How watery is watery? Encouraging liquids? Disimpaction advice please

[5h31la]

Hey everyone!

We are after some advice with regards to disimpaction with our 3 year old please. Today we are working towards 8 satchets… he has had a lot of loose stools in the last 24 hours. I would confidently say they are type 6 on the stool chart… but we have had a few toilet trips and I’m not quite sure if they would be classed as type 7 watery brown or not. From listening to the podcast it says when they reach that stage you will know, but I just don’t know… And although I know it is completely safe I don’t want him to be stuck in this phase for any longer than he needs to be. Any advice?

Also, I feel he is struggling with the quantity of liquid we are asking him to drink. He hardly wants any after having his satchets and I know they don’t class towards his daily amount so any suggestions on how to get him to drink more would be super helpful please. We are using a reward chart and have been praising him loads but as the dose increases I can see him drinking less of his normal water as we go…

Thank you so much in advance!

[Glos2]

Hi. I'm in exactly the same boat, on day 4 today so '6' sachets. He's never had so much chocolate milk and jelly before!! I'm hoping I'll know when I see the brown watery stuff that they talk about and yes it's a real struggle to get him to drink enough regular fluid. The novelty of different straws and cups seem to help and today I praised him loads for drinking water, clapping etc which helped. Maybe try more watery fruits to up the water intake like melon. He's just downing some strawberry milk at the moment which he wouldn't normally have!

Good luck and really hope it works for you

Emma

[5h31la in reply to Glos2]

Thank you so much for replying! How is the disimpaction going? We finally reached the watery stage so have been able to lower to a maintenance dose of 4 sachets. I’m glad I’m not the only one struggling with the volume of liquid, he’s had so many treats to keep him going but luckily we only had to get to 8 sachets. I would of really really struggled going higher. That’s a great shout about watery fruits though I never thought about that thank you!

[5h31la in reply to 5h31la]

Ps hope you get to the final stage soon!!

[Glos2 in reply to 5h31la]

Hi. Im glad you've got there, well done, it's a real mission and not very nice. Mine should be on 8 sachets today but woke up with a bad chesty cold so is off his food and drink, even turned down jelly and choc milk!!! I'll be lucky to get 4 in him today, very frustrating.Is your little one in nappies, if so could you tell easily the brown water stage? Think we're still at type 6 and quite explosive yesterday !!

Hope it continues to go in the right direction for you.

[5h31la in reply to Glos2]

Hi, no he’s not in nappies just on the toilet. We struggled to tell so started lining the toilet with loo roll to help spot and also have been using the torch on phone to get a good look at what was in the water and in all honesty it got to the point where we could pretty much hear that it was watery too! (TMI? Sorry I’m so used to poop chat now I forget some people might not like all the details) sorry to hear they are poorly too! That’s definitely not the best time. Has the cold settled? Is this your first time? I only ask as I’m curious as to how long it takes to get back to more solid? X

[Glos2 in reply to 5h31la]

Ha I think we're all ok with poo talk! He ended up with croup and a trip to a&e so we haven't been able to get to 8 sachets. Finding it very difficult to get 6 into him, it's a battle.Yes this is our first time so sorry I've got no idea what's going to happen after. Is it still very soft, how many sachets are you on?

Keep going

[Beatrice81]

It sounds like you're on the right track in terms of watery stools. I'm sure there will be more when you carry on today.We're on day 5 of disimpaction and are building up to 12 sachets today. Not sure how to manage the sheer quantity; have tried various creative options like mixing into juice boxes, fun cups, even freezing into ice lollies. My 5yo still hasn't passed much of the watery stuff. He vomited yesterday after yet another drink with Movicol. Really hope things will start to shift soon.

At least there is some comfort in knowing we're not the only ones going through this.

Wishing you all the best!

[5h31la in reply to Beatrice81]

Thank you so much for replying! How is your disimpaction journey going? You were right the watery stage did come and now we have been able to lower to a maintenance dose thankfully! Somebody suggested watery fruits to help contribute to their daily water intake which I never thought of before so that’s something to try. I would of really struggled setting into the double figures of sachets, I hope you reach the final stage soon, Stay strong!

[Destiny2019]

Hi I’m doing the same with me daughter she’s 10 years old and we’ve just hit 12 sashays today … it’s been a real struggle to get her to drink she’s not had any other fluids on top as it takes her all day to get the movicol .. she has to stay on 12 till disimpaction happens well it’s not happing yet 🤦‍♀️ but I’m gonna try with the melon 🍉 idea she loves melon so hopefully that will help towards her fluids x

[5h31la in reply to Destiny2019]

Thanks so much for replying! How is your journey going? It’s nice to know we aren’t alone in the struggle of the pure volume of liquid. It’s really difficult! The suggestion of watery fruits is a great idea. I also wonder if adding a few tablespoon of water into already liquidy food would help potentially too? It’s not much but at least could count towards the not movicol fluid intake… and also have you tried ice lollies? They’ve been suggested too. I hope you reach final stage soon!

[Beatrice81 in reply to Destiny2019]

We're on day 6 of disimpaction and equally struggling to get to 12 sachets. Things were still not moving on day 5 so we're now also giving Sodium Pico sulphate and are slowly starting to see some results. It's still a long way to go. Wishing you strength x

[Destiny2019]

I agree 5h31la it’s sooo nice knowing we’re not alone xxx although I do feel a little out of place but not totally alone.

Only cos my daughter is 10 and it seems everyone else’s child is a lot younger x