To avoid giving toddler Movicol?

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Toddler DC has had constipation for a couple of months. A nurse reluctantly prescribed Movicol and said to try it for a week and then try to stop using it.

I am concerned about disrupting DC’s gut microbiome long term, especially as we have intestinal problems in the family.

We have tried upping fluid intake and tried natural remedies but DC is not a good eater at the moment so this has had limited success. AIBU to keep going with natural remedies? DC occasionally has a tummy ache but otherwise it’s more of a soiling issue. Any advice?

As the other posts - just use it!

And use it for more than a week, you literally need months of it to ensure their bowel habits are regular before you can taper it off. So many stop when it seems "cured" but in reality it is the movicol that is doing the job so they are then back to square one.

@LividLost poor thing! Mine went 5 days and was in agony. It's so hard for them isn't it?

use it.

DS2 had a psychological issue after being constipated as he was terrified of going because it would hurt.

Once the movicol started working, he was so much better and (fingers crossed) he’s over it now. What helped most was that he knew the dr had given the medicine and that was going to fix his poo and every time I gave it to him, we’d repeat that and when he was going to the toilet I’d reassure him that the medicine was starting to work.

The little boy I look after has been on Movical for months and it's fine.

My daughter had faeces impaction when younger. It went on for a long long time. Use it. And keep using it until you can wean off.

Be aware of all extra fruit sugars in juices and in lactulose also if used. It can play havoc on the teeth

My DD was on it for years and years. Give it to your child, it really helps.

All of my kids suffered with constipation. Middle and youngest always use the prune baby food pouches and drink prune juice. Middle daughter did use novice and now youngest uses laxido and lactulose.

My dc has been on it for years and we use optibac kids probiotics honestly it’s been amazing for him

My daughter was afraid of poo as a toddler and held it in. Made poos hard and dry, painful to pass, so she held them in more. First doctor, no help. Second doctor had same issue with her own child - was great. Prescribed the movicol, and very clearly explained that it only drew water into the bowel by osmosis, softening the stool making it easy to pass (and the water bulk made urge more difficult to resist). She explained if there is some impacted poop that isn’t softened and cleared there will be fecal leakage passing round the blockage and this can give impression constipation has cleared as what they pass is loose and watery. So people stop treatment too soon. (it does taste vile).

If this has been an ongoing problem the bowel/colon can become stretched and flabby, and take time even after the initial issue is cleared to return to optimum shape for healthy poops. You should continue on the movicol until your child is easily passing normal shaped poops.

Soluble fibre is very important (fruit, veg, oats, pulses) but insoluble fibre (wheatabix) doesn’t help until things are cleared.

Carrot juice worked miracles to maintain healthy bowel function for my daughter as a toddler. Also took her off full fat milk and bananas seemed to cause an issue for some reason. Please don’t stop the movicol. You will just be storing up problems, especially if constipation runs in your family for some reason. Good luck, it is a horrid situation!

Oh, and to add, when she had a blockage she didn’t want to eat, was incredibly grumpy with sore tummy and dragon breath. They are definite side effects of this issue.

chronic constipation causes loads of issues. Just use the movicol. I had a toddler who was chronically constipated. in the end, she went once every 10-14 days. her bowel got enlarged and gets stretched. We were on movicol for about 2 years until things went back to normal. Don't make your child suffer. I doubt it affects the gut microbiom. It just draws fluids into the gut to keep things moving.

Considering you’ve attempted the natural method for months with no success I think you’re doing your child a huge disservice by not giving them medication that’s going to improve their condition and make them more comfortable.

If your toddler is impacted and you don’t give them the movicol, it will likely lead to soiling, bowel being distended, lack of urgency to poo and years of issues. If you nip it in the bud with movicol now you might avoid that

DC is not a good eater at the moment so this has had limited success. AIBU to keep going with natural remedies? DC occasionally has a tummy ache

Constipation, especially chronic constipation (which you son has if he's been constipated for months) is really unpleasant. It's probably why he has tummy ache and doesn't want to eat much.

I’m not letting it continue. The natural remedies take time to work and things have been getting better. Today we seemed to have gone back a bit, hence my post. The nurse said herself that it was best to avoid the medicine if possible and if we have to use it to only do so for a short period. What I’m interested in gaining from this post is if anyone has any scientific knowledge that could help me decide what to do next.

Thank you, that’s helpful. It’s not constipation that runs in the family.

Please use the movicol!! As someone who has life long chronic bowel disease, natural remedies make no difference, you need to get it moving as soon as you can, don’t put anymore strain on the bowels especially at such a young age when they are still developing.

a nurse told me that poo is obviously waste and the bowel will just absorb toxins from poo just stuck there for too long so it’s better to make sure it’s regularly coming out !

Thanks for the helpful replies. The nurse felt that it was mild - it was after some research that I realised that it was constipation and took him to be seen. He does poo nearly every day and sometimes they are very normal on the poo chart. The signs have been subtle until very recently. I’ll collect the prescription in the morning.

My child has huge gut micro biome issues definately impacted. By long term movicol use as a baby/toddler. I wish I never used it and there’s warnings on it for a reason. We use magnesium now, apple juice, kiwis, probiotics, senokot when needed. Cut back on inflammatory foods, too much dairy, bread etc celery juice is also supposed to work well if they will drink it

You need to watch the poo nurses video all the way through. Google it. You need to understand impaction with overflow. Movicol is a simple osmotic stool softener. If you are worried about gut flora get some appropriate supplements.
Witholding, impaction and overflow is a psychological and physical problem and needs to be treated with the understanding and cooperation of the whole family.
It is a very damaging and distressing condition that is treatable, but speed is of the essence. I speak from personal experience. Don't let your child suffer longer than you can help.

How do you know the gut biome issues are caused by the movicol?

I think it is much more likely that gut biome problems are caused by chronic constipation, impaction and the resulting damage to the large bowel tbh. Reabsorption of toxins due to chronic constipation must be damaging.

This in spades.
Speaking from painful experience. It takes years to get on top of it.
Just get on with the movicol.

Absolutely give the movicol. Resolve this prolonged episode of constipation and then you can address the microbiome later. This ongoing constipation is going to be far more harmful to his bowel than the movicol.