3 year old saying he wants to go to the doctors?

[Peonyyyy]

My 3 year old (almost 4) seems absolutely fine in himself, no temperature, sleeping well, eating and going to the toilet normally. Doesn’t seem to be in any pain but over the last few days keeps saying he wants to go to the doctors or the pharmacy, and when I ask why he says his tummy hurts. But he seems completely fine??? I keep saying let’s see in the morning etc anc then he brings it up again.

I don’t want to waste anyone’s time but also don’t want to be one of those people who doesn’t believe their child and then something happens. But it genuinely seems like he just wants to go as a nice activity? Has anyone else had this happen before, is it common?

he used to be a bit scared of going to the doctors but the last time we went to the pharmacy when he had an ear infection he had a lovely lady and I guess I made a fuss of how brave he was as he was in a lot of pain - just wondering if he enjoyed the whole thing?

I’ve explained to him that if he’s not actually poorly we shouldn’t go as the doctor will know, and I’ve also asked if he’s swallowed anything he shouldnt, but really everything seems normal.

Could you get a 'phone appointment ' with a friend who will play along to try and get a bit more information from him before you commit?

Pp idea is good.

he probably wants abit of a fuss

My DS is nearly grown up now but when 2-5years old had a lot of doctor and hospital appointments due to some serious health issues which thankfully were resolved. I remember one weekend when I asked whether he wanted to go to the zoo or museum or softplay or whatever, and he asked if we could please go to the hospital - the children's ward playroom specifically because he missed going there as regularly.

Personally I'd get it checked out on the off chance its a UTI/appendix etc, better safe than sorry. But then you know your child best, and whether this is out of character for them!

Ok so today he said ‘we didn’t go to the doctors’ and I said no I thought you must be better as you haven’t mentioned it. He said but his tummy hurts sometimes inside. He said it’s a bad feeling inside. He has said a few times that it’s ‘inside’ and I wondered if it was an emotional pain, so I asked is it a pain like being poorly or a pain like you feel sad. And he says he feels sad.

it turns out he’s feeling sad/worried that his two best friends at nursery are going to school this year and he’s not. It’s like he’s actually heartbroken 💔 I have been worrying about this for a while but I didn’t realise he would feel sad until they actually left. I guess they discuss it at nursery and it makes him think about it and get upset 🥺

Oh bless him. They dwell on things so much at that age!

My 2yo had continuous unexplained stomach pain for about 6 weeks - cue multiple trips to the GP to no avail. One night he was moaning in agony so we rang 111 and they sent us to out of hours. There was a wonderful semi- retired GP there who was super wise and examined him carefully, then asked if one of us could come in without him - he explained that stress/upset often manifests as tummy pain in young children and asked if our DS had any stress in his life. When we explained his younger brother had arrived months before, he made the diagnosis - remedy: to spend as much one on one time with DS1 as possible. They are in their 20s now but I have never forgotten that GP!
edited for typos…

Arw god love him 😭💙

Make sure nursery are aware.
May be they can encourage some new friendships. Or give him some responsibility as he is going to be one of the big boys.
Hopefully you can reassure him that he will be able to meet with his old friends sometimes, even if they have gone to school.

Yes, I mentioned it to nursery and asked if he plays with any other children and they said he does, and they do mention it regularly when they’re doing activities which children are going to school so that it’s not a big shock. I’ve let him know we will still organise play dates etc with them (although I know it’ll be difficult as they’ll only have the weekends and will probably be inundated with party invites! But we’ll try our best) x