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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Movicol experts!

22 replies

FranMay · 28/03/2008 13:46

Help, my 3.9 ds has been constipated again over the last week and we've restarted him on Movicol. We had been phasing it out after he became more regular. He has only been going every 3 days in the last week which for him means constipated and prone to soiling . In the last 24 hours he's had 1.5 sachets of Movicol and this morning (3 days since going) he did go to the loo. However this afternoon he's been soiling. Does anyone know if this means he's had too much Movicol or whether it means his bowel is still trying to clear out. Really sorry this is tmi but have no time to refine my message as his younger sis is trying to get into a packet of jelly beans! Thanks in advance!

OP posts:

moominsmummy · 28/03/2008 19:23

could mean he has overflow - when they get really constipated the hard stuff near the exit gets stuck and the liquid poo from higher up flows over the top - hence soiling - I would stick with the movicol every day for a while until you are convinced he is completely clear

BTW - when we drastically reduced DSs milk intake his constipation improved alot

HTH

ZoeC · 28/03/2008 19:32

Without knowing how much he 'did' earlier it's hard to tell, was it 3-days worth would you say or would you think there is more to come?

I do find too much movicol causes soiling - lots of small soiling during the day. Too little and she constipates which equally causes some soiling (less though). I find getting the balance really hard to be honest, which isn't much help I realise!

Original poster

FranMay · 28/03/2008 20:04

Thanks - it is hard getting the balance. Seems to be trial and error. He soiled on and off all afternoon - I find it so difficult to keep calm when he's like this and it must be horrible for him. Think we'll go back to one sachet a day for a while. At least he ate his carrots tonight!!!

OP posts:

Original poster

FranMay · 28/03/2008 20:05

Btw, how much milk is/was your DS having at this age? Ds has always liked drinking milk.

OP posts:

moominsmummy · 28/03/2008 20:45

well he's younger than your son - he was 3yrs 3 months when we cut out the milk - he would drink about a pint a day - now he just has water and a small cup of milk

TheArmadillo · 28/03/2008 20:49

we were told to water down the milk as it causes constipation.

Sympathies as we are trying to wean ds (3.5) off movicol and any time we take it down he ends up constipated again.

Original poster

FranMay · 28/03/2008 21:28

Perhaps we'll watch his milk consumption then - he tends to have very small cups a few times a day so prob not more than 1/2 pint per day. Sympathy to you too Armadillo. It is a nightmare. I was doubly panicked yesterday by the gp who said we need to get this (and his other toileting probs) sorted soon as he'll be off to school before long.. I am so glad that they have 3 point entry here and he's not going for another year! I don't understand why some children are prone to constipation like this. He is a faddy eater and prob doesn't eat enough veg, but he does eat a reasonable diet with quite a lot of fibre. I was up to my eyes in poo this afternoon what with ds and his sister's nappies

OP posts:

taffy101 · 28/03/2008 21:47

No advice i'm afraid. My dd is also on movicol and we can't get the balance right either. We are trying half a sachet a day, but its hard to monitor as she is now nearly 5 and goes to toilet alone, v. independent. We only know of problems when she's jumping around the landing saying 'it won't come out'.

Interesting,the point about milk though. DD does drink quite a lot, maybe I will try and reduce that and see what happens.

Original poster

FranMay · 28/03/2008 21:49

Lol, 'jumping around the landing'. When ds needs to go he 'wobbles'. Sometimes we ask him if he needs to go and he says 'no I'm just wobbling...'

OP posts:

bomshell · 15/03/2009 21:51

My son Thomas is 18 months old and has been on movicol for 8 months. He has chronic constipation and cannot manage without it. We have tried homeopathy, osteopathy etc ... but if we stop giving him the movicol he strains so bad his little head turns blue and he is screaming. This is so stressful, not only are we battling the constipation but he doesnt want to eat anything either!! so a lot of the time i have to literally force feed him just so he eats something!
He cant afford to miss any meals as his weight is below average. He is very pale and im worried that the movicol is stripping him of all of the nutrients im giving him.
Its such a worry the specialists say its something he will grow out of, but he looks so pale all the time even when he has been in the fresh air i would hope for rosy cheeks but he still stays pale. His haemoglobin levels dont signify anaemia either!!

Acinonyx · 15/03/2009 22:13

I struggle to get the balance right - but I sometimes lower the does thinking the loose soiling is just too much movicol - but it never is - so far it has always meant that it's actually backed up soemwhere. Seems to be a 3 day cycle of soiling then getting it out.

Interesting about the milk - we should probably cut that. She's 3.7 and I wish we could get her sorted by school in Sep - but I doubt it. It really dominates our life these days.

kellybluecoat · 05/04/2009 11:31

My son is only 9months old and he has just been put on Movicol, twice a day for a week then weaning it back to once a day, over a six week period. I'm worried because the instructions say not to give to children under two. My gastrointerologist admitted it's not been tested on younger kids, but that it's better than the horrific constipation we were experiencing.

Prior to this, Latchulose hadn't worked and he can only poo with enema's. This all began when I introduced him to solid foods at five months old. He was wholly breastfed from 0-5 months and poo'd very regularly.

Anyone have any understanding or possible reasons why my son is so constipated? I'm so upset about it. Also any positive news about Movicol for babies would be good, though I'm worried that it's bad for him...

susia · 05/04/2009 21:50

my son had very bad constipation but he was alot older. He was 4 when it started and I found the key was to use Movical and Lactulose together and to use quite a lot of lactulose. It took a year to wean him off both of them and now he is fine. The movical does really help but the lactulose gradually builds up and helps too.

fulltimeworkingmum · 05/04/2009 22:35

Fruit, veg, plenty of fluid and exercise

Lealea74 · 14/07/2009 04:39

My almost 5 year old son was constipated from the age of 1 and ended up with constant soiling & encopresis by age 3. It took us 18 months to work through the problem. After finally getting him on Movicol & clearing his bowel out completely (You will know when their bowel is completely emptied because they will poo constantly for days on end & then it will stop) his bowel started to heal itself and he started to feel the sensation of when to go to the toilet - something he had not had before due to the stretching of his bowel from the constant constipation. We then took him off the Movicol & gave him a daily dose of parachoc to maintain the softness & regularity of the stools. I am happy to say that he is now off all medication & although his bowel movements are still only 2 - 3 times a week, at least it is regular & does not hurt him. Now to maintain him I sprinkle Benefiber on his cereal in the morning & make him drink 1/2 cup of pear juice a day. It is working wonders! Hope this helps other parents in despair out there!

Lealea74 · 14/07/2009 04:42

And we also found that Milk was a major cause of constipation. Reducing his milk intake & putting him on lactose-free milk helped alot.

tughela · 09/11/2010 14:21

Hi ,

My son was on movicol for about 1.5 years until we realised the cause of the constipation was milk. The reason we missed it at first is because he got constipated before he had ever had cows milk, he is obviously prone to getting constipated, but now that we have removed all cows milk from his diet he is a different child. He goes either everyday or every other day with normal soft stools. In order to test this you need to go two weeks without ANY products containing cows milk.
He was on movical when we did this test, but it was clearly working as his stools were so so soft and regular. Once we realised the milk was the problem we weaned him off the movicol gradually as per recommendations. He hasn't touched movicol for 6 months.
If there are any signs of his stool hardening he just has a couple of prunes (this never worked before)
If you haven't already tried this, try it . I really hope it works. This discovery has changed our lives. There was actually a medical study which is what convinced me to try it
www.wholewoman.com/drupal-6.16/node/2906

We now have a normal happy family.

He drinks soya milk and soya products, and he knows not too take cows milk if offered it. Now that he is so regular he probably could have a bit, but because he is so well, energetic, regular and healthy we have decided that for the moment he does not need it. But I have heard they grow out of it.

Tughela

twiglettof4 · 23/07/2012 15:38

hi,I am currently looking after my 2 year old niece,she has been on movicol paediatric plain for a long time now and she has 1 sachet daily,her poo doesnt seem hard and she doesnt strain to go to poo,so we dont know if she needs to take the medicine still or to stop giving it to her as she seems fine with out it as she hasnt had it today and still poo'd normally.she is away from home so cant take her to her regular doctoe either.

twiglettof4 · 23/07/2012 15:40

i just figured if she has poo'd normally today and she didnt have the medicine yesterday then she doesnt need it anymore,or for now atleast.

camdancer · 23/07/2012 16:52

How long do you have your niece for? It takes my DD a couple of days off Movicol to get bad again, but it really isn't fun for anyone once she is constipated.

RaisinDEtre · 23/07/2012 17:24

I wouldn't take her off it without medical advice

keep on with the regime of one sachet per day, it can take a few days for the bowels to back up and then the cycle of witholding/straining/whole horrible shebang starts again

Beckyandyson · 30/04/2019 14:11

I realise that your pat was a while back but I was hoping to hear how you got on with this? My daughter is now in the same situation, 9 months and been put on movicol, shes struggled with constipation since we started weaning at 6 months. She was ebf up until that point. Any help/ update you can offer would be really appreciated! Thanks

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