Recurring stomach pain in DD 5 years old

[Catzenobia]

My DD has been complaining of a sore tummy for a while now. She has seen the doctor who does not think there is anything wrong and has suggested we play it down. He thinks it might be more attention-seeking/butterflies in her tummy but she is quite clear that she does feel it as stomach pain and is upset as she thinks it suggests she is lying. She is a home-loving child and does not particularly like going to school or activities although she enjoys things when she knows the other children and while she is there but rarely wants to go. I just wondered whether anyone else has had a similar experience with their child and has any tips. It may also be relevant that she has had lots of sore throats and ear infections and now has grommets and had her adenoids out but will probably also need her tonsils out soon. Thanks all.

My DD of similar age was complaining relatively frequently of tummyache. Generally speaking it was "poo pains" - i.e. she'd complain of a pain in her tummy and would do a poo within half an hour. No problems with her poo or anything. A friend said her DD was the same.

For a while she would also get it on the way to school. Despite loving school, I think she'd get a bit anxious about saying goodbye or about what was going to happen that day and it would manifest as a pain in her tummy.

The phase seems to have passed, we rarely have complaints now. she is also lucky enough to be in general good health so no complications like your DD like sore throats and things.

Hope this helps a bit. I did wonder for a while if I should bring my dd to the doctor though I stuck with my gut that it was anxiety/poo pains and it seems to have been right.

When my DS was 4 he had reoccurring tummy pains . We were lucky enough to have private health insurance at the time . We had all sorts of tests , a referral to a specialist. No problem was ever found . The pains were quite severe almost cancelled a holiday because of it. Eventually they just disappeared . He is 11 now and hasn't had any problem in years .

We have the same with DD1 who is 6. Sometimes it seems to come about when she has fallen out with a friend, other times there have been incidents with a boy who pushes people out of his way.

I try not to be too dismissive as DH's family seem to have weak appendixes and most of them have had surgery.

DS also went through this but it seems to have passed.

Am watching as I have similar thing with my 6 yr old DD. I am convinced it is anxiety related - I think the tummy aches are genuine, and she does sometimes get quite constipated which is probably part of it - but I think they are a way of expressing anxiety, tiredness, being a bit unsettled etc. they went away for a while but she developed other funny little tics, when those went away the tummy aches came back. Our very wise childminder said that girls often get these sort of tummy aches, and my DD's teacher also had a similar thing with her daughter. Like you we try just to play it down, get her to go to the loo regularly and hope she grows out of it!

Also if it helps my mum tells an anecdote about when I was small and had tummy aches a lot, the doctor said it was tonsillitis - she of course thought this was mad but the doctor told her there is a strong link between the throat and tummy in small children, (glands or something, not sure) so that may be relevant for your DD.