Miralax "Clean Out"

Updated on January 18, 2012
G.B. asks from Miamisburg, OH
8 answers

My son is VERY constipated and the dr said we had to do a "clean out" as he called it. We had to do Miralax 4x today, 4x tomorrow, then monitor from there. My question is when will it start to work? He hardly had anything today and I want this to get started (so we can get it done!). Any thoughts? I'm calling the dr on Friday if I'm not seeing enough "results" by then.

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So What Happened?

TMI here: He had a large amount of stool filling his colon and his rectum was distended - he is really backed up! His diet is excellent, but it runs in husband's family - so I'm going to blame him for this. The Miralax alone wasn't working, and the doctor added Ducolax. A suppository didn't help, so we ended up trying an enema. That helped some, so I'm hoping it will get things going. We have a long way to go still b/c the dr wants him almost as cleaned out as a colonscopy prep. Ugh. Thanks for the help - we'll get this one way or another!

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J.M.

answers from Indianapolis on

My son used to get constipated frequently so theI 2 remedies that worked for him were #1there was 'Karo' syrup in water or juice or alone, but my son wanted no parts of that! He didn't mind it with water, but that was in his bottle or sippy cup he used to drink it for a day or two and then he usually 'went' and was fine!
#2(lol!) APPLE JUICE is great because if constipation is a regular problem everyday apple juice can help sooo much! If not than a few days of the apple juice can
usually does the trick!!
Good Luck with whatever you decide!!:)

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J.K.

answers from Dallas on

For my daughter, sometimes it worked immediately, and other times it took a day or two. Just make sure you also give your son lots of fiber AND WATER. What worked for us is the Kashi Go Lean cereal, grapes, WATER, apples, raisins, granola, WATER, prunes, greens, oatmeal, raisin bran, and lots of water.

The water gets the insides goin and helps flush the system out.

2 moms found this helpful
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R.M.

answers from Topeka on

Is he drinking lots of water? Miralax depends upon water to help it work...so if you aren't really pushing the water you aren't going to see the results you want.
You might also consider adding some stool softeners to the mix...make things a bit easier for the poor little guy.
Miralax is basically fiber...so what he obviously is needing is more fiber in his diet on a regular basis. Talk to the doctor about what you can add to his diet to help. And there are things you should avoid...banana's come to mind...those were always something that I used when my girls were small and they needed to have their stools solidified a bit.
I would suggest that you talk to your pharmacist about how long it should take for some "results"...they are always a great source of reliable information.

2 moms found this helpful
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D.T.

answers from Dallas on

My daughter takes Miralax daily to keep her from getting constipated. I tell you what works for her...does your son like green beans (mine loves them)...we play a little game....I don't know how old your son is but my daughter is 3....I open a can of green beans while she is in the bathtub. I feed her the beans while she is playing in the tub...wierd I know but it works for her...she ends up eating the entire can while she is playing and thinking she is getting away w/ something by eating in the tub....most of the time she has a good bowel movement by morning. If you can't do that and have to entirely rely on Miralax it usually takes a couple of days to work. I also use baby food prunes with her sometimes---she feeds her babydoll a bite then she takes a bite.
Good luck..it is miserable when they have tummy aches.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.B.

answers from Detroit on

I had to start my daughter on Miralax for some constipation that had been going on after she started holding onto her poop and not wanting to go in the potty (we had just started potty training a few months before). I started with twice a day until she had a BM and I want to say it was about 2 days (or 4 doses). But every kid and every situation is different. Make sure he's drinking plenty of water and eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies (especially pears and apples with the peels still on). Some prune juice may help too if you can get some into him.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.M.

answers from Cincinnati on

Miralax is a gentle stool softener that helps make it not "hurt" when you go. If he gets too backed up and you want a more immediate result you could do an enema. But that may not be as pleasant!

W.P.

answers from New York on

OMG, that seems like a lot of Miralax for a child! My daughter was very constipated when she was potty training, and the pediatrician recommended 1 teaspoon of Miralax daily until she became regular (about 1-2 weeks). A few hours after the first dose, she began pooping like crazy! I hope your son responds well to it. Good luck.

L.L.

answers from Rochester on

Honestly, we had to keep our youngest on Miralax for FOUR MONTHS to get her completely cleaned out after a terrible, terrible bout of constipation, which resulted in anal fissures for her. She's now 20 months old, and we've been able to wean her down to just a few doses a week...hopefully, we'll be done with it soon.

And as far as the first "movement" to get the process started...we had to use something stronger, and then AFTER that we used the mirilax. The mirilax didn't work at all to get her going...but it did help her continue to go afterwards.

PM me if you want more info. :)

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