2 Year Old Prescribed Glycolax/miralax

Updated on January 25, 2007
K.S. asks from Enola, PA
23 answers

Has anyone given their child a prescription (miralax/glycolax) for constipation? My daughter has been holding back her stool and is having very painful BM's. The Doc wrote us a script for this laxative to use for the next few months. Any advice you have for solving constipation would be great. My little one turned 2 a few days ago and was doing good on the potty until recently, so now we are forgetting about the potty until she gets back on track. Thanks for the help!!!

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.F.

answers from York on

With out knowing you daughter diet I can only tell you what I would do….my two year old get bind up with whole milk so I give him 1% not a lot…..fruit juice NOT water down, fresh juice will help loosen her up…. Lots of fruits like, grapes, raisins,. So not use applesauce it has the pectin with can act as a binder.. I would watch my son and just take not on how often he poops. Sometime he can go two days. If he starts to act like he having a problem I will give him a enema with half warm water and half kero syrup…..I been around the medical field for 9 yr. We try to stay away from medicines only when necessary …. I hope this is helpful

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.S.

answers from Washington DC on

I'd definitely suggest forgetting about potty training right now.

Also, pears used to do the trick for my older one when he was constipated. And babies and toddlers seem to like them. Oatmeal is good too.

Ask the pediatrician what kind of liquids you can give her, too. I think it's just whole milk at this age, but white grape juice might help with the constipation -- don't feed it to her until you get the okay from the doctor, tho.

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

E.M.

answers from Allentown on

while i have never given my child miralax, i work in a pharmacy and i do know that the medication draws water out into the colon and gives the baby the urgency to go and helps the stool become softer. so please be sure to give your little one lots of fluids.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.S.

answers from Philadelphia on

Ever since I starting potty training for BM's my daughter has had constipation problems. Shes been on Miralax for about 3 years. I was told by her gastrologist that miralax is not habit forming and is safe for long term use. I mix it in her juice with a tablespoon of Benefiber (make sure you ask the doctor if this is safe for a 2 yr old and ask about the dosage). I also found some fiber gummy bears at the health food store she loves. My daughter is a picky eater and is stubborn so it was hard for me to get alot of fiber in her diet but I do remember the dried apricots helping and I think peaches have high fiber count.

Her doctor told me it was more of a mental issue then a physical thing, which I agreed with. All it takes is one BM that hurts, they begin holding it in and the cycle starts. Then on top off that you start taking away the familiarity of the diaper and expect them to make transaction to a potty.

At 6 years old I'm finally seeing an end! She wore a diaper to poo until she was 4. The only thing that finally worked was cuting a hole in the diaper while she sat on the toliet.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

H.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I have not encountered this with my children, but I do know that when mine eat some foods, they seem to go more often - perhaps focusing on including some in their diets would help move things along as well....olives, raisins, carrots (especially raw - cut into skinny sticks for easy chewing), beans. Of course, I know getting litle ones to eat some foods isn't always easy either. Also having them drink plenty of water is good for keeping things from getting too hard and painful.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.R.

answers from Washington DC on

My daughter(age 2) is on miralax. She has beenon it for almost 5 months. It is a stoll softner not a laxative. So its not harsh on their stomachs. Her stool is softer than normal...almost baby like. My only concern was that after being on it for a long time we have to ween her body off of it so that she does not get constipated or impacted. It has been wonderful for her & she has had no side effects. I feel completely safe giving it to her & it is working for her. You can actually raise to dose slightly if she has not had a stool in 24 hours. We only do this if we KNOW she has eaten a lot & has not had a BM. But, you can also choose to give it eery other day so her body does not depend on it. You can get a little creative with the doses. I hope it works out for you.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.L.

answers from York on

Hi K.,
My 3 1/2 yr old son is on this medicine. We tried everything before going to prescription medicine. I am not sure what started his constipation, he ate well, and drank plenty of water, but he had it for a little while then it began to hurt and he began holding it in which of course made it worse. On top of that he then had a mental issue about it and even when we got it softer he still would hold as much of it as he could in. We had to go to the medicine. It works well once you get the dosage right. We used steady for quite a while, now I only have to use it maybe once a week, just to make sure he is "purging" all his poop. It is not a laxative (unless you use too much), but it does prevent them from holding it in, which allows you to deal the problem better. My son is just not regular so I have to keep track of him and he may always have a issue with constipation. He gets it from me, I have never been very regular either and can get backed up if I am not careful. We eat healthy and I make sure we all get our fiber(: You have to get over the holding it in and get past potty training before I think you can really work on treating it with diet. At least that is what I am hoping for (: Good luck.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.B.

answers from Dover on

I use Gerber prune/apple juice when my son is constipated. Works like a charm! He's 2 1/2. You might also just give her some prunes to eat, along with raisins.

I don't know if this is a cause or not, but I'd seriously limit the meat in her diet for a bit. It's much harder to digest. Veggies and fruits are easier on the body. No, I'm not a vegetarian. : ) Just trying to get your daughter to move things along! ; )

Let us know what happens!
D.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.Z.

answers from Philadelphia on

Miralax is a very gentle laxative. We prescribe it all the time in our office for cinstipation. You should also increase your child's water intake and fiber. Also, make sure your child is relaxed when going to the bathroom. If your child's feet don't reach the floor when sitting on the toilet, provide a stool. This will help the child to relax her body when sitting. Let her read a book, play with a small toy, or gameboy. Hope this helps!
A. Z.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

N.S.

answers from Philadelphia on

My almost 3 year old is on it and I love it.. He was constipated for almost a month and was in and out of the ER a few times.. Finally when they put him on that he has been regular and has had no problems.. I also have a girlfriend who's daughter is on it and she loves it to.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.B.

answers from Pittsburgh on

my daughter has this same medicine. She refuses to poo. When she was on it she was regular once taken off of it she is constipated again. My daughter is 4 and 1/2. My 3 year old son is now started to hold his poo in. Ive tried explaining to them that they need to go and the doc has also but they just do not want to poo. I am told it is normal for certain kids to do this. My daughter has a history of it. When she was a newborn she never had a bowel movement. She was put on cereal at 2 months and after that she started having bowel movements. We thought things had fixed themselve but when she turned 2 she started holding her bowels in. She will now go poo in a diaper but we cannot get her to poo in the potty. I have two very stubborn children and I dont know if this is a result of that or something else.
I cannot give you advice on getting rid of the constipation as i am still dealing with it but just know you are not alone.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.B.

answers from Philadelphia on

K., My son used glycolax. We had to adjust it only once so that he was not having any accidents but other than that it wqorked very well for him. The glycolax helped to make him regular, he was a bit older when we put him on it but it did what it was suppost to. Alot of people and Dr. will tell u that a reason kids might hold back with the potty thing is it is control. This is a way for kids to have controll when they can not control anyhing else. I hope things get a little easier for u and your daughter. We were able to ween my son off the med. and he is still pretty regular, finally fell into his own cycle.
Hope that helps.
K.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.B.

answers from Philadelphia on

I give my kids Raisin Bran cereal and it really helps them. I also give them oatmeal a couple times a week. My girls will actually ask for the Raisin Bran when they are having a hard time having a BM.

I agree with looking at her diet and seeing what subtle changes you can make.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

H.F.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I used to babysit for a friend. Her daughter is the same way. The miralax was a god send. Without it, her daughter would hold it in until she made herself sick. I wouldn't be afraid to use it, just follow the precautions that come with the medication and keep her hydrated.

My little cousin hated the concept of pooping as well and would hold it like that as well. If she is holding it back on purpose, you might want to try borrowing the book "Everybody Poops" from the library. My sister bought it for my cousin. While she still hated to have a bm and would try to hold it, the book seemed to help some. The problem with my cousin was after holding it, it would become painful to go which would just make it all the more undesirable to go so she would try to hold it longer. Once she started to understand that it wasn't something she could prevent and that holding it caused more pain, she finally stopped trying to hold it in. But it took awhile to get to that point.

Good luck with your little one. I hope my advice helps.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.G.

answers from Dover on

This is called Chronic Constipation, from what i have been told it's not the diet of your child, to much milk, cheese whateverhave you. my daughter has been on Miralx for 8 years, she is 11. She had the same problem. It is a good medication, you will need to work with it though, all kids are differant and it works more on some not enough for others. So if she gets diarreah don't give her a capful cut it back to 3/4 capful and so on. If she goes through a period where she isn't going you will have to do a "clean out" and double up for 2 days or so. My daughter was so bad in the beginning she wouldn't go for weeks at a time. I had to take her to the hospital and they told me she was being poisoned by her own body, her poop. If you notice "skid marks" in her diaper, or "crumbs" that is a indication she is getting backed up and you need to increase dosage for a day or two. What happened with my daughter is she would hold it so much that she has now stretched her intestinal muscles out and her nerves are damages in her intestines, that she can not "feel" it. And her body dosen't move the poop like it should so it sits in her small intestines to long, and in the small intestine is where moisture,water, is pulled out of the poop, so it sits there and sits there and guess what...she becomes constipated. So i have to give her the miralx to keep it moving. If you need anymore help or have any questions you can email me at ____@____.com, my name is D.. I have been dealing with this for a long time, and have made several trips to DuPont childrens hospital for this.
Good luck.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.A.

answers from Washington DC on

my name is A. and my son did the same thing when he turned 2 and it continued until he was 3. The laxative that the doctor gives is good because it takes away their control of making a bowel movement. Their stool also becomes very soft so they can't hold it in if they wanted to. I never figured out why he started I like you did not stree the potty but that is where he still went only he wanted to use the regualar toliet and I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not. Once I got him a seat for the regular toliet and he had the medicine in him for a while he just stop holding and started going to the bathroom again on his own. He did require privacy so that may have something to do with it as well.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

C.G.

answers from Allentown on

How nice to know that I'm not the only mom with a non-pooper! We STRUGGLE with poo here and it drives us to tears. My daughter- nearly 3 stopped going when she developed a very bad rash (she's got some weird problem with milk- ?weird after 2 years on milk), but whatever- the result is that she doesn't poo. We give her 1-2 TBSP (way more than the bottle says) of mineral oil every day in her VERY cold drink. She takes it without a problem. I also give her acidophilus - 1 tsp every day in another drink. This is on the advice of her doctor. I prefer this to medication because I like to exhaust all the 'natural' stuff before we move to something synthetic for her body. We also try like crazy to stuff fiber and water down her! Sometimes that helps- sometimes it doesn't! In any event, the mineral oil helps her A LOT!

Thanks to everyone for posting on this problem. I really felt kind of alone and like it was my fault somehow (really, isn't that the definition of motherhood?!?!)!

C.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.W.

answers from Lancaster on

My 5 yr old daughter was put on miralax when she was 2. The only problem was she would never take it,even to this day she has severe constipation where she will sit on the toilet for a hour and she come out and say mommy im sweating and my belly hurts.I tried everything because I hate to see her that pain best results was mineral oil and karo syrup I hope I spelled it right and we rotate them. Good luck .

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.E.

answers from Philadelphia on

When my son was 2 our ped put him on miralax- we were doing anemas and were beside ourselves. The good news is the stuff works wonders, the bad news is it is hard to get them off of it - he is still on. They say it is like fiber, but...

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.C.

answers from Harrisburg on

My 11 year old uses glycolax on occasion, she was rx'd it when she was 8 or 9 for bowel issues. At first we used it 2 or 3x a week, but lately it's been every other month or so. She likes it mixed with home made iced tea. I've never tasted it, just mixed it, but sometimes in milk, water or soda, even juice it stays grainy....just my experience.

B.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.D.

answers from Washington DC on

I use Baby food prunes. It works everytime. If you use a laxitive sometimes the child can become dependant on it.
Good Luck.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.

answers from Pittsburgh on

My daughter was prescribed glycolax when she was about 2 as she had very hard and painful bowel movements. We used it only when absolutely necessary, but it did work. Her pediatrician also told me that apricots are a better laxative than prunes - that also seemed to work well for her. At 9, she still ocasionally has problems, but as long as I keep her drinking lots of fluids, that seems to help.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.S.

answers from Philadelphia on

my kids haven't had a problem like this since they were infants but i experienced it when i was young. i try to exhaust my natural options before meds, esp laxitives, which can be seriously habit forming. many of the moms said prune juice, it works, my mom gave it to me when i was younger, and she swore it worked best if it was warm. another GREAT option is a tea, YOGI GET REGULAR tea works for me and my friends. its herbal and is safe for children over two. good luck.

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions