Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

I was at the mall yesterday alone with my three month old. Parked in the Macy's parking lot. I had the baby in a click and go car seat / stroller.

I return to my car and there are two cars parked parallel to mine, both parked perfectly in their respective lines. So I go to put my LO in the car but can't open my door wide enough to get him in because the parking spots are so freaking narrow!

I obviously wouldn't leave my baby anywhere while I pulled out or put him in the car without a car seat so I basically had to climb through my trunk! Thank god I have a SUV and am physically able to do this. I unloaded my trunk, put him and the car seat in the trunk, climbed into the back seat, lowered the back seat, and then pulled him through. It was a freakin scene.

Anyway I was and am beyond livid! I want to make a big stink about it, although I'm sure it will fall on deaf ears. Not even sure who to file a complaint with.

The world seriously does not cater to families with babies.

Anyway, lesson learned. Do not use a click and go at Roosevelt Field or any parking lots for that matter. I know Bloomingdale's has valet so going forward I guess that's the plan.

Message edited 7/11/2015 9:49:40 PM.

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

I highly doubt it was the parking spots that were narrow, or that they don't cater to people with kids. You yourself said you were driving an SUV - well, those are wider than cars. Were there two SUVs parked next to you?

The minimum width of parking spaces are regulated, but my guess is that those regulations haven't changed since crossovers and SUVs became a "thing."

Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

That sucks but it still happens to me even now that my DD is almost 4. A couple of times, cars have parked too close to the line and I can't open the back door enough to let her climb in and strap her. So we end up going in the opposite door and climbing through. And I don't even have an SUV!

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

Message edited 7/11/2015 9:50:43 PM.

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

I just had this conversation the other day! I had to climb thru the passenger door to get in due to parking the other day.

Spots are the same for decades, cars are getting bigger!


With the babies I always park far away where no one is parked or at least one side at end of row, tree/curb unless I know the parking lot has extra large spots, liked I think the supermarkets have wider spots for carts....

Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

The parking spots at the Westbury Gallery or whatever it's called (with the trader joe's and nordstrom rack and shake shack) are the tiniest. I hate parking there.

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

Message edited 7/20/2015 7:30:35 AM.

Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

I was just talking about how small the parking spots at the target near me are the other day with DH. I was thinking they are so narrow that it makes it tough for parents with babies and young children to get their kids in the car. It there was so many spaces with no cars, like way more than half the parking lot was empty. So would it kill the stores to give up a few spaces to make the rest of them a little wider? The fact of the matter is, today there are a lot of suvs on the road, especially for families, so stores really should adjust their parking spaces to make them wider.

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

This happened to me when DD was little and it would annoy me!! Especially if someone didn't park straight in the middle and was closer to one side of the line. I too had to climb through to get the baby into the car. My only advice is to try your best to park as far away from cars when possible so your not trapped. I understand how that isn't always the case.

Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

I was at the beach the other day and I had to make dd crawl through the passenger side door that her car seat isn't on bc I wasn't able to open her door. However when we got to the beach I could just barely get her out. But someone else must have parked even closer. It's so annoying.

Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

I beg DH for a minivan. It's always "no".

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

I'm going with the cars are just too big. Whenever I come home for a visit, I'm amazed at how big the parking lots and parking spaces are. It's crazy!

And it's not just SUVs. The cars are just big because the engine is big. Why do people need a super engine that goes super fast? The speed limit is 55, 65 in some places. It's so unnecessary.

It's starting to happen here now. So freaking annoying. You do not need a car that big. And they are also ruining the environment, but that's another story.

Message edited 7/12/2015 6:57:39 AM.

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

Its awful and my biggest complaint.
My kids are older now and aren't in the infant seat anymore but it is still difficult. I often have to have my kids sqeeze in the car and then I back it out just so i can have enough room to buckle them i to their car seats.

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

Its one of the reasons we are looking to get a minivan now!! I've lost count how many times I've had to crawl through the back of y suv or had to have my kids crawl through the front and lean over into the back to strap my kids into their seats.

Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

That used to happen to me all of the time with the infant seat. It would aggravate me the most when someone wouldn't park correctly. But it has happened to me when people park correctly as well.
I used to try and park at end spot for the reason. So many times I had to climb in on the opposite side which was difficult bc my other child's car seat was there too.

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

This happened to me, except not with a baby but my pregnant belly! I couldn't squeeze into the car because of how others parked around me. At least it only happened one time.

Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

I hate it! When I was pregnant I couldn't open my door wide enough to get in and had to wait for the car to move next to me.

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

This is why I am hesitant to get an SUV for myself. Hard enough to park my sedan in those tiny spots.

In your situation, I would have backed out just enough so that I could put the baby in the car. I occasionally need to do that if my kids can't get into the door.

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

I had this problem with my audi A4 which is a very small car so it definitely didn't have anything to do with the size of my car! The spots near me are all very tight and the problem is to get the infant carrier into the car the door needs to be open almost all the way. I remember this being super annoying. I do think that parking spots should be bigger even if they lose a few spots.

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent

I've never had a problem but to be honest ve never gone to that mall

Re: Roosevelt Field Parking..Mom with baby vent