Chronically tired 3.5 year old

[Allthatjazz234]

Sorry in advance for long post. My 3.5 year old seems to have no energy ever. We went to the park this morning she immediately wanted to sit in the buggy. She asked to wear her mittens as her hands were cold also. Whilst everyone else was running around the playground she was sat most of the time.
She doesn't nap anymore. Wakes between 6-7 and bed around same time. She refuses to go for a nap and has quiet chill time instead reading a book or watching a movie.

Her hair is also thinning a lot and very sparse around her scalp. You can really see it when it's wet. She is a very picky eater. She eats toast, rice krispies, croissants, yoghurts, waffles, sausages, egg whites, sometimes porridge, sometimes fruit, sometimes chicken but mostly not and no vegetables at all. She also suffers constipation.

Just wondering what others thought or if anyone had any experience of the same please?

I think you need to see a GP. From that description it sounds like her thyroid but it could be low iron or low Vitamin D. I’d ask them for a blood test to see what’s going on.

Thank you @unicornhair, i actually have an underactive thyroid myself and still struggle with my energy levels despite being told my levels are normal. Will take her to gp and see what they say!

Have her tested for coeliac disease.

You need to take her to the GP, she needs an examination and bloods done to rule out vitamin/mineral deficiencies and any other causes. Sounds like it could be low iron from what you have described. My ds has ASD and had a more restricted diet at that age, he ended up being vitamin D deficient and needed an extra supplement even though I did give him a multivitamin. Do you give her a children's multivitamin daily?

I was going to say coeliac disease too. Worth checking

3rd for coeliac disease. It’s amazing how horrid the symptoms are ☹️

My DD has a coeliac disease and I have an under active thyroid. They are linked.
Is her stomach distended at all, as she had that and constipation as her symptoms.

Thanks everyone, I will mention coeliac to the gp. Before she started having constipation she always had loose stools. I had her tested for milk allergy already and that was negative. Is treatment for coeliac a matter of eliminating gluten from the diet? Did others have a hard time doing this with their kids?

Dc was similar, the consultant actually mentioned leukemia (it wasn't) to me when hair fell out in patches. Had bloods and iron level was really low and positive coeliac test. Was then diagnosed with refractory coeliac disease (15 years later is doing really well).
Make sure dd has plenty of gluten before blood test or you may get a false negative.

God that must have been very frightening @Chickenpastabowl. I hate seeing her hair coming out and being so fatigued. It interferes with her life so much. I really hope we can get to the bottom of it and get her healthy again!

Seems like it could very likely be folate deficiency anaemia if she doesn’t eat vegetables. My son has this and he was so tired he wasn’t going to school in the mornings. Two weeks of folic acid and he’s up and about all day going out with friends. He also kept asking me if I thought his hair was getting thin. Maybe check her iron as well

You can only have some one tested for an IGE milk allergy. She could still have a non IGE milk allergy.

Sorry @Caravanvirgin what is IGE? @Annaishere so glad to hear it resolved for you. Random question but was the folic acid in tablet form or liquid? She is very very fussy about medications! Just want to prepare myself incase she does need to take a supplement as she is so resistant!

@Allthatjazz234 tablets, but he’s a teenager. I would think gp would prescribe in liquid form for a little one. Maybe you can drop it into food

https://www.rch.org.au/uploadedFiles/Main/Content/allergy/Non%20IgE%20Food%20Allergy.pdf

this explains it

Is she already taking on multivitamins. All children under the age of 5 should be.

i trained as I dietitian and I would say based in your description of her diet she will most likely have some nutrient deficiencies/anaemia. Constipation can also be caused lack of vegetables/limited diet.
Do not restrict gluten until she has been tested for coeliac disease. No point in unnecessarily removing this and she needs to be having it for them to test effectively. Your GO can runs some bloods and refer to a dietitian or you can seek a review by a private dietitian, if that is an option for you. Good luck

@Allthatjazz234 did you ever find out the cause? My 3.5 year old claims he's tired very often these days