We dealt with this for years. Miralax stinks (literally)

We ended up switching to lactulose which comes in powder (kristalose) or liquid. The powder is super expensive and we ended up getting the liquid shipped from Canada for about 1/10 the price. It’s a thick, mildly sweet liquid and doesn’t have that paint thinner smell that miralax does. My son used to do a shot of lemon juice and lactulose and then chase it with something like honey or a snack

I take mine in soy milk. It is no noticeable. If your kid likes chocolate milk, maybe chocolate soy milk or add something like Ovaltine to the plain stuff. I've done this on occasional and it is quite good!

As others have said, if you end up needing an alternative, try non-dairy milk.

My daughter went vegetarian on her own and it completely cured the constipation she’d had since she was a toddler. She eats tons of dairy now, just subbing beans instead of meat and that did the trick for her. She still barely drinks anything (which made miralax and milk of msg ineffective). Just thought I’d share in case this helps someone.

It can be taken with literally any drink.

If your kid does not like drinking anything…well he is the problem not the Miralax. (My kid would take hers with iced tea)

A “shot” would concentrate the flavor . Use a generous amount to dilute that.

The more water consumed the better miralax works anyway.

We heat water and mix it into warmish water/juice. I also make a herbal tea (cherri hibiscus) with some honey and that works. It needs to dissolve fully to not have grit

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why he hates it so much. It’s tasteless. Are you making sure it dissolves completely?

My daughter hates it too it has a grit

We have been dealing with serious constipation / abdominal pain in my 12 year old for the last 6 months — our GI suspects it’s been more like years — and have to use a combination of daily miralax (to draw in water/soften the stool) and senna (to stimulate gut movement) while we’re sorting out how to deal long-term with what is likely IBS. We just started at the gut motility clinic at children’s and have a long road ahead, but what works best for us is just plain water. Like previous posters said, a large glass of it and stir it for at least a minute. If the water’s really cold, the Miralax won’t dissolve well but once it has dissolved you can put ice in it. My 12 actually does the mixing himself now - gives him more of a sense of control over what’s going into / coming out of his digestive system.

If applesauce is working, great. Our doc said bananas and apples tend to stop up a lot of kids - his favorite fruits unfortunately - so we’ve switched to berries. Getting him to finish a 32-oz bottle of water every day after school has also helped. Like any chronic condition it is often a two steps forward, one step back situation, though. Good luck!

We used Miralax to deal with some serious constipation, and I found that it helps to mix it with a glass of water well in advance so that it can fully dissolve. Once that happens, there's no grit or taste.

Some kids and adults are just constipated no matter what. We use miralax for my daughter who has a great diet (not as perfect as your son though— she refuses most fruit, but we are making tiny headway there. She eats veggies and loves salad.) my mom was constipated her whole life despite being an Indian vegetarian. Imagine that. She was eating Indian food daily and couldn’t go. Also ate lots of fruit. I wish she had taken miralax but she only tried it for a little while. Keep trying to find the answer. We are too. But sometimes it’s the colon you’re born with maybe. Our doc says no harmful side effects from miralax. It does help my daughter but the need doesn’t go away.

OP here.

Thanks for the confirmation on apple sauce. Without telling him what I was doing I gave him a bowl tonight and down it went. Secret revealed afterwards. He said he thought it tasted a little weird but agreed that is our new way forward. I did hand him his water bottle after and told him to drink it. (It does need water but I wasn't totally sure I could use applesauce as the delivery.)

Call me lazy but I already do smoothies in the morning to throw in egg protein powder and making smoothies twice a day might make me lose my mind. There are the few days he doesn't drink it all the smoothie in the morning which makes me hesitate to dose it then.

On the positive side he has the diet that pediatricians say you want your kid to have. It is true and pure dislike of soda, candy (lollipops, gummy bears), popsicles, gatorade - you name it. I put prunes and a snack size candy bar in the lunch box - prunes get eaten but candy makes the return trip home. That I handed him a bowl of applesauce at 7pm and he didn't question my motives should tell you about his eating habits. He was actually happy to have it given to him!

Reality is that drinking milk 3x a day isn't BAD. Something that should be encouraged plenty of people would say. We tried ripple chocolate but we were "meh" about it. He really isn't a big fan of chocolate. ("If I eat too much of it I feel like I want to barf".) After about a half dozen non-dairy milks he found one he liked. I was reallllly hoping he would have liked ripple more because it has protein unlike the others. Dang it! I was so excited to see a non-dairy milk with lots of protein and he burst my bubble of joy!

As for the Miralax haters.... I spend enough time on another snarky DCUM forum that I have a tougher skin than to listen to that noise. You missed the part where I said we have been doing it a month and go back in June. I left out all the history to focus on my QUESTION since I wasn't asking for a medical diagnosis or judgement. Rather my focus was how to deal with current treatment. Sure, my first question to the GI doc will be about how the heck to get of Miralax (for a kid that already eats a few prunes every day??!). We also need to see the nutritionist. I left out the part about the ER visit and him having to do a colon cleanse. I left out that we have been to TWO pediatric GI doctors to get TWO opinions. We also had to go see a pediatric hematologist as a result of all this. (On an iron supplement now and yes I know that is possibly constipating!) The here and now and immediate is about getting my kid FEELING better which includes Miralax AND a dairy-free diet AND an iron supplement. I am not just doing random torture and unsafe crap to my child but trying to get him slowly to a healthy point. Rome wasn't built in a day and often the same is true for medical diagnosis and treatment.

What about one of the nut chocolate milks? My DS takes his in Ripple (made from peas but tastes good) chocolate each morning (we switched to this from milk which he loved and had to do chocolate for him to take it). I mix the miralax in an ounce or two of water and then mix with the “milk”. Alternatively- maybe a smoothie? I would mix the miralax with a little water and let it dissolve before you try.

We dissolve in apple sauce (i know apples can cause constipation, but it was an easier way to give).

There is also apple/mango sauce, etc., that might be better to take.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not let your child use Miralax. If you have a doctor who is still prescribing this, I’d find a new doctor. Google NY Times and miralax and you’ll find many articles on this.

+1

All the doctors we’ve seen have prescribed it, including the best specialists. I’ve asked about the dangers and they said there is no evidence. It’s the one product that works most successfully for their patients. That said, it’s not a long term “forever” solution.