Very bloated tummy and reflux in 3 year old

[newbrunette]

Hi all, my dd (aged 3.6) has always had a big "toddler belly" but it's showing no signs of disappearing and may even be getting bigger. She's not fat anywhere else (eg arms and legs) but her tummy makes her look about 8 months pregnant (I realised I'd started to buy clothes to disguise it, which seems wrong in a 3 year old...).

I mentioned it to the GP a year or so ago and she had an ultrasound (to check for things like enlarged kidney) which showed nothing wrong so they are no longer concerned.

She tends to be a bit gassy (much less so since we cut out gluten from her diet) but I can't believe it's all air. In recent weeks, she's developed reflux, particularly when lying down - so she does lots of gagging and is very uncomfortable when trying to get to sleep. GP has prescribed anti-acid meds but doesn't seem to think there's a link with the tummy size.

Has anyone experienced similar? Or have any ideas what the cause could be?

Thanks so much

Yes my daughter is like this but also hs reflux nd severe growth problems and bowel issues.

I think it's worth you asking for referral to paediatric gastroenterology for some checks. May be absolutely normal but may be something easily solved too.

Thanks for replying. Do you know what's causing your daughter's problems? Is the bloated tummy linked to growth? My dd also has slow growth (has dropped down quite a few centiles. She has been seen by endocrinologist - so far, hormone levels etc look fine.

My daughter has eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease, where she is allergic to food causing these eosinophils to gather in places on the GI tract, symptoms can be bloating, nausea, diarrhoea, constipation etc etc.

It is often misdiagnosed as reflux.

DS1 was like this. He developed reflux at 5yo, or rather he was able to verbalise it at 5yo, I suspect he was suffering before this.

Big bloated belly too.

Found out he had tongue tie (his tongue looked normal to me as I didn't know what to look for). The reflux and bloating stopped after we had his tie revised.

It was the back of his tongue that was tied down, so he couldn't do the correct swallowing action and was taking in a lot of air.

Other things that I later learned were linked to his ties were poor sleeping, mouth breathing, distorted high palate and associated dental problems, ear trouble with hearing loss and congestion amongst other things. He was also allergic which is very common amongst tied kids.

Could this be a possibility with your dd? How did feeding go - either breast or bottle, any trouble with solids - choking/gagging/vomiting etc What about sleep?