DS constantly complaining that his tummy hurts .

[CaptainUnderpants]

DS age 8 over the last few weeks has been complaining that his tummy hurts especailly at bedtime.

When it started he had a cold so I thought it was down to that and 'abdominal migraine' , abit of capol for the cold etc seemed to help. This was always at bed time .

Now the cold has gone and he is still complaining at bedtime that his tummy is hurting , we have refused to give him any capol as we didn't wnat him constantly relyin on it. I have given hot water bottles and tha last couple of nights he has slept in my bed as DH is away.

I am getting abit concerned about this , he eats well and overall is avery active . His bowel movemenst are not every day perhaps every 3 -4 days but when he goes its like an adult pooing ! ( Sorry ! ) and he sits on ttoilet with eyes watering although he has been like this since he was in nappies ( red face and watering eyes you knoew he was filling a nappy ! )

I took him to GP's about 6 months or so ago with this ' constant tummy' ache she didn't find anything except that his urine showed he was dehyrated slighly , so I am very aware that he need to drink more fuild although a bit difficult to keep an eye on in school.

I will be taking him again to the GPs as peace of mind for myslef , I dont know whether it is in his ' mind' so to speak or there is an under lying problem. Both my Mother and maternal Grandmother had a history of bowel problems .

any thoughts or experience ?

my first thought was, only pooing every 3 or 4 days is quite bad constipation! If he is dehydrated, his stools will be hard and painful to pass, and this might make him reluctant to go to the toilet. He needs more fluid and more fibre - is he eating lots of fruit and veg? Poor boy - hope he feels better soon

I agree with Rose, first point of call would be constipation, dehydration will cause it as does a diet of low fibre foods, my son complains of a tummy ache after his three days at Dad's and doesn't feel better til he has done a BIG poo. I send him back to Dad's all regular again, but lo and behold ...next week same again, drives me nuts. Any way my point is I feed my DS weetbix in the morning, lots of fruit and vege, yoghurt and brown breads, and LOTS of water, I do not try to "treat" his constipation, just give him a well balanced diet. Diet i the only way to go as laxatives just make the muscles in the bowel lazier, therefore exacerbating the problem long term.

Constipation has always been in the back of my mind with him hence getting him to drink more water.

He told me last night that he had a poo that afternoon at school but tummy still hurting him.

Will make an appointment with GP for next week but in the mean time keep a record of what he is eating & pooing etc .

He is more releucant to eat fruit now a days but will eat veg ok. He likes fruit like mango , kiwi melon etc but doesn't go for apples and bananas etc

Overall I think his diet is Ok , howver keeping a diary over the next week will see what it is lacking .

Very difficult to monitor waht they are drinking at school .