We stop as needed, no hard & fast rules. I would rather stop a little more often than hold out until one or more people have to go really badly. To me, that adds unnecessary stress to a road trip. My parents (especially my dad) preferred the latter -- I remember him not wanting to stop on road trips unless he had to fill up for gas. That's a long time for kids or adults! Some of the close shaves (or having to pee alongside the road) are burned into my memory. I don't recall the actual trips or where we went, but I remember how bad it felt to really, really have to go but need to hold it because my dad wanted to push on to the next rest stop in 25 miles.

I just did 8+ hours each way with my two teens for a trip to see my parents over Labor Day weekend. Most stops are very brief and we're on our way again.

Anonymous wrote:OK --- 2 hrs is the max someone should be driving without a break. I do not follow this but that is what is suggested. I have driven straight through to NY. But my norm is to stop around 3 hours for a bathroom break which is normally even with family 8-12 minutes max.

I'm the one who posted upthread whose DH has a bladder the size of a pea. Our stops are NEVER shorter than 30 minutes. He'll go to the bathroom, then decide he wants coffee, while he's wandering looking for a coffee place will decide he wants to get something to eat too while he's at it, will call me/DD to see if we want something, and then suggest we (he mostly) sit down and eat, instead of getting something to go. Makes me all stabby. Our most frequent drives are to NY to visit family, and he turns what should be 4 or 4 1/2 hours, into a 6 hour trip. My SIL who also makes the same trip frequently, makes it in 4 - 4 1/2 hours, with a stop for gas/bathroom break, so I know it can be done, just not by us.

Why not just stop when someone needs to? If it becomes excessive in your mind then address it. But I don’t see tweens or teens having false alarms.

OK --- 2 hrs is the max someone should be driving without a break. I do not follow this but that is what is suggested. I have driven straight through to NY. But my norm is to stop around 3 hours for a bathroom break which is normally even with family 8-12 minutes max.

Is your goal to make your kids hate you? To ruin them physically? You stop when someone need to go. Anything else is torture. My bet is closer to every three hours.

In all fairness some kids do have a harder time waiting for a restroom and there’s not always a convenient or safe place to stop.

Anonymous wrote:We stop a lot bc no one should be forced to hold it or be uncomfortable. I don’t really have a timeline, just whenever someone has to use the bathroom, we need gas, and/or food or a stretch

Same here. It's a road trip, not an endurance race.

Anonymous wrote:We do 15 minutes every 2 hours and a longer break to have a meal.

This!

6 hours is about our limit for driving (if longer we fly) and we usually stop only once, but sometimes twice. My husband and kids are camels; it’s me who has to pee every 2-3 hours.

Anonymous wrote:My family can go 10-12 hours without going to bathroom, including our big dog.

I grew up with a dad that would announce for all of us to go to the bathroom before we got in the car because we weren’t stopping. DC to Florida.

We never heard of scheduling rest stops. Lunch or dinner at a great place - yes - my family will do that now and there are traditions.

Play it by ear with if the driver needs to stretch their legs, etc.

I think, perhaps, my family was born with supersize bladders. Nobody gets utis or kidney stones either.

Wouldn't you have needed to stop for gas at least once on a trip that long? Your dad really wouldn't have let you go use the bathroom while he filled up the gas?

You people who try to restrict other people from going to the bathroom are complete psychos. You stop when someone needs to go.

We stop a lot bc no one should be forced to hold it or be uncomfortable. I don’t really have a timeline, just whenever someone has to use the bathroom, we need gas, and/or food or a stretch

DH is the one that has to stop every hour or two. UGH! It turns a quick trip to NY into a 6 hour ordeal. If it's just DD and me, we just drive straight through, unless we have to stop for gas, and then we just get gas. We both can go really long periods of time without peeing (or any discomfort associated with it).

We generally stop every 3-4 hrs even if not for the bathroom. I think its important to take a 5-10 stretch and all that.

My family can go 10-12 hours without going to bathroom, including our big dog.

I grew up with a dad that would announce for all of us to go to the bathroom before we got in the car because we weren’t stopping. DC to Florida.

We never heard of scheduling rest stops. Lunch or dinner at a great place - yes - my family will do that now and there are traditions.

Play it by ear with if the driver needs to stretch their legs, etc.

I think, perhaps, my family was born with supersize bladders. Nobody gets utis or kidney stones either.