Movicol - How do I get dd to drink it when she says it's disgusting and drinks hardly anything anyway?

[katalex]

Dd (3.9) has just been prescribed Movicol. I started her on 2 sachets yesterday as directed. I mixed with 125ml of water and her favourite squash for flavouring. She said it was disgusting and it took about 6 hours of encouragement to get her to drink it all. She drinks very little anyway. When I mixed up 4 sachets earlier she looked at it in disgust.

Can you mix it up with less water? Is there anything you found that helped you to get your dc to drink it?

..sorry for the delay, DD1 has been unwell today.

Sodium docusate has to be prescribed by the dr. googled here sodium docusate

We never had any of the explosive poo situations we had with lactulose & (the soapy tasting) movical.

I think within 3-5 days we had a major difference.

DD1 still has a fissure on her bottom, the consultant said it would go eventually, that was over 3 years ago though.

Agree, it's horrible for them & for you to watch them strain - you've got lots of hints, so hope they can make a difference for you.

I'm so glad I found this thread - my 2son has been constipated since before Xmas & was prescribed Lactoluse (which didn't work) & has now been given Movicol. I was concerned it says to add to water as he is hit & miss with his drinks but LOVES milk so I will add it to that. Phew!

BTW he is only 20.5 months & I see somebody has mentioned it is usually prescribed to over 2s?

I would add to other drinks. Tink will take any medication but she won't take Movicol in water. It doesn't need to be all at once either.

Also I think the whole fibre thing is confusing.

I just thought fibre was fibre, but now I know that soluble fibre in fruit and veg is different to insoluble in bran for example.

As I didn't know this I think I made the mistake of stuffing dd with insoluble fibre which then sucked water from her bowl and also made her full, she'd have been better with soluble fibre as it's less filling so she would have had a varied vitamin rich diet.

All fibre was not created equal it turns out.

Mango is brilliant, freeze it, milkshake it, puree it in yogurt but it's brilliant. squeeze a really soft one into pineapple juice and add the movicol and I defy anyone not to poo.

Agree fruit shoots less good as aspartamine etc not working with the bocy. These bodies need the fruit sugars as they increase gut mobility.

Put pure fruitjuice in the fruit shoot bottle, with water and sugar if you have to at first.

Our doctor told us that it was OK to add movicol to DS1's breakfast cereal - so we used to mix it with the milk for his weetabix (thankfully, after 2 years of poo problems, at 3yo he seems to have outgrown it and no longer needs movicol at all)

I think there are different varieties - we had the plain one, but think there is a flavoured one which I hear is vile.

AllyAlly - when my son was prescribed Movicol he was 22 months and really quite big for his age (i.e. easily the size of a 2 year old) with no other medical problems. Our GP said that although it was meant for over 2s, he was happy to prescribe for these reasons. However, this was over 2 years ago, so it's possible that the recommendations for Movicol have been changed or relaxed since then.

just been prescribed movicol today for 3 year old. really hope it chamges things for us. she has regular bouts of constipation caused by food allergies. people who think you can always control constipation by diet and fluid are very very wrong and make me mad too.

she wont drionk it neat so am trying white grape juice if not then in her formula. she can't drink most juices or milk etc co os allergies.

any advice or suggestions would be great.

Hi there. I started potty training my nearly 28month old daughter about ten days ago and am experiencing the pooing in her pants problem. She's on movicol (one sachet in twice as much water as normal, making a half strength dose) and gets this daily because if she didn't it would be a constipation nightmare. I don't know if the pooing in her pants is due to the movicol or not: maybe it just comes on her so suddenly that she doesn't have time to get to the toilet, or maybe she just can't control it. Whatever the reason, she's very reluctant to go in the toilet, although she's pretty much cracked the peeing bit, the pooing is a nightmare. I won't consider taking her off the meds or reducing it as, after many many long months, this dosage keeps her as comfy as possible, but I would appreciate any insights that anyone might have

If she drinks very little I agree that that should be the first thing to address before moving to medication.
Movical is better than lactulose generally speaking (according to the continence nurse specialist I spent time with).

Steps to take first

More fruit and veg and a balance with whole cereal such as weetabix.

LOTS of fluid encouragement.
Encouragement to try to poo at a regular time each day.

If she has had very hard stools for a long time she may have a stretched anus and the sphincter may not be closing properly, therefore a not holding it for the toilet problem can occur.

It would be worth seeing the community paediatrician or nurse specialist if you have one.

Can noone give any advice for my question?

Docrose - having been through all this with DS1 my advice is....chill. He was around your DD's age when prescribed Movicol. This was after refusing to poo for six days. Anyone who dismisses Movicol as horrid, nasty stuff has not seen the will of a toddler who, quite understandably, will do anything to - as they see it - avoid a painful situation. The Movicol alleviated this, but his abject fear of the toilet meant the only place he'd poo was his pants. We saw a paediatrician about it whose very sensible advice was to let him. Eventually, he said, he'll decide it makes more sense to poo in the toilet. And, guess what, that's exactly what happened.

It did seem like I was washing pooey pants forever but the reality was it was only a couple of months - which, in the grand scheme of things is no time at all.

Those who dismiss it as a mess would do well to remember that what goes around comes around - many of us will end up being pushed around, eating mushy food with no teeth and.... having someone clean up our poo!
A v good book (by the paediatrician we saw Dr Anthony Cohn) is Constipation, Withholding and Your Child.

yes well thanks for the non judgemental encouragement. I don't mind the poo in the pants: was just wondering if this was normal, being a first time parent and all. But especially the last comment made me feel like I'm doing really well

you can get lemon and lime or plain

Really alypaly? All the docs who have prescribed it for DD2, and pharmacists have said they can only get plain! I've always thought that there must be flavoured ones if they have labelled it plain...? Whereabouts have you got it from in those flavours?

I think it is a relief to see other mums going through the same (obviously not the pain)! My DD has just turnt 2 and have been suffering from constipation for just under a year. WE have tried lactulose, syrup of figs, orange juice, weetabix, brown bread, etc but nothing worked. And to see her straining so hard and in pain is just awful. The hospital did an xray and found a blockage. DD was prescribed movicol yesterday but hated the taste straight away! Thanks to this thread I have put it in her milk and fingers crossed x

My daughter who is now 13 months, has been constipated since she was about 3 days old. They said it was impossible for her to be constipated as I was breast feeding but she was. We found out at 6 weeks that she was cow's milk protein intolerant & this was the reason she was constipated. Since then, we've battled with trying to get her to poo. We were told to use glycerine suppositories & then prescribed Lactulose. Nothing worked. The gastroenterologist we're seeing prescribed Movicol but it isn't working!!!!! One day the poo is soft, next day she's constipated again. We are currently giving her 2 sachets a day & have been told we can increase to 4 sachets a day. How on earth do I get her to drink that much?? I put the first sachet in her milk in the morning & mix the other one with apple juice later in the day. She also has fissures on her little bum so they think that because she knows it's been painful in the past she holds on to the poo, which in turn stretches the anal passage, which in turn makes it hard for her to feel that she needs to poo.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? Just hoping there is light at the end of the tunnel. She is not a great eater no matter what I try to give her. I am vegan & so she eats mainly vegan foods (lots of fruits, vegetables & beans/lentils, etc). She doesn't have any other food allergies that we know of so it's hard for me to understand why she's still constipated when her diet is extremely healthy.