5 year old always complaining of feeling sick

[2goingon3]

I've tried to keep a diary, he's quite an anxious child so a lot of the time I've put it down to not wanting to go to school but it's also happened a few times this half term, this morning he said he thought he was going to be sick and I gave him a cracker and some water and he's absolutely fine now, always eats normally etc and plays normally when he says it.

any advice?

Take them to the doctor to get checked over, it can be a sign of anaemia

He doesn't have any other symptoms of that, normal energy etc

When DD was a similar age she used to get the feelings of being sick and being tired mixed up (as did I apparently). Could your DC be doing something similar?

I've often wondered if he gets feeling of hunger/ anxiety/ tiredness all mixed up? Is this possible?

Do you him a multivitamin or any kind of “natural” supplement in the morning ? A lot are quite hard on sensitive digestions.

I was very worried about DS until we realised the kids multi vit gummy was making him nauseous even though eaten with breakfast. Cut out vitamin gummy - nausea disappeared instantly !

Can also be from waking up with very low blood sugar : can you note in your diary the timing of the nausea vs when he ate, and what (including time of dinner / last snack the night before).

I was going to say this, is he actually hungry and mistaking that empty sensation for nausea? I would think if he’s not actually being sick and he’s otherwise playing normally then I wouldn’t be too worried. Is it always in the morning?

I've been keeping a diary and sometimes it's been before bed to which I've put down to anxiety or not wanting to go bed. It just seems like a daily "I feel sick" or my "tummy hurts"

Could he be lactose intolerant? I used to feel sick a lot as a child and cutting out milk stopped it.

It would be worth booking an appointment with your GP, and getting some blood tests done.
DS used to complain of stomach ache a lot and ended up getting referred into the hospital.
After some investigations they suggested a course of worming tablets... After that it cleared up... Not sure if it was worms or the tablets worked as placebo. Maybe worth discussing with your GP to see if that's worth a try.
I do also worry about how many viruses circulate in schools too, covid in particular can cause long term physical and mental health issues.
It's worth testing for covid if he gets any viruses so you can track if long covid might be contributing to symptoms. Long covid kids have a good website if you wanted to read up and see if any of the symptoms resonate.
It would be good to have a conversation with school about what they can do to reduce circulation of viruses too - improving ventilation, installing HEPA filters and increasing hand washing especially before lunch would be good places to start.
Good luck I hope he starts to feel better soon

As he isn’t being sick or changing his behaviour, I’d just distract him. If he is still able to play and do things, it sounds more in his head.

Would lactose be obvious from a baby though? He was formula fed

It is very likely to be confusion between different internal senses. He could be hungry or anxious or just need comfort and interprets this as “my tummy hurts”.

I’d focus on the anxiety aspect. Get some library books where a kids feels scared and gets over it. Make a visual timetable at home so he knows what is happening each day. Half term can be unsettling for a 5 year old if he is anxious about school but can’t count well enough to know when school starts again.

One of mine had ongoing stomach pains and I think it was anxiety. Also we all have our weak point whether it’s mouth ulcers or sore throat so a bit off colour shows in the same place. Aldo there are glands in the stomach. I was sent to hospital with the same child for suspected appendicitis but it turned out to be a throat infection but it was the stomach glands that were hurting.

He did ask me this morning how many days till school and it was about half an hour after he felt like he was going to be sick

Keep a food diary. Maybe ask for coeliac test?

My guess is anxiety.

Have you asked him where his sick feeling is and what it feels like?

Woke up today feeling fine for a while but then said he was going to be sick and ran to the bathroom, was fine after breakfast and didn't actually get sick?!?

It could be reflux? My ds used to always say he felt sick too, at the age of 10 he was diagnosed with coeliacs disease.

That's what I'm wondering, what were his symptoms ?

He said he felt like water in his throat and then it went down to his stomach - sounds like reflux?