"pot" belly on 15 month old, is this normal?

[Jen1978]

Hi
this may sound really silly but my 15 month old DS1 has a very big "pot" belly. He is otherwise quite small, on 9th centile for weight. Has always had a bit of a belly but just recently I have noticed it has got really big, he looks pregnant if you can image that look!! It is rock hard and really sticks out. Was just wondering if this was normal or if I should be concerned.

[beansprout]

Sounds really normal to me!!

[MrsWednesday]

My DS2 had a definite pot belly, and it's only now he's 3 that it's started to go.

[solo]

Yes, it's commonly known as 'baby belly' I'm told.

[ThatBigGermanPrison]

I think it's normal, it's only very slender babies that don't have it. I don't think their stomach muscles are strong enough to hold it all in.

[ghosty]

DS's potbelly didn't really go completely until he was 6. He has a six pack now (at 8!) LOL
DD is 4 and has still has hers. I prefer to call it a 'toddler tum'.

[solo]

Do their bellies swell up with thread worms? I thought it was only animals that got swollen bellies with worms?

[solo]

EUW!

[handlemecarefully]

Mine had pot bellies at this age

[handlemecarefully]

Neither had thread worms

[stitch]

most babies have pot bellies
not sure about tthe rock hard bit though.

[handlemecarefully]

I remember ds' belly being rock hard and worrying in case he had beri beri or some other form of malnutrition

[Chandra]

I was told DS' belly was nothing to worry about, that it was NORMAL no matter how hard it seemed and it was always there.

As it happens, years later he was diagnosed with milk allergy/intolerance, as soon as we removed al dairy from his diet the belly disapeared. Now when he has milk he gets that belly back and complains of pain to the point he can not move much.

He was not a mobile baby at all until we removed the dairy, sometimes I wonder what he had to go through without us realising about it, obviously, if he had milk everyday there was no way for us to realise that the belly was not normal and painful.

Now, I'm not saying here that milk may be causing your DS's belly but if you are concerned about it, insist. A normal big belly wouldn't worry me, a rock hard one.... there may be something not really agreeing with him.

[vesela]

I think it can also be gluten intolerance.

[flamingtoaster]

As Vesela says "Pot belly" in young children can be a sign that they are coeliac. If he starts showing signs of digestive problems - or slips down the height/weight centiles it would be worth checking with your doctor.

[simpson]

I think at this age their bellies stick out as there is not enough room to house all internal organs iyswim? This is what I was told about DS (now 3) when he was 18mths old by HV. Of course she might have been talking total cack

[midnightexpress]

I thought it was something to do with the way that their backs sway - they sort of stick out their tums because their backs aren't as upright as they become after two or three.

DS1 lost his once he started getting picky with food (about 2) and DS2 still has a magnificent tum.

[rosealbie]

My dd had a very large belly at this age and I also thought it might be worms. It wasn't.

From my own experience I would say see a GP just to check as there can be other reasons, thankfully rare, that their belly is swollen.

[mrsruffallo]

Compltetely normal, their stomach muscles don't kick in until they are older

[vfwsky]

When my son was a baby he had that pottbelly and the doctor always told me that it was normal. Every year that he got older the stomach got bigger. Now he is eleven, he is average size except the bottbelly. It is quit large. The doctor will not check into it. She said it is what we are feeding him. Me and my husband are both average size, not over weight. We all set down and have healthy meals. We recently joined a gym hoping that it may help our son. My son will lose weight, but not the belly. That is why I'm on here today to get ideals.