3 year old says her tummy hurts

[SomethingAnonymous]

For about a week my daughter has been putting her hands over her lower stomach and crying and saying her tummy hurts.

I asked if she was hungry, sometimes she says yes and sometimes no. When I feed her, later she will say "it still hurts!"

I asked her if she has to go to the bathroom. Sometimes she says no and sometimes she decides to go try... but either way she will tell me again that her stomach hurts.

It doesn't seem be related to eating. She says it hurts when pressure is applied. It's pretty low, around her pubic bone.

I don't know what to do... should I take her to the doctor?

[Kirsten]

I would definitely take her to the doctor to rule out any obvious issues. Does she drink apple juice? I have one child who absolutely cannot digest that for the life of her and would get terrible stomach aches. Took me years to figure out what caused them. Doctor did rule out stuff though. Or maybe a dairy allergy?

[SomethingAnonymous]

Originally Posted by Kirsten

I would definitely take her to the doctor to rule out any obvious issues. Does she drink apple juice? I have one child who absolutely cannot digest that for the life of her and would get terrible stomach aches. Took me years to figure out what caused them. Doctor did rule out stuff though. Or maybe a dairy allergy?

She does drink apple juice, but I think has only once in the last week. Maybe I need to keep a food journal for her with times when she tells me it hurts.

Is there anything else I can do at home? She is really not wanting to go to the doctor.

[SquishyKitty]

I would take her to the doctor. DS had that once, and it turned out to be strep. Every time he gets strep, it manifests with a tummy ache.

[EdnaMarie]

I would, because it's not getting better. Is it closer to the right side? That could be appendicitis. I had pain for three days before it was critical.

[lyterae]

With my dd she gets tummy aches if she eats certain foods. We recently discovered that her hayfever allergy also manifests itself through eating melon and she will get a tummy ache after eating any type of melon. She is a much happier girl since we made the connection...

[tankgirl73]

I would definitely start keeping a food diary, many intolerance issues (especially dairy) manifest with tummy/gut pain.

But I would also DEFINITELY take her to the dr, and I'm not a run-to-the-doctor type of person. As EdnaMarie said, it's not getting better -- it's persistent. And from what you describe, it's a fairly new thing. A food issue would be more likely (not definitely, but more likely) to have manifested before now.

[Kirsten]

I would find a pediatrician that your dc isn't leary of going to. Lots of things may come up over the years; having a great doc makes it so much easier. We LOVE ours!!!

So yes, I would go in for a check to be sure it isn't something that needs immediate attention. But food issues (both lactose and fructose intolerance) can cause terrible stomach aches. Some kids are so sensitive that even small amounts in things you wouldn't suspect can cause issues, and some are so slight that only the worst things (apple juice in our case) cause a problem. My kid can eat sliced apples, applesauce, fruit juice blends, every other fruit and fruit juice just fine - but one glass of apple juice and she is on the floor. Food diary is a great idea. And I'm not sure how long things take to digest in a three year old - the stomach ache might not be right after she eats/drinks the offending food?

I hope you figure it out.