Andy is off of daily Miralax (propylene glycol)

Andy used to take Miralax every day for years. His constipation was so bad, without it he would not be able to have a bowel movement. He would get a full cap a day, and sometimes less based on how his stools looked.

I recently met with a new pediatrician for Andy, and she recommended that he come off of this, and only use it occasionally. We started trying to feed him a daily apple, or apple juice, and a probiotic for kids. He doesn't like apple juice, so he will not drink this very well for us, but he eats the apple pretty well.

We felt confident enough to take him off of the stool softener completely, and now just use the kids chewable probiotic (refrigerated only), and apples and juice. Sometimes we kick the probiotic up to twice a day if he seems constipated. The doctor wants us to avoid enemas, and only use them as a very last resort after trying everything else.

When he is constipated for several days, sometimes we give him Miralax twice a day again, but only for a day or so. The doctor doesn't want Andy relying on this for producing stools, and honestly, he was building a tolerance to it. The dose had to keep increasing in order for it to work.

We seem to be successfully managing his constipation naturally, and it is a good feeling. I personally like to buy the refrigerated probiotics, because I use them myself. The ones on the shelf at room temperature don't seem to work as well, but this is just my opinion. Another doctor, who is more homeopathic, told me they felt this way as well. In order to find the refrigerated ones, you have to go to a health food store, like Better Health, or the Vitamin Shoppe. I don't get the super expensive ones, mine are usually around $14.