Can children get ibs?

[SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore]

dd1 woke up howling at about 4am this morning. Holding her side and claiming that her tummy hurt.

We drove her to a and e at 5:45 am as we thought she might have appendicitis after calpol/cuddles/food etc didn't help her at all.

Apparently we have no a and e anymore only a nurse staffed non urgent care unit. So she wasn't seen by a doctor or given anything. But the nurse felt her tummy and said it seemed like constipation and there was no swelling around her appendix.

She was sent home howling and continued howling untill 9am.

Not long ago she was off school with dirroreah and tummy pain which lasted about 2 weeks, the gp didn't give her anything because she was still eating and wasn't dehydrated.

She is now saying that she somtimes has 'wet stuff' that comes out of her bum after her poo .

She is 5. Her poo atm is hard little lumps so she is definately constipated.

Do you think it could be ibs? How is it diagnosed/treat?

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DD has had constipation for a while now and it is not fun!
It does often seem as if there must be more to it than that, but the fact is that it is probably 'just' constipation.
Take your DD to the GP. Mine prescribed lactulose for my DD, and now she is on Movicol which does seem to be helping her.
GP said that if she is no better in a month then he will consider a hospital referral, but he is convinced it is constipation.
It is very common and a tricky thing to get on top of in young children.
For DD I have banned bananas and cooked carrots (appparently both cause constipation) and I have upped her fibre intake by simple means such as kiwi fruit, pears, peanut butter on wholemeal or 50:50 bread and also raisins and dried apricots.
There is quite a lot of advice on the web about it.
I am hoping we can sort it before she starts school in Sept.

It could be lots of different things unfortunately. Possibly a food intolerance, virus upset her system or just coincidence that one followed the other. As an suspected ibs sufferer (hard work to get a definitive answer) I keep a food journal and record any effects etc. I do not think I have any food allergies as such but I know certain food eaten at certain times of day will give me trouble. Sometimes there seems to be a 24 hour time delay too so worth writing it down and tracking. Also worth really stressing the importance of drinking plenty of water etc. If she ran around outside enjoying the sunshine all weekend, perhaps a little more dehydrated than usual? Equally, I often dip into the fruit bowl more when the weather nicer (never feel like eating fruit in the winter) and I know that too many apples on an empty stomach can give me tummy ache the following morning.

Lots of websites are full of info but the one thing I have learnt is that IBS is not diagnosed it is more presumed after a process of elimination. There is no specific test as such, more a pattern of symptoms without diagnosis of other conditions.

Try upping the fibre and fluids, write it all down and see how she goes over the next few days. Sorry nothing more specific to say.
Be a little careful with treating constipation with medication as it can swing you system totally out the other way. (I have done the laxative - immodium - back to laxative on day 3 scenario and not nice). Safer to try to control it with diet if you can. Obviously, if continued and in a lot of pain, GP is the best solution

Thanks I will make sure she eats more fibre and keep a close eye on her.

That's a good idea about the
food diary. Ill try that.