Charlie’s been having painful stools lately, which is really interfering with his potty training.  So our pediatrician recommended we try pear and prune juice. We tried both out, but he just hates any juice! We even tried to blend some prune juice into his milk, but he wasn’t a fan of that either.

So our pediatrician suggested we try out Miralax. We were just about to buy it, when this article came out in the the Times:

Since it was first introduced 13 years ago, a drug called Miralax — an odorless, tasteless laxative that can be easily diluted in orange juice or water — has become a staple in many American households.

But the way many families use Miralax and its many generic equivalents has strayed far from its original intent. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug for use only by adults, and for only seven days at a time.

Instead, Miralax has become a long-term solution for childhood constipation — a problem that can be troubling not just physically, but also emotionally — rather than a short-term fix so that parents can change their children’s diets to include more fruits and vegetables. …

No studies have shown that the drug’s active ingredient — polyethylene glycol 3350, or PEG — has severe side effects. But there is a growing chorus of questions about why it has been used and prescribed for children for so many years.

Yikes! I guess Miralax was the easy way out. The thing is, we do feed Charlie broccoli every day (it’s one of his favorite foods), and he eats a lot of fruit. We also took him off of dairy (cow’s milk) and switched him to soy. But the broader point did ring true: it’s probably better to fix painful stools through diet rather than rely on a drug — especially one that’s never been tested on children.

So we’re going to be trying out a few things instead: 

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* Pureed pears in a pouch – Chopsuey recommended Happybaby pouches with pureed pears. Great idea! We’ll definitely be trying that out.

* Pears blended into a frozen fruit smoothie – Mrs. Wagon recommend making a frozen fruit smoothie and mixing some pear juice in there! I don’t think Charlie will eat smoothies, just because he is not a good eater and he rarely finishes drinks. But we will definitely be trying this out a few times, to see if it does the trick!

* Cutting out dairy – I’ve read several accounts of parent who went totally non-dairy with their kids, and cured problems with constipation or hard stools. We switched Charlie to soy milk, but we do still let him have cheese and yogurt as an occasional snack.  If we have to, we’ll cut these out and see if that helps.

If none of these work, we are looking into the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) Diet now and researching if it might help. We’ve read several accounts of people on our local listserv who swear by the GAPS diet for LOs with digestive issues, so it sounds like it may be worth looking it. We’ll report back with our findings.

If none of that works, we’ll see a nutritionist. In general, we’re going to do our best to avoid relying on Miralax.  It’s tough though to avoid a miracle cure, when Charlie is suffering from his once-a-week painful stool!

Have you used Miralax with your LO — and if so, what was your experience like? Also, what other techniques have you used to deal with LO constipation or painful stools?