Any tips for getting a precocious 8yo girl to take medicine!!!

[Firehanger]

Help!!

My daughter has been constipated for 9 days now. During this time she has taken a suppository (after much protest) which at least allowed her to empty her bowels once.

She has had lactilose and Calfig from time to time, but has now been prescribed Movicol sachets....oh dear....

She is a head-strong little lass - probably the majority of the reason why she is in this situation in the first place to be honest - and is now flatly refusing to take these sachets.

So far, we've tried dissolving them in water, milk, and orange juice, but none have worked, and she's spat it out saying it tastes horrid - it doesn't, you can hardly taste it (and I've tried it to be certain).

Anyone got any bright ideas as to how they have handled this? Is there anything else we could try?

She's in a state, and not getting better, despite the knowledge that poo doesnt come out any other way!!

Thanks for reading....

Chris

Put in a yoghurt and don't tell her it's there!!

I have a 10yo with ASD on permanent senna and movicol!

Does she have a competitive side. Tell her you will race her and drink one yourself to see who can do it the fastest, and the winner gets a prize. Perhaps set up a timer to record times to make it seem realistic. Tell her you are known for fast drinking and have never been best before. My 7 year old still likes to "beat" me and would probably buy into this.

Offer her prunes instead? Prune juice?

Bribery!

Angel Delight - and don't tell her it is there :)

You can indeed mix it in yoghurt/custard/jelly/Angel Delight. Dissolve sachet in a TINY amount of water, leave until it's syrupy looking, then hide in food.

At 8 she's also old enough to know that the pain and discomfort of constipation is so awful, it's worth tolerating the medicine to start feeling better again.

Or threaten a suppository

Thanks for the replies!! :)

Yoghurt would work, if she ate it any more. Used to love it, has gone off it a few months ago.

Competitive - yes. Likely to go for a competition over this - not so sure. Worth a try though....

Prunes. Maybe. SHe's never tried them, so might be worth a go too. I doubt she'll get on with them, but they worked a treat for me when I was a kid.

Angel delight. Again, not a big fan already, so i doubt we're onto a winner there.

Reckon we'll go with competitive yoghurt and prunes.... :)

Thanks again

Prunes are foul. Prune juice is disgusting. I would rather drink Movicol every day for life than touch anything prune related...

Also, Movicol works so much better than prunes, without the gut cramps and awful wind.

Trust me, I know.

Movicol doesn't taste. If you made drink in a bottle and added sachet and put in fridge - poured her a drink from that - eg cold! She may never know.

Or hot chocolate put in cup with sachet - add milk or water.

Alternatively - this will be controversial - don't give her a choice. So it's meds time, sit at table, stay till she's drunk it. It's only 67.5mls!!! OR Give to her at dinner and she can leave when done. No fuss made and no encouragement to drink. Don't tell her it's in there obviously!

I garuntee if she doesn't know the medicine is in the drink she won't know through drinking it - but it does help to make string squash because the movicol lightens the squash colour! What about making it before you pick her up from school so it's ready for her.

What about reason? Constipation enlarges the bowel. When this happens poo leaks and there's no control. So it's 4 gulps of drink DD or

Explain to Miss Precocious why she needs to take the Movicol and the consequences for not taking it, give her two options on how to take it. Sounds horrible but she needs to learn. Good luck.

Well yes, surely be precocious, and therefore ahead of her peers in understanding, she should actually be reminding you it's time for her meds and how much.

Have you had any luck getting her to take it?

If she won't take it at home can you ask school to give it to her at lunchtime? It's amazing what children will do for others!

My son suffers with constipation. I find a glass of red grape juice every morning keeps him regular. Also good for hiding tastes from medication.
Tell her that severe constipation will come out one way or another. It can burst your bowels or it will come upwards and out of her mouth.

Sheer bribery? I'm sure I will be flamed but sometimes needs must.

We recently had to administer movicol for my stubborn 3yo. I was dreading it as she really is INCREDIBLY stubborn and going through a massive 'no!' phase. What worked for us was calling it 'The Movicol Challenge', putting it into a drink of squash with a straw and pretending to make the same drink for me or dh and racing her to finish it. We drew up a big chart on the wall each week, winner of the day gets a star, person with the most stars gets a prize (we used one of those little hello kitty/peppa pig surprise eggs you can buy with bits of tat in them but you can find something more age appropriate). Weekly winner was always DD. Show her the prize at the beginning of the week so she knows whats she's aiming for. Basically make it into an exciting game. Also explain to her why she's taking the movicol as people have suggested above. My DD used to get really bad tummy cramp and we explained that the movicol was going to help her poo come out which would make her tummy cramp go away. Good luck!

My DD2 takes Movicol in ridiculously strong blackcurrant squash. It's the only thing that makes it tolerable. When I say ridiculously strong, I mean more squash than water.

Sit her down and explain what is happening to her body. Get a book with a good picture showing the bowel and intestines, Usbourne do one with a flap which lifts up to show the poo, my boys love it

DS1 (6) is actually off the Movicol now, we didn't stick with it for long. He was constipated mainly because he wouldn't drink, so we insisted on him drinking a certain amount - no TV after school until he'd drunk a big glass when he got home for example. He goes to sit on the loo after dinner every day, no excuses, no tantrums. If he won't behave like a big boy then we won't treat him like one.

This is largely about control, and you have to win that battle - partly by making her understand, and partly by exerting your authority.

How about you add it to ice-cream/chocolate mousse/custard?