My 8 year old is really constipated

[bookworm1982]

Please help, my 8 year old is really constipated, we’ve been giving him movicol for the past few days and it’s not helping, plus there’s only so much he can drink as he doesn’t like the taste (even mixed with juice), he has a belly ache and really needs to go, plus we go on holiday on Monday so are desperate to get him sorted before. Can anyone recommend anything else we can give him? I’m talking medication, not a natural laxative as they don’t seem to work and we need something that will work fast. Something like that Ducolax chew for kids looks perfect but they don’t sell it over here. I take the adult version every now and then and it works in like just a few hours. Gutted that they don’t sell the kids version over here.

in case anyone asks, this is an ongoing issue and he is being referred to a consultant, in the meantime we’re just being told to give him movical when he gets constipated 🙁

Bumping as I know a lot of people have constipated children so don’t want this post to get lost

What dose of movicol is he on?

Removing all dairy would be my first step and following GP advice to clear the blockage.

We’ve been giving him 3-4 sachets a day over the past few days, I can’t give him anymore as he won’t drink it, it’s making him feel sick

Thank you, we’ve tried these things in the past. We’re seeing a specialist after being referred , but in the meantime NEED him to go before his holiday, he’s getting in such a state.

My yo is prescribed senocot 5 -10ml a day.
Plus 4 sachets daily movicol
But before the senna , he was given 8 sachets to disimpact him. Poor thing couldn't make it to the toilet. It took 24 hrs then 24hrs of non stop water stools he couldn't control. But it was needed. He had gone 23 days without going

Im going to call the doctor in the morning but i fear he will just say more movical. Is there anything similar to ducolax for kids I can ask about? Xx

I'd keep upping the dosage and just try to persuade him to have a couple more sachets later in the day.

As posted on a similar thread. Big gulp of dulcolax. Going forward, high fibre diet to prevent recurrence.

Ps the senokot bottle actually states not for under 12s but he gets it prescribed so worth an ask. He's under the continence team and they advised it too.

The problem is that for the majority of children nothing else works as well as movicol. Have you had a look at www.eric.org.uk ?

Can an 8 year old take that?

Ok thank you

Yes this website is great 👍🏻

23 days 😱🙈

If he won't take the movicol.

You could try lactulose.
Can buy this.

Give him the 15-20ml.

But people don't realise it works better with when you drink. So he needs to drink around 500ml of water at the same time.

Doe he have a high fibre diet?

You can use make jelly (I used sugar free sachets) using movicol. You can’t taste it and also helps get more fluid in.

I expect you’ve tried this but doing cat cow stretches and squats may help.

Dairy is the leading cause of constipation in children. It's often an underlying non-ige allergy. Soya also produces the same result so you need to be off all dairy and soya including baked in dairy (whey powder in biscuits etc)

GP can prescribe senna or dulcolax liquids for children - my daughter has had both from under 2. Senna is pretty good the first time, gentler on the stomach and pretty reliable for most children. She's prescribed 5-15ml daily of the standard otc adult syrup. Dulcolax works a little faster, but much more violently - we use this when desperate (like 2 weeks plus and daily senna ineffective) but she's stuck at home for about 36 hours with bad tummy pain and ridiculous diarrhea.

If your son isn't holding it in, have you tried glycerine suppositories first? They're not good for dd, but my son (6) occasionally has trouble going (like twice a year) and requests this. It works in less than an hour and no pain, just urgency.

Lactose is your friend. 20ml to start and another if haven’t been then 5/10am and pm till going Reg and soft

i find movicol does nothing for many kids

With water.
Works better I'd you take it with water. At least 400mls

lactulose or movicol?

Honestly I would take him for an emergency GP appt tomorrow. Yes they will probably say movicol but you might get advice on how much that is more helpful and meaningful than "just give him more"

Like PP I cannot over-emphasize how important it is to get liquid into him. We find the best way is small movicol drinks (mixed up with the amount of water it says on the packet then add apple juice or ribena) and separately large drinks of non-movicol liquids, which are much easier to get down.