https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 29 Apr 2026 19:16:17 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2901017 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 14:48:33 +0000 Autumnmama79 2901017@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@thepaperbutterfly: thank you for posting this. I was beginning to feel that my ds was the only chronically constipated kid out there! For the past year it’s been taking over our lives, and not in a good way. We finally went to a pediatrician after trying to adjust diet/water intake with no luck. The pediatrician described ds bowel just as you described and said to use restoralax on a regular basis for 12-18 months and hope to see some improvement. I wish there was a better solution. I hope your clean out goes well and the constipation improves - please update us! </p> <p>Ps. Sorry about dh, totally unhelpful! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2901016 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 14:26:07 +0000 Ajsmommy 2901016@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am so so sorry you and your daughter are going through this. My DD would hold her #2's and it's been a nightmare. It's has been the one most difficult thing with her. It has driven me to tears in the past. Luckily we never had to do a clean out or a suppository, although i did buy them once bc the dr said to do it that night if she didn't go, thank goodness she went before i had to do it! It's traumatizing for all involved and probably just makes it that much worse, at least that was my experience with DD. We ended up doing miralax for a few days to get her regular and not painful.... then I really stayed on top of her and would have her go.. luckily with age she has started to go every day and we only have issues once in a while. if she gets off schedule or something (like this week w Halloween, it'll throw her off... ) but if i can manage to get her to go before or after trick or treating i'll be ok! </p> <p>Good luck and i hope you find what works for you and your daughter. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2901010 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 12:42:47 +0000 caitcat 2901010@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Good luck on Friday! That’s a smart call to keep the baby in daycare so you have your daughter one on one. </p> <p>We feel like we’re finally in a decent place with my daughters constipation now, but it felt like such a long time coming in the thick of it. My husband and I joke that our days still sometimes revolve around C having gone or needing to go to the bathroom...but far less than before! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2900987 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 09:50:34 +0000 muffinsmuffins 2900987@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We also did the clean out around age 3 and he’s been on every other day dosage since (he will be 5 in a couple days). Like others said, it didn’t really bother him to do it and it put an end to the screaming, bleeding constipation battles that he had since he started solid food as a baby. We tried literally everything you did as well without results and saw a specialist about it who gave us the protocol. He got a major complex about it when potty training at age 3 and it was a lifesaver for us. I don’t know what we would have done if we didn’t do it. It did take a day or two to work so I wouldn’t panic and just let it settle in and get moving before you add anything else. </p> <p>As for your DH, if he doesn’t have a solution that actually works or wants to take initiative to attend the appointments, then as far as I know he doesn’t get a say. Your child is suffering and this is a way to help them after everything else didn’t work. Obviously it’s kind of a last resort thing but if it helps resolve it, it’s the best decision that can be made. Sounds like he needs to educate himself if he wants to be involved. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2900969 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 08:09:51 +0000 Chuckles 2900969@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sending good thoughts! I had a student who was having leakage due to impaction. They did a clean out with a high dose of Miralax, and he did much better for months after that.<br /> Also, sending commiseration about your DH. When my son was little, he had a lot of feeding issues. I was the only one who went to all the doctor appointments and therapies and things like that. My DH always questioned whether he really needed anything and thought maybe I was being overly dramatic. It was so frustrating since he wasn't involved in the care very much except for what he heard through me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2900964 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 07:52:31 +0000 Baby Boy Mom 2900964@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm so sorry you are going through this! It sounds...ugh. And I did have a lot of bowel issues with one of my kids in particular. For this particular LO we had to make really profound dietary changes, and it took a few months, but they worked! (Now this LO has regular bowel movements and that seems a long forgotten past). If you can find a functional medicine doctor near you, what they will probably suggest is a gut-healing protocol. This is what "cures" IBS and similar issues. Wishing you strength to go through the journey for yourself and LO! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2900961 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 07:17:50 +0000 thepaperbutterfly 2900961@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@caitcat: Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I'm quite familiar with enemas and suppositories myself, and I know how unpleasant they are, so it makes me feel really bad that I have to use them on her :/ I'm so glad to hear your daughter got better. That gives me hope :) </p> <p>I'm off work on Friday, so I'll start it then. That's a good idea about trying to make the day better with things that she enjoys. I'll probably put the baby in daycare on Friday so I can focus on her because it will be chaos with both of them home. She didn't feel good today, and he kept trying to play with her, and it just made both of them mad.</p> <p>Thanks again for sharing your story. Makes me feel less alone about it. My sister and I had diarrhea as babies, so my mom tries to help, but she has no experience with constipation. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2900958 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 06:24:52 +0000 thepaperbutterfly 2900958@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gotkimchi: So I've been doing Miralax every day for at least 7 months, and she was pooping everyday, But the dose wasn't high enough so they feel that she has some degree of fecal impaction, and has a lot of poop higher up that isn't coming out even with glycerin suppositories. She's pretty thin, but has a potbelly that makes her look pregnant. It's better after she poops, but it's still there, so I guess that's what made them think she had some degree of fecal impaction. I don't mind doing daily Miralax, but at this point I've given her like 1.5 capfuls (3 tablespoons) in 24 hours with 25ml of Milk of Magnesia and she hasn't pooped at all :( I don't know what triggered this flare-up two weeks ago, but it's never been this bad. Usually 10ml of milk of magnesia will give her diarrhea. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2900957 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 06:14:06 +0000 thepaperbutterfly 2900957@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinbaderin: So the cleanout is kind of like a mini version of what they do for people getting a colonoscopy. It's six capfuls of miralax(which is like 36 teaspoons) mixed in 32 oz of gatorade. She is supposed to drink it over 24 hours. And basically she is supposed to have clear water coming out of her, and if she isn't we have to repeat it again the next day. She has been on Miralax for 7 months, and she doesn't mind the taste of it. She should have been on a higher dose though, which is what contributed to her getting so backed up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2900955 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 05:53:28 +0000 gotkimchi 2900955@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You should probably be doing miralax once - twice per day every day for a long time like at least a year. Google functional constipation if you want more info. Our gi doc always recommends exlax for kids because it gives them the feeling of having to go. Perhaps you could try that then do the miralax at a high enough daily dose to maintain </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2900951 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 05:06:49 +0000 caitcat 2900951@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Aww, this sounds so hard all around. We've been there with my older daughter...she has struggled with constipation since she was about 1 year old. We've done a couple of Miralax cleanouts along the way, mainly from when she was about 2-3 years old. I feel like that age was the worse, and it's slowly gotten better. We usually started with the first dose on a Friday late afternoon or early evening, and I feel like it "kicked in" by sometime midday Saturday, which was always a bit later than I was expecting. By Sunday, we were pretty much through the worst of it and Monday felt normal-ish again. We pretty much let her do whatever she felt like over the weekend - we watched movies, read books, curled up with her when she felt bad. I felt awful for her, but I know once we were on the other side, we had the chance to get back to a better place. </p> <p>The suppositories were the worst when we had to use those, especially as she got closer to 3 and really understood what was going on. I knew they would work when nothing else was, but it was so stressful and I hated when we ended up in situation where we needed to go that route. </p> <p>I feel like we tried everything under the sun to get the constipation under control from the time my daughter was about 1.5 - 3.5. Daily miralax, probiotics, fiber gummies, adjusting her diet, prune juice, trying to get her to drink a ton of water. It was a lot and I felt so responsible for keeping it all in balance. We got to a point where we were in a decent place after the last cleanout when she was about 3, and we kept her on a fairly large "maintenance" dose of Miralax for a while so that we'd build up more positive/easy bathroom experiences for my daughter and to let her digestive tract "tighten up" again (or something like that, I forgot how our doctor phrased it!)...and eventually we slowly decreased the dose. </p> <p>At some point, our doctor wanted to us to back off the Miralax and we tried - but each time, she'd get constipated again so we'd tweak the dose and try again down the road until we could get there. At this point, she's 4.5 and I think we're in a pretty good place. She's no longer on Miralax, but we've still kept most of our other adjustments in place. She gets no dairy (which she still seems sensitive to...though I think she should grow out of?), we limit carbs/anything binding/starchy, she eats a bunch of fruit, eats a prune/fruit popsicle each day, takes a probiotic, fiber gummies, and we use some magnesium mineral drops in juice for her in the morning. She also is now on board with drinking a TON of water. We got a water dispenser thing with a spout so that she can refill her on own water bottle, and each time she finishes her water bottle, she gets a sticker on a "water sticker chart" - it feels a little silly, but it's really motivated her. for whatever reason. </p> <p>Anyway, that got long - I'm sorry about that! We've been through the wringer with this with my daughter...and I know how difficult it can be all around, for the kid and for the family. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2900950 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 04:38:04 +0000 erinbaderin 2900950@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son is 3.5, and has been on Restoralax (we don’t have Miralax in Canada, but it’s the same) every day since he was about 1. I’m not sure what the “clean out” is, but when we first started he had, I think, 3tsp twice a day for three days. It was actually fine, it didn’t seem to affect him at all! We’ve tried to wean him off it before but every time he’d get immediately constipated again. We’ve been working on this latest taper for, like, six months and he’s down to 1tsp a day. I don’t like him being on daily medicine either but our pediatrician has assured us it’s safe and it’s much much better than the constant crying when he has to poop. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/miralax-cleanout#post-2900948 Tue, 29 Oct 2019 01:30:11 +0000 thepaperbutterfly 2900948@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Has anyone else had to do this? I'm dreading it :( My daughter is almost 3 and has suffered from chronic constipation for about a year. I personally suffer from IBS with constipation and diarrhea since I was 15, so I thought I could handle her problems. She's been on Miralax, milk of magnesia, fiber supplements, and probiotics, which seemed to keep her regular in the past, but things have gotten really bad in the last two weeks. Nothing is working besides glycerin suppositories. She's had two in the past week and a half. She last had a glycerin suppository on 10/26 (after not pooping for 5 days), which cleaned her out, but hasn't pooped since then. I've given her 3 tablespoons of Miralax and 25 ml of Milk of Magnesia in the past 24 hours and still no bowel movement. I'm just dreading doing another glycerin suppository tomorrow night because she was kicking and screaming as I inserted the last one :( </p> <p>We're going to start the cleanout on 11/1 and I just feel so bad for her because I know how much it is going to suck. Her doctor explained that her colon and large intestines have probably stretched out and aren't as elastic as it should be, so her poop has to be really soft. My husband is being a bit of a jerk about it. He was asking me questions tonight in an accusatory tone like why did this happen, how abnormal this is, how safe is Miralax, and interjecting that he doesn't want her to be on medicine everyday. I asked him how he would like to fix the problem, and of course he had no answer. I also asked if he wanted to go to the doctors with me next time and again NO ANSWER. . He works like 80+ hours a week, and I work about 34 hours, so I'm home with the kids more often . After spending two hours at the doctor's office today with my toddler and baby, I didn't expect to be grilled at home by him. Ugh, I'm just really annoyed with him right now. </p> <p>Sorry for getting sidetracked. I just feel that i'm torturing my daughter with the enemas and now a bowel cleanout. Those are horrible enough for adults. I called my mom from the doctor's office crying Granted, this is kind of minor as far as health issues go., but it's definitely impacting her quality of life at the moment. </p>