Bloated tummy in toddler.

[Lola1996]

Hello, my two year old has had feeling issues from birth we think due to silent reflux ( now looking back). He is tiny for his age and it’s a nightmare to get him to eat anything. Routine bloods were done a while back and all came back normal.
However I’ve noticed his belly is huge after eating, not all the time but put quite often. Not sure if this is normal belly for toddlers but personally it looks huge to me.

just wondered if anyone thinks it could be a food intolerance? Or has any experience with their little ones?

thanks in advance :)

I have a toddler who gets a little belly after she’s eaten, but it’s not as bloated looking as your toddler’s tummy seems to be. Is it uncomfortable for him? Does it go down quickly?

Have you ever tried elimination diets with him? That looks like way more than a normal bloat from food. Does he have any other symptoms?

Its good to know that I’m not being dramatic about his belly! The bloating usually goes down after about half and hour or so. No other symptoms really apart from he would be constipated one day and have loose nappies the next day. But his fluid intake is terrible so I put it down to that.

Bloating seems to be worse after porridge, bread etc. so maybe it’s Coeliac??

Thanks for your replies!

My son has a wheat intolerance which we didn't pick up on until 3. He was a very picky eater and never seemed to have much appetite. He would have a bloated belly as well.

I didn't cut it out completely, since his diet was so restricted and it was the only way to get meat into him, but we kept it to a minimum. The bloating went right down.

Until recently that is, now 5, and he's actually able to communicate what kind of pain he gets in his bowel. His appetite has hugely increased and is more willing to eat gluten free alternatives so we've cut it out completely now. I also think it's affected his growth over the years, that too is catching up.

Try cutting out gluten. My DS was the same, bloated belly from toddler age to at least first year of school. He was really skinny so his belly was very noticeable. We tested for coeliac, it was negative. We were referred to dietician who suggested cutting out dairy for a while but that didn't help. I decide to cut gluten from his diet which did help.

He did struggle with constipation too for many years which could have accounted for his bloated belly. He's a lot better now (he is 12) but still gluten free as any attempt to reintroduce causes him issues.

I'd suggest seeing your GP to rule out anything else first but it could be diet related.

One of my nieces had very similar bloating after eating. She ended up being investigated in hospital for possible allergies. Initially it was thought to be lactose intolerance but after testing she was diagnosed with coeliacs. For a proper diagnosis, it is important you don’t cut out gluten without testing first as you need to show a reaction to gluten that won’t show up if you’ve cut out gluten already.