Stomach pains in preschooler - What could this be?

[Mommy_Mea]

DS1 has been complaining of stomach pains on and off for the past few days. He woke up in the middle of the night two nights ago (rare occurrence), and took an hour to go back to sleep, and only after a dose of Mylanta.

He has been pooping a little more than normal, but it is about the same consistency as always (fairly soft). Pooping doesn't make the stomach ache go away. It seems to come and go randomly.

He also seems a lot more emotional lately and will declare he is "so tired" and wants to go to bed right now. But them rallies shortly after and is fine.

I don't think it is appendicitis - he isn't writhing in pain, he can jump up and down, when I press on his tummy, he doesn't have the rebound pain. No fever.

It does hurt when I press above his belly button, on the right side.

I am going to call his pediatrician when they open after lunch - but wanted the advice of the wise mommas of the BBB!

[Mommy_Mea]

I made a sick appointment for this afternoon, but of course now he says he feels fine.

Sorry if this is vague, part of the reason I am worried that the appointment this afternoon will be somewhat useless. But this has been going on for so man days, I want to try and address it.

I have vaguely suspected some gluten intolerance with DS1, he always had a bit of a belly, soft stools. When he poops, he needs to poop NOW. But actually complaining about his tummy hurting is new. However, DS1 has never been great at telling us when he is hungry, tired, etc...

[Still-in-Shock]

You did the right thing. You can tell the doctor all the symptoms, show where DS was feeling tender, and explain that it has resolved itself for now, but you are concerned because it is reoccurring.

Not all kids are in tune with their bodies, so yours is not unusual.

I can't say what this might be, but that's what doctors are for.

[crl]

With ds it ended up being constipation and a mild milk allergy.

Catherine

[Mommy_Mea]

Thanks everyone

[khalloc]

My DD had stomach aches since she was a preschooler. They would come and go. Even once she started public school she would have them alot and then not at all. I talked to her pediatrician about them almost every year and each time she said they sound like they are anxiety related. She would be fine in the morning, then when it came time to get ready to go out to the bus, she would get a tummy ache.

We didnt change much about her diet. At one point we did eliminate brocolli, but I dont think that was the cause at all. Now she has been stomach ache free for months. I dont know why! Maybe she is just more comfortable at school. I'm sure they will start up again once school is back in session in September. But I hope she likes her class/teacher and they wont be an issue all year.

[Mommy_Mea]

Back from the doctor appointment. They tested for strep, which I didn't even think of, but the quick test was negative. Strep definitely runs in our house, DS2 had had it 5 times I'm the past year, DH and I have both had it.

She didn't feel any obvious constipation (compaction?), and isn't ruptured about anything acute. She said to maybe watch to see if it was more after meals, if it might be a touch of reflux.

I brought up the gluten, she didn't seem to worried, since he had always steadily gained weight (he is at least 75th percentile for height and weight).

So we will see, I will keep watching him, if he still had a tummy ache in two days, they said to bring him back in.

Thanks for all the ideas and input!

He does tend to be a little anxious/nervous, so I will watch the timing of the tummy aches that way too...

[bisous]

Have you been noticing any other odd symptoms? Like is he urinating frequently or drinking a lot? Stomach pains can be a symptom for type 1 diabetes but the other symptoms are almost always present. The test for that is usually fairly simple. Many doctor's offices will do a finger stick right there in the office. I only mention it because it is frequently missed by pediatricians. Parents can often tell that something is off but the usual signals of severe illness--fever, difficulty breathing, etc.-- are not present. Just something to be mindful of!

[Mommy_Mea]

Good to know about type 1 diabetes, he hadn't been drinking or peeing more, but I will keep an eye out for it, and bring it up at his 4 year appointment.

[lisa56308]

Constipation. Just went through this with my 9 yr old. He was having bad tummy aches and would get up to use the bathroom mid-meal. They xrayed his belly and he was full of poop. I was surprised since he is a regular every day pooper. We did mineral oil before bed and miralax during the day and it was a big help. He's started with the using the bathroom at meal time again so back to the miralax for him.