Podcast: Laxatives

This is a 14 minute listen.

Laxatives are the recommended treatment for constipation relief in children - but how do you use them and what does that process mean for your child?

A guide to using laxatives

If your child is constipated, your doctor may recommend you use laxatives to treat them. Macrogol laxative such as Movicol, Laxido or CosmoCol should be prescribed to soften their poo and help move it along. These laxatives need to be given correctly for them to work properly. Get more information on how to use macrogol laxatives.

Constipation can take a while to treat and you might find that at first, soiling gets worse before it gets better. If your child has a backlog of poo you may be told to start with a disimpaction – this means having increasing amounts of laxatives to clear it all out. Find out more about this process in our step-by-step guide: A Parent’s Guide to Disimpaction.

Younger children and babies can also be treated with laxatives if your doctor thinks they are needed. Get more information about the symptoms of constipation in under 5s and giving laxatives to bottle and breast-fed babies.

Some children may need to take laxatives for a long time to keep their poo soft and regular. You might feel worried about this, but you needn’t be. Undertreating constipation does more harm to the bowel in the long term.

Watch the video