Lavatory facilites at Motorway Services

I dunno, but if you're dying for a poo I reckon its worth a try.

I've got one of those MissA. I haven't yet needed to use it, but I do wonder how effective it is really. Many small shops aren't insured for members of the public beyond the public areas, which is usually the reason for them refusing requests. I can't see that a "Can't Wait" card would get past that problem: I could trip on their staircase, maybe because it's cluttered with boxes of stock for example, and suffer injury. If I claimed against them they would not be insured.

www.theibsnetwork.org/cant-wait-card/
Found it..

Sorry to smile at your description, but I wanted to say that I'm sure there is a card of some sort that you can get to present to 'jobsworth' staff.
It basically tells them that you need urgent access to a toilet because of an illness or condition.

Urgency is enough of a problem, but add in IBS, and life can get very difficult indeed. I was reduced to tears when pleading for access to a loo in Specsavers, I was told I would have to wait while they asked the manager, and she refused me, claiming 'health and safety'. It was utterly humiliating, in front of all the other customers.

Motorway jams are really nerve wracking, on one holiday in France I was forced to abandon the car, lie on the verge to roll under the barrier, and then down a slope to find somewhere among the trees, hoping that when I re-emerged the queue would not have suddenly disappeared!

Thank you MiceElf! Good to know

Legs55; I'm thinking it might have been Exeter services where, on a drive to Cornwall when I was in my 20's and hadn't driven that sort of distance before, I found myself driving back towards home because I'd taken the wrong turn somewhere. I was newly pregnant and had decided it would be my last chance to have a holiday there so I threw the dog and a tent into the back of the car and took off.

Hubby and I are in the same boat. We travel in the car a lot. The back and side windows are tinted so no one can see in and we have a leak proof plastic box in the back in case we get taken short!!! Shh, dont tell anyone!

My DD recommends Tebay services and Gloucester though I've yet to try them as I go by train if I visit her. I always have to stop many times when I drive to see DS and usually 'reload' with a coffee as it helps me stay awake but it can be worrying if I get stuck in traffic. I try to avoid travelling on Fridays for that reason and if I do have to I stop more frequently than I really need just to be on the safe side. O to go back to the days when I could go all day at school without using the horrible toilets!

When my husband was still working he always used hotels for their loos. Even used to borrow a newspaper from reception if there were any!

I now have to do the drive from my home in Devon to visit DM in Yorkshire on my own (widow). About 300 miles, I have my favourite Motorway Services, MichaelWood on M5, Stafford M6 & just before I turn off M6 at J32 Charnock Richard.
I only drink water when I'm travelling, Service Stations will never make money out of me as I rarely buy anything unless there is an M&S. Gloucester Services are wonderful.

I do however always wear a TENA pad especially after a journey home last year when I had to make several unplanned stops, I later discovered I had a Urine Infection.

Exeter Services is abysmal, hate the confusing roundabout & route into Services, I used to stop at garage on A380, always clean toilets & not far to walk. It irritates me that you often have to do a "route march" to reach the toilets. Charnock Richard is an exception as the toilets are just inside main entrance.

Ladies what is a pee she and a pee bol? I only have to think of needing a pee and it's too late.
Thankfully here in Portugal toilets are abundant on the Algarve, restaurant toilets are normally clean but moterway facilities are poor and not very clean.
Must dash!

I seem to recall that the late Paula Yates got away with speeding on the motorway because she needed the loo! Not saying we should speed but if a perfectly healthy (at the time) adult can't manage it, what hope is there for us?

Go to the App Store and download

Toilet Finder by BETOMORROW

This is useful

The only time I've ever had a problem with anyone was when we drove the Ring of Kerry. There seemed to be no loos anywhere, and when I asked a café proprietor if I could use their loo she was horrible to me. She did relent, but it I was quite upset about it. When travelling round Europe in our Moggie in my youth, I remember stopping at a bar and asking in my awful French [or German] for the key to the loo. When I came out and handed the key back all the men laughed and said 'better now'. As an 18 year old I went crimson .

kitnsimon, I've been in quite a few toilets in French 'aires'. Most of them have been perfectly acceptable and never 'Turkish' - except for just one which admittedly stank so badly that I almost threw up. So I think you must have been unlucky in finding so many disgusting ones.

If stuck in a traffic jam and desperate, the suggestion of squatting down between two open car doors, ie back and front doors of a five door car, is worth considering. TMI.

French toilets on motorways are an absolute disgrace, invariably filthy, rarely any paper and usually a cold water tap to wash your hands afterwards. The continued use of the Turkish toilets in many bars in France is pretty horrid too !

Not a patch on the toilets provided on our motorways which are usually very clean and well equipped.

Jinty44 mentioned Tebay Services - they come under the same umbrella as Gloucester Services on the M5 which is absolutely superb. Both northbound and southbound are practically tourist attractions in their own right, and loos are spotless and close to the entrance. All produce is sourced from the surrounding area and a huge map inside shows you from exactly where. The downside for all this excellence is slightly higher prices, but you get what you pay for!

Good idea about the empty Lenor bottle. It would probably work with a she-wee. Assuming you're wearing a skirt and not driving

DM had never entered a pub until she was 30 and drank only on social occasions. However if there was no public lavatory available she would confidently walk into a pub and use their ladies' loo and advised me to do the same.
The first time I did it alone felt very embarrassed going into an almost empty London pub at lunchtime. I asked a barmaid where the loo was and as I left put something into the charity box. I used to think I ought to buy a drink but that would be defeating the object of the exercise.
It's a perfectly normal thing to do. Both pubs and expensive hotels are fine, just walk in confidently. Witherspoons and MacDonalds are also convenient when needed!

Coffee is the worst thing to irritate the bladder--only ever have decafe...I had to have a solution to no loo when I worked on market-the loo was a long way to go with a bursting bladder...I saved the Lenor/Comfort bottles and found a small indoor watering can at a discount shop... I could get in back of my van place the watering can in position so could pee where you would fill it--and then empty into the empty Lenor bottle... not even any smell when it came to empty it.. I am thinking of putting a bottle and watering can in back of car in case... It would be my nightmare to be stuck on motorway...

One thing that might help with urgency is pelvic floor exercises, lots of info on the web. Equally infections can also cause a problem so it might be worthwhile getting a GP to check things out.

We did a coach trip in Tenerife last year with our 5 year old granddaughter. The trip was supposed to be 2 hours but that did not factor in stopping at all the hotels to pick passengers up. By the time we actually got going my gd wanted to go to the toilet. My daughter told the female guide we needed to stop. She dismissed her with a wave of the hand and said they had nowhere to stop on the narrow roads. My gd was in agony trying to hold on. Eventually we reached the planned stop which was a cafe in the mountains. The toilets were rank but all the passengers had to use them. We're going to Tenerife again this year but will avoid coach trips and hire a car instead.