’re ready, get the child out of the car.
Then, when you get back to the car later, just reverse the process. So, your child isn’t in the way or at risk of running into the road while you fold up a pram or pack the shopping into the boot.
Safety first
Car parks are busy, noisy and dangerous; they’re not exactly built for children. Keeping them safe is your first priority, and is easy if you:
Don’t let your kids run around – keeping an eye on your child or making sure they hold your hand and don’t run off keeps them, and other people using the car park safe.
Lock the car doors – While you’re getting everything else out of the car, or loading up, keeping the doors locked is that extra layer of security and peace of mind, because you know exactly where your child is.
Use child locks – sometimes locking a door isn’t enough, especially as your kids get a bit older and more inclined to mess with things around them. Child locks mean there’s no risk of them escaping when you weren’t expecting them to.
Get out of the car on the side away from traffic if possible – This isn’t always applicable, especially if you’re in a parent and child bay, because you should ideally be away from traffic anyway. But if you’re parking on the road, getting out of the car away from traffic is something you should always aim to do.
Have a process
Nobody knows your child like you do, and sometimes the path of least resistance is the best way to keep yourself sane, especially in a busy car park where being calm is important.
Snacks, distractions for fussy kids, baby wipes – make sure these are all somewhere you can get to easily in a pinch, they’re a godsend when you’re staring down the barrel of a meltdown and just need to get in or out of the car.
Make life easy for yourself
There are other ways to make things easier when you’re travelling with kids. One of the easiest ways is to get a car seat that rotates. This can give you that extra bit of mobility, especially in tight spaces, which can make getting in and out of the car a bit less tricky.
One of the biggest tips to travelling with kids is to think about the journey you’re going on, sometimes it’s worth waiting (if you can) until you make the trip without taking your children.
The supermarket, somewhere where you might need the extra space in the car, like a DIY shop, or even somewhere that you think you’d enjoy walking around in peace. You can shop at your own pace and make life easier for yourself (and loads of other parents in the process) by not needing to use a specific parking space.
Getting around shouldn’t be hard, and there are specific places to make sure you can travel easily with your kids. Give yourself plenty of time for travelling to account for just getting in and out of the car, and you should be fine.
