to stop in motorway SOS lay-by so DD could wee

Bad traffic jam. Slow moving traffic. Not exactly the cataclysmic event you’re all piously bleating. Calm down.

Yes keeping people alive is very much a “yawn” event

Pious! I take it you have never seen a motorway car accident.

I have, thirty years ago when I was in my twenties and it was horrific. Everything happened so fast. I had to crawl inside a car which was on its side to try to get a child out of the back. I had to be boosted up on the side of the car which where the roof should be and go in through the window because I'm small and nobody else could fit. I got her seatbelt off but I couldn't get her out because I wasn't strong enough to move her and the stronger people couldn't get in.

She was cut out by the fire fighters eventually and I never found out what happened to her.

Yawn 🥱

Have you actually bothered to read the thread?

If you had you would see why it is an issue...it is illegal and dangerous to stop in these areas unless it is an emergency, which needing a wee is not, no matter how desperate.

Oh my god. The pious ‘that’s so terrible’ posters here are being ridiculous. Of course it’s ok. She was desperate. You needed to stop. Not sure why this is even an issue! Mumsnet sometimes is just so 🙄

Not likely on a motorway when it is taking 50mins to go 3miles between each junction, so traffic is moving slower than a school zone.

Also, when a car breaks down such that you can go a mile to a lay-by, it doesn’t speed up, it usually slows down very suddenly and you limp or coast off to the side.

If a child started saying that they might need a wee I'd be looking for a toilet, definitely not thinking, oh she can last an hour, that's madness. Half an hour at a push, if there wasn't an alternative, but an HOUR!!

Wow, I can't believe you actually asked such a ridiculous question. Of course it's wrong to do that, not only is it highly illegal, it's also highly dangerous. You put your child's life and your own at risk!!!

Also, the lay-bye was big enough for at least 3 other cars or an HGV so it’s highly unlikely we were depriving anyone else of using it

It's not about 'depriving' anyone. It's about them smashing into your car and killing your whole family.

There was a horrible fatal accident near here where a family stopped in lay-by when child was being sick. So dangerous

We use the Potette bags that you usually put on the travel potty. Hold them (or get the child to hold them) in the right position under them and pray the angle is correct! They’re also great as sick bags .

www.amazon.co.uk/Potette-Plus-Disposable-Liners-Pack/dp/B0026RMWJC/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?adgrpid=161175124276&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.mhMsrLRw7IWG0KPOQQVlHpV_gUMw4rcTBHKOM_SSmwC6weT4Hlyf1g37b8hH8DGHi1yeuVSy89lWHlak-J43AF_qlSztMwUk_dMAhbI4kTS2iM1Dcxa8khFWoCJbyRTSMWYkgGNdrruA6GJM9miPumjsiD-P0ve3PozSQ-aBYAsbDrQYAoJAEhLJmD1UtVleUuF9jwjTrwoyVK0VTtw1mw.4Eiv7n42OMwtDbc6rEcWuWMpluVBt4tHFis53f08Lww&dib_tag=se&gad_source=1&hvadid=696699495726&hvdev=m&hvexpln=70&hvlocphy=1006933&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=4217747205857744144--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=4217747205857744144&hvtargid=kwd-300588834439&hydadcr=29869_2482794&keywords=potette+plus+liners&qid=1724610352&sr=8-3

I actually saw someone changing a babies nappy on the tarmac of one of those emergency bays on the M25 once.

So dangerous to stop on the motorway. No exaggeration but whole families have actually died stopping on the motorway because a child needed a wee. Buy a shrinkable pee bottle. We have one of these in the car for our child.

Yeah, I'm not sure what a travel potty would have solved in OP's situation.

When mine were just toilet trained I would put a bed mat on the car seat with a towel on top. One son did end up wetting himself once and it was horrible. He was so sad, and I felt awful, but I wasn't going to stop on the hard shoulder.

Oh good luck getting a 9 yo to manage with that!

Curious about this (I have a recently toilet trained DD) and have never been in this situation - those of you saying use the potty not the layby- wouldn’t you have to stop in the lay-by for dd to use a potty (or other) anyway? I know I will have this issue at some point so wondering what the done thing is? 🤔

haven't rtft so maybe been mentioned already but would one of these have been useful?

the shewee products I have are well made and good quality

www.shewee.com/peebol-pocket-sized-toilet.html

I just saw some idiothole do this on the M4 today with a little girl. Shocking.

Genuine question, curious if there is an official/legal answer.

Since you are in doubt, I think you should have looked the answer up online rather than asking MN. You should know the rules of the road.

Irresponsible and illegal. Risking your and your child’s life. Hope you get fined.

Don't give a child a water bottle prior to or during a long journey.

She's 9! She doesn't need a pull-up, she just needs not to neck loads of water before the journey and OP needs to plan toilet stops into the journey.

I am so sorry that happened to your uncle and cousin. There seem to be a lot of entitled/totally stupid/rules-are-for-other-people/it does no harm posters on here, with no idea that they are breaking rules that are there for everyone's safety.
It almost makes me hope some will be caught doing this and get fined and points.

It is horrible when you need a wee badly. I remember so vividly being 10 and on a coach to holiday hotel from airport and I was so desperate I was crying. Never forgotten it. I do think it was dangerous though and people get killed on lay-by’s - a wet car seat would have been preferable. You might well get a fine and I think you have to just suck it up