What Can I Give My Daughter For Stomach Pain

Sudden Stomach Pain In Children

Tummy ache without other symptomsSudden abdominal pain that comes and goes for a few hours is usually a sign of one of two things: gas or an abrupt attack of constipation .

Crampy pain that occurs an hour or two after a meal points to constipation. In this case, a mild laxative such as milk of magnesia may help by softening the stool. If constipation becomes persistent, try boosting fibre intake. Choose whole-grain breads and cereals containing at least four grams of fibre per serving, and veggies like baked sweet potatoes.

Pain relieved by impolite bodily noises implicates gas. Theres little you can do once the wind is underway, but figuring out which foods upset your childs stomach may prevent future blow-ups .

Preventing dehydration is crucial to your childs recovery. Give small doses of mineral-balanced solutions like Pedialyte or Gastrolyte. You want to avoid juices, in particular, because their sugar content is so high, they tend to make the diarrhea worse, Issenman stresses. Hold the Kaopectate or Gravol all that barfing and pooping is natures way of flushing out the infection.

If you suspect your child has a UTI, a simple urine test by your doctor can confirm the diagnosis, and shell receive antibiotics so the infection doesnt spread to the kidneys. Cranberry juice is also a useful remedy, and avoiding bubble baths and wiping front to back, especially after bowel movements, may foil future flare-ups.

Stomach Pain In Children Facts

• Abdominal pain is one of the most common reasons for a parent to bring his or her child to medical attention.
• Symptoms and signs of stomach pain in children include gas , rubbing around the belly button, especially if the pain is located low and down on the right side of the abdomen, you “just know” that the child is very sick, pale appearance, sweating, sleepiness or listlessness, vomiting however, if it does not go away , diarrhea, fever, groin pain, urinary problems, and a rash. Moreover, stomach pain in children depend on if the pain comes and goes , the location of the pain, if the pain is acute or chronic, and how severe the pain is.
• Possible causes for a child’s stomach pain range from trivial to life-threatening, with little difference in the child’s complaints.
• Fortunately, abdominal pain in a child usually improves quickly.
• Stomach pain in children is serious if the he or she has a high fever, has had diarrhea longer than 24 hours, or has been vomiting longer than 24 hours.
• Each parent or caregiver faces the difficulty of deciding whether a complaint needs emergency care or not.

When Should I Seek Immediate Care

• Your child’s abdominal pain gets worse and spreads to his or her back.
• Your child’s bowel movement has a large amount of blood in it, or looks like black tar.
• Your child cannot stop vomiting, or vomits blood.
• Your child has diarrhea for 1 to 2 weeks.
• Your child has trouble breathing, and his or her skin looks pale.
• Your child’s pain wakes him or her during the night.
• Your child has trouble swallowing, or pain when he or she swallows.

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Stomach Pain On The Left Side Of The Abdomen

If your child is complaining about pain on the left side of their stomach, it could be caused by something as simple as constipation to a more severe condition like pancreatitis. Dr. Mehta reminds parents not to panic just because their child is experiencing pain.

“Most of the time, stomach pain on the left side is caused by something mild, like constipation. Rarely, it can be a sign of something more serious,” she says. “Your child’s pediatrician can work with you to better understand the pain and symptoms your child experiences to ensure they receive an accurate diagnosis and more importantly, find relief.”

What Symptoms May Accompany Abdominal Pain In Children

Symptoms of abdominal pain may come on quickly or they may have been present for a while. The pain may be steady, worsening, or it may come and go, and it can be either mild or severe.

Noticing the pattern and the location of the pain can help your doctor with making a diagnosis.

Abdominal pain in children may be accompanied by other symptoms, such as wind, burping, passing gas , vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation or fever.

You may notice behaviours in your child that suggest they might be in pain. These include crying, curling up in a ball, wanting to stay still because of the pain, not wanting to play, refusing food or drinks, becoming fussy or grumpy, and facial expressions.

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How Is Abdominal Pain Treated In Babies And Children

Often no specific treatment is necessary, other than home care . However, some treatments that may be needed include:

• oral rehydration solution or intravenous fluids
• pain relief usually paracetamol at the recommended dose for age and weight
• an operation

Antibiotics are not normally recommended for gastroenteritis, as most infections will be due to a virus.

Castor Oil And Betel Leaf

Take half a teaspoon of castor oil. Warm it till lukewarm. Apply it on the tummy region. Cover the portion with a betel leaf after applying. Castor oil helps in treating stomach ache as it stimulates the digestive system and improves the peristaltic useful in addressing constipation. Castor oil releases gas and clears bowel movement.

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How Is Abdominal Pain In Children Treated

• Medicines may be given to calm your child’s stomach or prevent vomiting.
• Prescription pain medicine may be needed. Ask your child’s healthcare provider how to give this medicine safely. Some prescription pain medicines contain acetaminophen. Do not give your child other medicines that contain acetaminophen without talking to a healthcare provider. Too much acetaminophen may cause liver damage. Prescription pain medicine may cause constipation. Ask your child’s provider how to prevent or treat constipation.
• Do not give aspirin to children younger than 18 years. Your child could develop Reye syndrome if he or she has the flu or a fever and takes aspirin. Reye syndrome can cause life-threatening brain and liver damage. Check your child’s medicine labels for aspirin or salicylates.
• Relaxation therapy may be used along with pain medicine.
• Surgery may be needed, depending on the cause.

Of The Many Potential Causes Of Abdominal Pain In Children The Most Common Include:

Indigestion

This is a general term that describes discomfort in children’s upper abdomen. Common symptoms include pain or burning in the area between the breastbone and navel or bloating in the upper abdomen. Most of the time, indigestion will go away on its own and is not considered serious. Prepare smaller meals and try a bland diet. Talk with their health care provider if the discomfort persists.

Viral gastroenteritis

This is an infection marked by watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps and pain, and nausea or vomiting. Seek medical attention if your child has a fever of 100.4 F or higher, bloody diarrhea, or has significant pain or discomfort. Most important is to stay well-hydrated.

Constipation

Constipated children have infrequent bowel movements or hard, dry stools. They may frequently complain of a stomachache, bloating or discomfort. Talk with their primary care provider if they don’t want to eat, are losing weight, have bloody stools or are having repeated episodes of constipation.

Stress or anxiety

When children are stressed or anxious, their bodies release the hormone cortisol into the blood. This can trigger abdominal cramps and discomfort.

Appendicitis

Intestinal obstruction

With any abdominal pain, seek urgent medical attention if children have:

• Pain so severe that they can’t move without causing more pain
• Difficulty sitting sit or finding a comfortable position
• Fever
• Severe tenderness when the abdomen is touched
• Swelling of the abdomen

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‘my Stomach Hurts’: Common Causes And Cures For Tummy Trouble

My older daughter, whos now 9, started getting regular stomachaches a few years ago, just before starting kindergarten. Her dad and I were confused and worried. Was it constipation? Food sensitivities? Kidney infection? A couple of trips to the pediatrician and a consultation with a child psychologist pinpointed the cause: anxiety. To this day, her stomach tends to act up a little when theres a significant change or stressor, such as when schools first shut down last spring due to COVID, but now we know how to help her.

Kids tummies can hurt anytime, but when pain becomes a chronic problem, it can be truly disruptive to their life and become the focus of your time together. Parents may worry that kids will have more stomachaches now due to the stress of an unpredictable school year, and since we know that nausea and vomiting can be signs of COVID, stomach troubles are more alarming for parents than ever.

Doctors say they havent seen an increase in garden-variety stomachaches in young kids during the pandemic, possibly because children are staying at home more. But if your kid is regularly complaining of pain, you may need to play detective in order to suss out the cause, which could be one of three common culprits.

When Should My Child See A Doctor

Most children will have a sore tummy / abdominal pain at some point. Mostly, it wont be a serious illness, but, if a baby or child has any of the following, you should take them to the doctor or hospital emergency department as soon as possible:

• severe abdominal pain
• pain that is made worse by movement
• pain that wakes them from sleep
• pain that comes and goes, or that doesnt go away, or that is getting worse
• pain and a fever
• problems passing urine
• pain when they pass urine
• they are pale, sweaty and lethargic
• they are tired and listless
• for more than 24 hours
• lots of diarrhoea
• signs of dehydration thirst, sunken eyes, drowsy, dry lips and tongue
• a skin rash as well as pain
• fewer than 4 wet nappies per day if they are a baby
• pain or swelling in their groin or testicles in a boy

Go straight to the hospital emergency department if there is:

• vomit that is green or bloody
• poo that is black or red , including bloody diarrhoea

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Risks Factors For Abdominal Pain In Teens

The following factors might increase the risk of abdominal pain.

• Age: Some conditions such as appendicitis, gastroenteritis, or testicular torsion that cause abdominal pain are more prevalent in teenagers and older children.
• Family history: Owing to previous medical history in families, your child may be more prone to gynecological conditions , inflammatory diseases, and food reactions.

Causes Of Abdominal Pain In Teens And Ways To Treat It

• How To Prevent Abdominal Pain?

The abdominal region includes the most vital organs of the body, like the stomach, liver, intestines, and pancreas. Abdominal pain is often an indicator of a problem in these organs or the groin.

Abdominal pain or stomach ache is often not a serious ailment, and children, including teenagers, experience it at some point. However, severe and recurrent pain accompanied by other symptoms will require medical attention. In this post, we present the various reasons behind abdominal pain in teenagers, along with the treatment options.

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What Can I Give My Child For Stomach Pain

Stomach pain usually resolves itself after your child:

• Rests
• Passes gas
• Recovers from a stomach virus

There’s no specific treatment for an upset stomach, but you can help relieve your child’s symptoms. Trusted home remedies for stomach pain in kids include:

• Offering plenty of clear liquids to keep your child hydrated
• Offering ibuprofen or acetaminophen to relieve pain
• Using a heating pad to ease cramps and pain
• Offering a bland diet, like crackers and soups
• Giving your child stool softeners, like MiraLAX® to ease constipation
• Mixing a probiotic in your child’s water, which may help stop diarrhea

How Do Doctors Find The Cause Of A Bellyache

Your doctor will first ask you some questions, examine you, and maybe do some tests. Your doctor may suggest you take some medicine or might give you special instructions for eating to help your body heal the bellyache.

If it turns out that you have appendicitis, you will need an operation called an appendectomy .

If stress is behind your stomach problems, your doctor may recommend a specialist, such as a psychologist. These experts can help kids figure out the source of the stress and help them come up with some ideas for how to fix the problems or handle them better.

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How Is The Cause Of Chronic Abdominal Pain Diagnosed

Your child’s healthcare provider will ask about your family history of abdominal pain or problems. Tell him or her if your child takes any medicines, and how well he or she eats and sleeps. Tell him or her if your child has any other health problems or has missed activities because of his or her pain. Tell him or her if your child has been stressed or worried lately. The provider will examine your child, and may have your child rate his or her pain using a pain scale. Your child may also need any of the following:

Home Treatment For Stomach Pain

So how long does stomach pain normally last? Well, that all depends on the cause. With harmless causes, the pain is usually better or gone in about two hours. Either that or you’ll see new symptoms, like the vomiting, the diarrhea, usually they’ll pass gas if it’s from gas pains, things like that. What if they have stomach pain from indigestion? Well the first thing they should do is just lie down. Quite often lying down and not focusing so much on the belly pain does make it better. You can give them belly rubs, you can have a warm washcloth or a heating pad on their stomach and that will make them feel better, too.

Avoid giving your child any solid foods and allow only sips of clear fluids if they’re vomiting. If they continue to try and eat normally, the vomiting will continue and their stomach pain will get worse. If your child hasn’t gone to the bathroom for a little while, have them go sit on the toilet and see if having a bowel movement will help with their belly pain.

And finally, we usually don’t recommend giving any medication for stomach cramps unless you know the cause. Obviously if it’s because of constipation and this is a chronic problem, give them their constipation medication. But if you don’t know what the cause is, don’t give your child Tylenol or Motrin to help the stomach pain. Try and figure out with your pediatrician what the cause of the stomach pain is so that you can help them if this happens again.

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What Are Different Types Of Chronic Abdominal Pain In Children

• Abdominal migraine is severe abdominal pain with nausea, vomiting, or loss of appetite.
• Functional abdominal pain is pain that has no known cause. Your child may not want to do his or her daily activities because of the pain.
• Functional dyspepsia is upper abdominal pain that does not go away when your child has a bowel movement.
• Irritable bowel syndrome is abdominal pain that goes away when your child has a bowel movement. Your child’s bowel movements may also look different, or he or she may have more bowel movements than usual.

Treatment For The Stomach Flu

Most babies and kids wont need treatment for the stomach flu. Theres no specific treatment for the viruses that cause it.

Unless your doctor recommends it, dont give your child antidiarrheal and anti-nausea medications. Although it doesnt seem like it, some diarrhea and throwing up can be good because its part of getting rid of the virus.

Your doctor might recommend over-the-counter pain relievers to make your child more comfortable.

You can give babies over the age of 6 months pain medications like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Ask your pediatrician about the exact dosage. Too much pain relief medication can make babies ill.

Never give aspirin to babies and children. Aspirin and children dont mix. It can lead to a condition called Reyes syndrome.

Several home remedies can help make your baby or child more comfortable while dealing with the stomach flu.

• Let the stomach settle. Avoid feeding your baby or child solid food for a few hours.

• Give older children frozen juice treats or ice chips. This helps to prevent dehydration.

• If your baby is throwing up, wait 15 to 20 minutes before giving them any liquids. Try nursing your baby if they want to feed. Drinking milk may help hydrate your baby its OK if they throw up some or all of it right after.

• Try using as syringe to give babies small amounts of liquids if they dont want to nurse or bottle feed.

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Unusual Causes Of Belly Aches

Strep throat. It may surprise you to learn that strep throat can sometimes occur not with throat pain, but with a fever and belly pain. Sometimes a child thought to have appendicitis has actually been diagnosed a strep infection instead.

Urine infections and pneumonia can sometimes cause abdominal pain as well. Pediatricians check urine samples and chest X-rays if they’re not convinced that a bellyache is in the belly. Be alert to other complaints that come from other areas even if the main concern is the tummy.