How can I get more Movicol into my 23-month-old?

[43gazebo]

I need to get just over 60ml of the plain Movicol solution into DS, who is 23mo. He refuses to drink it by itself. I don’t think for a second he’d entertain any of the flavoured versions.

So far, I’m having success mixing 10ml into really thick Greek yoghurt, and adding fruit. I’m doing this twice a day, so he’s getting 20ml.

I have no idea how to get the rest into him other than by pinning him down, which he will get really distressed by (but we’ll do it if we have to because of course a few minutes of distress is better than doing very hard and painful poos twice a week!). I’d be grateful for any suggestions. Thank you.

We used squash, but I wouldn't recommend that since it wrecked her teeth. If you can find some kind of sugar-free squash she'll drink, just be sure you mix the powder with the water first, then add the concentrate.

It's almost impossible to get a serious amount of Movicol into a child, so I feel your pain!

Can you make it into jelly?

I can try the squash but he’s only ever drank water so I don’t know if he would accept it. But I’m willing to try anything.

Will try jelly too, great idea! Thank you both.

Chocolate, strawberry or banana milk!

Could it be mixed with juice and frozen into an ice lolly?

Does he drink milk? It’s not recommended to mix it with milk but only because of reduced effectiveness, not because it’s dangerous. We’ve always had to put it in milk for our child. We used to mix it straight in and then later would mix the movicol in a small amount of water before adding milk - honestly can’t say we noticed much difference either way but it worked.

I used to give milk & a flavoured chocolate straw to drink it with. We had to do the disimpaction regime a few times because he refused to drink it daily. It was grim & needs must!

I’ve tried so hard to get him to drink cows’ milk but he’s just not interested. He will have milk in cereal but never by itself (still breastfeeding as and when). That’s a thought though, could I put it in the milk on his cereal? And encourage him to have a good go at his water at the same time? 🤔

He’s never had any juice either - again, not for want of trying. I will keep persisting though.

(I was so strict on following all the weaning guidelines (sugar) etc but it means I now have a nearly two year old who won’t eat ice cream or cake when offered to him, or juice! Absolutely not a stealth boast - I think it’s been a bit sad this summer that I never got an ice cream photo!)

I have just mixed 60ml of water with about 20ml of milk as I reckoned I’d add about 80ml milk to his breakfast usually. I thought it’d be really thin and watery but actually it just looks like skimmed milk.

So that could be a winner!

And I’ve also just thought, if I got full fat milk instead of semi skimmed then the mixture would appear even less watery!

Thank you so much for that idea @DownRightAmazing. He is usually pretty good with eating his breakfast so that might be the way forward!

I’ve also just found an NHS site that recommends mixing the mixture in with pasta sauce so that could be another route! Again I’d need to think about how to ensure it doesn’t turn out super watery but there might be a way…

We give it in a 60ml syringe, she literally just sucks it out (with a splash of squash) and sometimes asks for more! I think it’s a novelty. You can get colourful
ones online which might help

Remember breastmilk is also a laxative so if he’s constipated that will help!

I came to second the pp suggesting flavoured milk. My dd has severe asd and when she was little really struggled and chocolate nesquik was the only way! It really worked for us so fingers crossed the cereal works for you.

This is what I came to say. make chia jam, great natural laxative

I breastfeed on demand and through the night as and when he wants it. Unfortunately for the past eight weeks or so he’s just been getting really constipated and only pooing every three days or so. Nothing has changed with the breastfeeding, so I’m not sure why it’s happened.

He loves his fruit, berries, melons, oranges etc. He eats well and quite varied in the evening - lots of home cooked curries, stews etc, though will also have a quick pasta and sauce with some added frozen veg sometimes. Lunch can be quite varied - if we’re out and about it can be a bit ‘snacky’ but if we’re at home I’ll do jacket potato with cheesy beans or something like that. Nursery say he eats fine there.

We try and do plenty of walking and fresh air each day when he’s home with us.

I’m worried it might move from ‘just’ constipation to active withholding because it’s painful to poo so it becomes a vicious cycle. 😔

There are lots of health risks with Movicol if I remember rightly.

I'd try PHGG / Sunnier which does a similar job but has other health benefits and is tasteless, courless and odourless.

We dissolve it in 30ml water, then make up to 100ml with apple juice. So it's well dissolved but mostly tastes of apple. My daughter reckons the slightly salty taste of it is best in Apple juice. She has it at breakfast, then brushes her teeth.

I can recommend home made cookies which have peanut butter and milled golden flaxseed and wholemeal flour in them (also brown sugar and chocolate chips). They work alongside everything else. Might be worth trying different flavours and also laxido is another branded one - dc might prefer the taste. Also worth a try

we mix the powder movicol into fromage fraise .
Has your daughter's constipation been investigated? Our granddaughter was diagnosed with coeliac aged 4 because of her chronic constipation.

Really? I read that all it does is draw water into the bowel to soften and rehydrate the stool to make it easier to pass?

DS started movicol at that age. I mixed it with juice (watered down a bit)
Ideally I wouldn't have introduced it that early. He loved it and puzzled down as the fruit helped cover the really horrible bitter taste (it is nasty, I tried it)
He used to have it as a morning drink in a special cup with a straw to limit tooth damage. And then have breakfast. Left tooth cleaning for a while after as you shouldbt brush straight after acid.

Sounds yummy! Do you have a recipe please?!

Jelly as suggested above but use a mould with small holes and a fairly thick solution to make gummy sweets.

Please make sure you're mixing the powder with the correct amount of water before adding to yogurt etc. We mix the made up mix with apple juice, the colder the better to cover the taste.

I have ARFID so really struggled to swallow movicol when I needed it after a major surgery. I eventually ended up mixing it into jelly and setting it so I could swallow it easily without really tasting it.

Things have less taste when they are cold so serving it in cold drinks/foods may also help.