Royal Hospital for Children for Patients, Carers & Visitors
Remember to bookmark this page so that you can find it later.- Your child can expect to pass watery or loose poo at first
- Then they should soon start to pass hard poo, soft poo, loose poo in a large amount
- The last stage is more poo that is very watery and loose. It may take a number of weeks to get to this stage
- When your child reaches the last stage you can reduce the amount of medicine. Cut down slowly by 1 or 2 sachets every few days until your child is passing soft and formed poo
- Keep giving your child the medicine until you see their nurse or doctor
Macrogol Disimpaction Plan - Advice for Parents, Carers and Children
Warning
You can download a printable version of this leaflet here
This is a treatment plan to treat your child's constipation. The purpose of disimpaction is to clear out the backlog of poo using a medicine called Macrogol.
We suggest your child follows the plan below:
- Use the medicine given to you by your child's Doctor or the Hospital. This is usually in a sachet
- This may be a brand such as 'Movicol' or 'Laxido' or 'Cosmocol'
- Follow the advice given on how much to give your child every day
- Please add the contents of the sachet to cold water and stir well
- You must mix this using the right amount of water. You can add more water but not less than the directed amount. Please see the advice sheet in the box
- You can add juice after water, to give this a better taste
- Some children prefer to drink after it has been in the fridge. This is safe in the fridge for up to 24 hours after you add the water
- Spread the medicine over the day, within 12 hours
- Please make sure your child drinks as normal while taking this medicine
- Please stay on the medicine until your child has gone through all the stages below
- Do not stop the medicine until you have spoken with your Doctor or the Nurse
- You will get a letter or a telephone call from the hospital to confirm your child's appointment
- You should attend this even if you think your child is better
- Please phone your Doctor if you are not sure what to do
Give your child this number of sachets each day as follows:
Children over 12 years can take the adult preparation. This is exactly the same but there is twice as much in each adult sachet:
Adapted from ERIC.org uk - July 2019
We recommend you watch the following video:
The Poo Nurses explain disimpaction using macrogol laxatives - ERIC
