Natural Alternatives to Miralax

Does your child struggle with constipation? Maybe your doctor recommended a daily dose of Miralax but you’re unsure or even worried about side effects and keeping your child on medication long term? You may be scared to take your child off Miralax and try something different for fear it won’t work.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone and you’re in the right place for answers so keep reading!

In this guide, I will walk you through all the alternatives to Miralax that I turn to as a Registered Dietitian, when I’m helping clients overcome constipation.

 

What is constipation?

Constipation is when a person has infrequent bowel movements or bowel movements that are difficult to pass. [1] Constipation is the most common GI symptom among those with autism.

People with constipation:

• Have fewer than 3 bowel movements per week
  • In my professional opinion, if we are eating 3 times a day, we should be pooping at least once a day
• Strain to pass stool
• Have hard, dry, lumpy or pebble-like stools
• Feel like their bowel movement was incomplete

Other signs of constipation:

• Lack of appetite 
• Abdominal pain or bloating, a belly that is distended or “pregnant-looking”
• Bed wetting – children with constipation may wet the bed or have “accidents” because the rectum full of stool can press on the bladder, causing urine to leak out.
• Encopresis – children may also have poop accidents, also known as encopresis. This happens because constipation stretches the bowels, and watery stool from higher in the intestines can seep around the hard compacted stool and leak out.
• Children may put pressure on their bellies in an attempt to relieve discomfort. This could look leaning over the edge of a sofa.
• Holding it in – children that are trying to hold in poop may walk or stand on their toes, cross or squeeze their legs together, or clench their jaw. [3]
• Worsening behaviors
  • Research tells us that autism behaviors like irritability, aggression, self injury, and anxiety get worse as gastrointestinal symptoms get worse. [4]

What causes constipation?

• Food sensitivities

  • These are different than food allergies (more on this below)

• Holding in poop

  • Children may hold poop in because they are aren’t comfortable pooping outside of home. They could be engrossed in play and not want to stop to use the toilet. Very often, children hold in poop because they’ve had a painful bowel movement in the past and they are afraid of the pain happening again.
  • When you hold in poop, the colon absorbs water from the stool, which makes the poop harder and more difficult to pass. Holding it in also causes the stool to get backed up. This can stretch out the colon, making it difficult to feel the urge to poop.

• Not enough fluid or fiber

• Pelvic floor dysfunction

  • A child could have low muscle tone (hypotonia or weakness) or hypertonia (high muscle tone or tensing of the pelvic floor muscles). They may also not know how to activate and/or relax the muscles necessary to push out stool.

• Dysbiosis

  • Imbalance of good and bad bacteria in the gut

• Yeast/candida overgrowth or other pathogenic infections

• Medications

  • like those for seizures, allergy medications, antipsychotics and even laxatives if used for a while and then suddenly stopped

• Supplements

  • iron, calcium and activated charcoal

• Not enough movement/exercise

• Picky eating

  • Constipation can cause lack of appetite and belly pain/bloating, which can exacerbate picky eating! And picky eating can lead to a diet that is low in fiber, fluid and micronutrients, which lead to constipation! It’s a vicious cycle. Alleviating constipation can improve picky eating!

🔍 That’s a lot of possible causes! So which one is actually behind your child’s constipation?
I put together a free 3 minute quiz to help uncover the cause of your child’s constipation. Take the Constipation Root Cause Quiz →

Why is it important to resolve constipation?

Aside from the typical misery that constipation causes, there are lots of reasons I recommend resolving constipation as soon as possible.

• There are toxins and waste products in stool that should be regularly eliminated from the body so they are not reabsorbed.
• Passing hard stool or straining can cause painful fissures or hemorrhoids. Fear of the pain can cause children to hold in their poop, which makes constipation worse.
• You really want to avoid fecal impaction, which is when stool gets so hardened and bulked up that it cannot be passed. This requires medical attention.

Why I don’t recommend Miralax

Reason #1

On the label, the manufacturer states that Miralax shouldn’t be used for more than 7 days. Most people are using it for weeks, months or even years.

Reason #2

There are lawsuits against Miralax and claims of people experiencing neuropsychiatric effects like seizures, tremors, tics, anxiety, lethargy, aggression, paranoia, mood swings, and obsessive–compulsive behaviors [2] 

Reason #3

My biggest reason is this. Constipation is a symptom. It’s our body giving us a clue that something isn’t right.

I like to figure out why constipation is happening in the first place so we can fix it for good. 

Miralax is a short term solution that alleviates the constipation symptom. My goal is to relieve the symptom with safer methods AND address the underlying cause so constipation is no longer an issue!

In my practice, I work with families to identify the root cause of constipation by using a stool test. This gives us a look at what is going on inside the gut so we can figure out what is causing the constipation. For one-on-one support with constipation, contact me – I’d love to help your family.

🔍 I know one-on-one support isn’t feasible for everyone — and not everyone needs it.
That’s exactly why I created the Constipation Root Cause Quiz. It walks you through the same questions I’d ask a client, so you can get a real sense of what’s driving your child’s constipation without booking a call or spending a dime. Take the Free Quiz →

Alternatives to Miralax

Soften stools with the 3 “Fs”

• Increase Fluids

  • We should be getting half our body weight in ounces per day. So if your child is 40 lbs, they should be getting about 20 ounces of water per day. 

• Increase Fiber

  • I prefer doing this with whole foods like veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds but if you have a picky eater, using a fiber supplement might be easier for you. 
  • Always remember that if you increase fiber in the diet, you MUST increase fluid as well. Fiber is like a sponge in the gut. Without water it’s stiff and stuck. But with enough water, it softens and moves easily.
  • These are some fiber supplements I recommend.
    • • Sunfiber
      • Hyfiber

• Increase Physical Movement

  • Move more! Swim lessons, parks, trampolines. Just get your little one moving and the bowels will move more too.

 

Foods for Constipation Relief

• Prunes or prune juice (I like these options for babies, Wellements and Mommy’s Bliss)
• Pear juice or pear nectar
• Flax seeds, especially ground flax or flax oil (refrigerate these)
• Chia seeds or hemp seeds
• Coconut water
• Coconut oil
• Mint or ginger tea

Sometimes these few changes can be enough to get a child pooping more regularly. But if not, you can always try supplements.

 

Supplements for Constipation Relief

My go-to supplements:

• Magnesium citrate

  • Magnesium draws water into the colon to help soften stool.
  • You can find it as liquid, powder, capsules or gummies
  • CALM magnesium is one of my favorites. I prefer the powder because it is easy to adjust the dose up or down as needed.

• Vitamin C

  • Did you know that vitamin C can loosen stool? It’s true. It works similar to magnesium by drawing water into the colon.
  • I like to use a powdered form by Pure Encapsulations so it’s easier to increase the dose slowly. The buffered form is also more gentle on the digestive system.

• Triphala

  • This supplement is a combination of 3 herbs and is a very gentle laxative.
  • I like Ayush Herbs for children.
  • For adults, Gaia Herbs and Organic India are my go-to brands.

• MCT oil

  • MCT oil essentially lubricates the bowels, making stool easier to pass.
  • Now Sports is my favorite.

• Probiotics

  • Recurrent antibiotic use, gastrointestinal infections, a diet high in processed foods, can lead to an imbalance of bacteria in the gut and constipation.
  • Probiotics can help to right this bacterial imbalance. My favorite brand is Megaspore (also comes in gummy form) and Therbiotic Kids.

🔍 The right supplements for your child depend on what is causing their constipation. Let’s figure that out together — take the Free Constipation Root Cause Quiz →

Other ways to relieve constipation for kids and adults

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  Get in “poop position” before going to the toilet

  • Similar to a yoga child’s pose, rest on your forearms and knees, with your butt in the air. Sort of like this picture, but no need to push your face into the sofa.
  • Poop position stimulates gas and stool to move through the bowels. 
    

• Use a squatty potty while on the toilet

  • The squatty potty toilet stool puts the body in a position that is ideal for pooping! I recommend this to everyone! Trust me, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it.

• Epsom salt baths

  • Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate and this form of magnesium is absorbed through the skin and helps move our bowels. Epsom salts are also excellent for promoting relaxation and I often recommend them before bedtime.
  • I keep a big bag of Epsom salts in the house, for whenever I may need it.
  • Dissolve ½ cup of epsom salts in a bath for children under 60 lbs and 1 cup for those over 60 lbs.
  • Be careful that your child doesn’t drink water with epsom salt in it, as it can cause cramping and diarrhea.

• Chiropractic

  • Find a good pediatric chiropractor. There is some research that suggests chiropractic may be beneficial for those with constipation, especially in babies.[5]

• Abdominal massage

  • There is research to support the effectiveness of massage for relieving constipation. [3,4]
  • Often called the I Love You or I L U abdominal massage for constipation.
  • I found these videos really useful too, which demonstrate abdominal massage on babies/children and adults.

• Remove food sensitivities

  • Food sensitivities can wreak havoc on the gut, causing inflammation and constipation. Identifying food sensitivities is one of the best ways to address the root causes of constipation and fix it for good. The most common food sensitivity linked to constipation that I see is dairy products.
  • Food allergies and food sensitivities are very different and different tests are needed to identify each. Skin prick tests done by an allergist will identify allergies, but not sensitivities.
  • I use the LEAP MRT protocol in my practice. This test tells us which foods a person is most sensitive to. I help my clients remove these foods for a short time, allowing their gut to heal.

 

How do I transition off Miralax?

Work with me

I have a step-by-step guide to weaning off Miralax in my Lasting Constipation Relief For Your Child Guidebook. You can stop guessing and start fixing your child’s constipation with my Free Quiz to find out what’s driving your child’s constipation, then grab the Guidebook for your clear plan designed to overcome constipation, for good!

Wrap-up

We covered a lot of ground today. We reviewed all things constipation; the causes, the dangers of it, why I don’t recommend Miralax and plenty of alternatives that will get the bowels moving. I hope you found this incredibly useful!

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