How do you get 2.5YO to take Movicol for constipation?

[driedapricots]

We have long been on Movicol (about 18m) for DS who has a seemingly 'immature' bowel - we go from huge explosions when he is drinking it, to rapid and severe constipation when he's not. we can't regulate it. now we're at the stage when he's all bunged up again & paediatrician says to give 4 sachets a day to 'clear him out'...how??? he barely drinks all day, and point blank refuses - the only time he will drink is when half asleep in middle of the night and asks for milk, which we have now got into giving him as then we know he's drinking the movicol..but this in itself is wrong bcos he's a 2.5yo waking up 2-3 times a night for milk???!! (and then barely eating in the day..) it's driving me mad. Any ideas to move this situation forward??!!

My daughter is 16 months and she is also on movicol. I normally dissolve it in her milk that she has but my doctor says u can put it in yogurts or food. Whatever they will take. A bit of squash. I have the same situation. It's explosions when she's on it and severe constipation when she isn't. U can't win :( we did go for some osteopathy for her today so hopefully that will help. Hope it's gets better for ur ds

50% squah in and drink with a straw from a wine glass glass down well at that age.

cupcake how long has you DD been on it? the problems we have occur when we try and when DS off it and he's still not ready..been on it since about 6m. he won't drink squash - isn't a big drinker at the best of times. the only way he has it is in milk, hence the problematic situation of milk feeding in night/non eating in day at 2.5 yrs old age for goodness sake!!

had this with dd1 (now 3.10), and now also with dd2 (almost 1). They both took it with juice. Neither of them ever had more than about 2 sachets a day even at their worst. DD1 we gradually stepped down the dosage, 3/4. 2/3. 1/2. 1/4 sachet and upped it slightly as needed. It was a bit hit or miss. With dd1 once she got cause and effect we would tell her to drink plenty of water; she has been off movicol completely for over a year, since she potty trained. We seem to have same issue with dd2, which is annoying...

I'd put it in juice, or start a sticker chart for taking a drink, does he have a fancy juice cup or bottle? Or stick a special straw in his cup and make it fun? You have a cup of juice with a straw too and sit at his little table with him and chat, and while he chats or thinks about other stuff, you drink then he will copy you

Btw, my DD now 3 had severe constipation around 14 mths until 2 yrs old, and my GP overseas where we lived at the time said cut out the milk. So I did - gradually mixing it with water, then just water in her bottle, I told her the shops had stopped selling milk, the cows didnt have any milk left! She took to it

Much much better bowel movements once the milk and cheese went from her diet - oh and lots of walks and exercise - and also gently rubbing her tummy in clockwise circles while she relaxes with a cartoon or something really helps her. It gets her wind out! Also lifting her legs up and making a joke of getting her windy pops out helps her.

she is so much better now, and very regular.

Sorry long post - but milk is a no no for digestion in little ones. Don't forget she can get calcium from broccoli and other sources, not just milk or dairy.

HTH

We ended up putting it in a fruitshoot...bribery I know. But we also got away with it mixed in foods a few times, weetabix and coco pops mask the taste well. We were told to limit milk whilst we were on it, perhaps him drinking so much milk isn't helping?

Cross post in the milk lol

milk doesn't help (even though everyone will tell you that it usually has opposite effect!); I felt juice the lesser of 2 evils in the end - better than lifelong issues with poo etc. DD1 still has small drink of juice in the morning, even though she is off movicol. It is great stuff, and saved us from serious withholding issues - dosing is slightly problematic because it depends on lot of factors (what he's eaten, how much he's drunk etc). Try to get him to drink plenty (friend of mine with dd with severe constipation issues was told to give her whatever liquid - juice, Ribena, whatever) it really does help. And every now and again, give him a day without any movicol and see what happens. Good luck - it's a trial, but better than the alternative.

driedapricots dd has been on it since she was 9 months and she is nearly 17 months. I had to give it to her In her milk because I couldn't garuntee she would eat all her yogurt or whatever else I out the movicol in. I've bought her about twenty different cups to make it fun for her to drink her water/juice so she gets plenty of fluid. I really feel for children when they are constipated as it isn't nice at all. My dh days she can come off it when she has just had an explosion but I did that once and she ended up very constipated. It's worth the explosions! We r going to the doctors to talk more about it. I know milk probably doesn't help but it's liquid and if your ds doesn't drink much anyway then at least that's something. My dd has three bottles of milk a day.

cupcakemummy - my GP overseas told me that my DD was on too much milk, she was on 3 bottles a day then. I had to dilute the milk, as DD would only drink 'white' bottles for a few weeks, but even this was making a difference to the constipation, and gradually it gave her bowels time to strengthen and not produce extremes of explosions or constipated bowel movements.

Perhaps it's something I have to look into. I can see the benefis of diluting the bottles definitely. I just went to the docs about my dd constipation problems and apparently it's all my fault and fresh fruit and veg juices, prune purees, fresh lentil stew etc is all crap and I'm doing a terrible job of being a mother. So I was sent away to yet again leave my daughter to b in pain with her Bowles and talk to the Heath visitor who will tell me again I'm doing fine. I walked away from the appoint crying. It's not easy getting children so young eating so much fibre. One doc says movicol is fine the other says not to give it to her. I wish they would make their minds up!

cupcake I am appalled that you were made to feel this way. We saw (because of the silly rules here about prescribing Movicol - long story) a consultant who specialises in constipation in children and I took a food diary to him. It was very very healthy, lots of fruit and veg etc, and he said many chidlren who suffer from constipation have excellent diets - it's an issue about gut maturity/transit etc and no-one really knows why it happens. Also fibre isn't much use without lots of liquid. If she is straining and can't poo, then I would give it to her. Doctors can be wrong!

Thanks, this is all v useful, esp about milk..interesting as issues really only started once he went on to formula milk...mmm. rhetorician we have just seen a similar consultant who said exactly the same thing...all my DS eats is fruit & veg,it has nothing to do with diet in that sense. prob with movicol is that it takes a few days to work, it's not an immediate thing, so if we reduce/stop it takes about 3 days before we notice he's bunged up again. i guess the phrase 'this too will pass' is very apt for this issue!! thanks all

Oh god, I have the same problem. My DD is 14m and has been on Movicol since she was 7m. It is a constant battle to get her to drink anything at all, let alone the bloody Movicol. Lately it's been an all day battle to get her to drink 30ml, and she's on 1.5 sachets daily which is 90ml. I've even resorted to syringing it into her mouth with a medicine syringe, but she still refuses to swallow and lets it dribble out of her mouth. I too have a cupboard full of cups and she hates all of them. Some days I say "fine, if you want to turn into a dehydrated husk and have your bowels turn to concrete, see if I care..."

I've never tried mixing it in food, what works best? I've also considered reducing the amount of juice I mix it into. I know the advised dose is one sachet into 60ml, but can you use less?

with dd1 once we had a well established habit that wasn't causing any difficulties we would reduce the dose very very slightly, and then again, until we reached a point where she needed it upped again. It was a very very slow process.

DD is nearly 3 and has been battling this for 18 months now. I've lost track of the times I have cried over it tbh. So I don't have any real answers but maybe some experience. We cut out milk entirely and that made a huge difference, she still has yoghurt and cheese and that seems ok. Ditching the milk also improved her appetite. She has her 'tropical medicine' in the morning, one sachet every other day at the moment, mixed in with tropical fruit juice which she seems to love. The most she was on was 4 a day. This seems to have stabilised things. She also had silent reflux as a baby which apparently can be a sign of immature bowel.
In terms of the drinks, I've taken the line that anything will do. Fruit shoots, juice, squash, shloer, flavoured water, anything non fizzy basically. As soon as she stops drinking, it gets bad again. So I think you may need to knock the night time milk on the head as its set up a cycle that is just not helpful, which I think you know.
I have managed to get one sachet to dissolve in about 15mls before now, with good mixing and letting it stand for a bit. But you would need to make sure they still drink other things as it is the fluid that makes the difference. DD wouldn't eat veg to save her life but is quite keen on soup, which hits both bases.
Diet otherwise makes very little difference, in my experience. Bulk is the last thing they need.
Your doctors need to get a grip. Fortunately I have had a lot of support from mine who has been great. Keep going, don't stop, don't reduce it too quickly. I would rather the explosions than the blocks.

My dd is 17 months and does like to have milk when she wakes up and goes to sleep. What do u think would be an alternative instead of milk but so she still has something in place of that? She has always been a drink and the sleep baby. I really wish I still breastfed, another thing to feel extremley guilty about lol

hiviolet we mixed with weetabix and munch bunch yogurts, she never seemed to notice the difference also with jam on toast (bad parent) when she was a bit older, just squeezed the jam into a little tb and mix it in and spread on.,.voila!

Hi - mine's on movicol too. She has half a sachet a day now in diluted juice. She's just 3 and potty training has been an issue so we're giving it a break. Just wondering how anyone else managed - she just seems paranoid about her bowels poor thing!

DD has fruit juice in place of milk, so as long as you offer something it may well help. But diluting milk half and half with water would be a good start and might fool her too, lol! Also she doesn't have anywhere near as much juice as she did milk, but is still weeing happily (and its stopped the morning tidal wave and soaked bed too).

We have not even attempted potty training, DD is just not interested, will not go to the potty unless she chooses to (but she can hold wee for hours if she wants) and she can't dress or undress herself. She will also deny outright that she has done a poo, doesn't care that she could be filthy or sore. But her reason for the movicol is withholding poo, no physical issue it's entirely mental. If I tried to potty train her using rewards/punishments, I suspect we would be straight back to the withholding. Worst was 11 days when she was about 2.5. I'm not thinking about it at the moment, I suspect that when she finally decides to learn it she will. Very frustrating though, she is so smart at everything else but this has just become so ingrained that I don't really see a way out. Probably the summer before she has to start school, she'll get the threats about not being allowed to go...

constantcraving I was wondering how ur daughter is responding to half a sachet a day? I've reduced my daughters dose to half a day an she has gone back to square one which is really upsetting! I just don't understand, she drinks lots of juice and does have milk but I've tried reducing milk but I really don't think it's a good idea and she is not a good eater, very fussy. We have a cranial osteopathy appoint tomorrow books by my dh and I'm just not keen on it, especially as she wants to "crack" my daughter. Makes me feels sick at the thought of it.

We had a constipation issue which led to impaction with our now 5 year old. It was truly horrible and I really feel for you.
She was prescribed Movicol by the GP then (I think we were told one packet a day). Somehow, not quite sure why I was v unsure about the med so we got a second opinion privately and saw a wonderful French paediatrician who advised giving her Hepar water. She now drinks about one or two glasses a day. It worked straightaway. From dark pellets every 3-4 days we got soft poo every day or every other day. The water is high in magnesium. dd was withholding at school and it is still an issue we need to keep an eye on but the water has really helped

Just Googled Hepar water because I'd never heard of it and sadly it only seems to be available in France (and ridiculously expensive to buy online). Shame because I was tempted to try it for myself.

You need only 62.5ml water per sachet. We mixed it up with water and put it on Weetabix in the morning before covering the Weetabix in other cereal and pouring milk on top. At morning snack we put it in milk. At lunch or tea I have slipped bits (done in 62.5ml water) into beans, pasta sauce, anything wet. Before bed another full sachet in milk. Fortunately we are 1 a day now.

What does everyone think of giving rice milk instead of normal milk. My mum suggested giving her rice milk instead incase it was milk that was constipating her. I'm making an appointment with the doctor tomorrow as my husband has spent £80 so far on cranial osteopathy and it's not working! If u let constpation go on I would imagine it will lead to all sorts of problems an I'm going to tell the doctor they need to listen to what I'm saying this time!!