27 Months Old Girl with Big Tummy

I just read something about this recently. Like Riley said, their organs are too big for their abdomens at this age. My 2.5 yr old daughter gets it too. Hope that's all it is. (:

In GENERAL this is a totally normal phenomenon. It's because there isn't room under her ribs for all of her organs, and it's true for all toddlers. It's called the "toddler pot belly". Usually between the ages of 3-4 the child has grown enough that the organs have room to move up under the ribcage. The cutsie little toddler walk (caused mainly by all the organs being in the abdomen, which changes the gait, as well as weight distribution), goes away at this time, too.

Now there are kids whose organs move sooner, and those whose organs move later. Like everything else in development it's a range.

Times when it's NOT normal developmental stuff:

- Kwashiorkor ... caused by not having enough protein in the diet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwashiorkor has a fairly decent article on it. While many people think it's confined to places like africa, it's a nutritional deficieny seen here very frequently with "new" vegans/vegitarians who aren't getting enough protein in their or their children's diets... and more recently by people hit by the economic crush who have to go cheap on their food... like oatmeal & ramen cheap.

- Worms (ridiculously common in the US, treatable with 2 chewable pills, but many people go years without being treated for them. Some studies have worm eggs in over 80% of playgrounds and schoolyards tested.)

- Liver problems

- Gas

- Twisted intestine/bowel obstruction

- Tumor

- etc.

So if you're concerned, pop over to the Ped's office who'll be able to look at your daughter and figure out if it's just that her organs haven't migrated yet, because there's no room for them to yet (most probable)... or if she should be tested for something more serious.

My daughter had the same thing. Since she is half Chinese, we use to call it her cute little Budha Belly. She is now 5, and it is finally going away. As another poster said, it is the organs. My daugher eats healthy and is thin everywhere else, so it is NOT a diet issue. The only problem we had was that we could never find jeans to fit her. Looking at pictures of when I was a child, I had the same thing.

If you are still concerned, check with her doctor just to put your mind at ease.

N.

I've seen toddler bellies up until around age 5. My daughter's friend is 10 now and thin, but her belly still sticks out - it's just the way she's shaped.

I am no medical expert but my daughter had the same thing when she was little. We used to joke that she needed "baby maternity" clothes. She is 7 now and her belly is completely normal so I would say don't worry about it.

I just finished the section in What to Expect the Toddler Years and there was a whole section dedicated to tubby tummies. According to them it is normal and your daughter will thin out as she turns gets older. Please note it does not mean that she is overweight. If the rest of her is slim, and she is experiencing no pain or discomfort in her abdomen, than everything is fine.

First thing I thought of is 'leaky gut'. Does she crave certain foods or have any behavioral changes after eating? How are her bowel movements?

Leaky gut is a term used for food that does not get digested correctly and passes through the intestinal wall directly into the blood stream.

It is thought to be caused in part by vaccines causing inflammation to the immune system (the gut is part of this immune system).

So, if your mommy 'gut' is telling you it is something else other than the 'toddler tummy' have a couple of tests run, one being a stool sample collected over three days (gross but really cool in the information it provides).

I doubt if her "big tummy" is due to eating. So I would not treat it as "dieting" or not, problem. AND because she is below the 50th percentile.

She seems to have a "distended belly"... and it can even be simply caused by gas accumulating internally.
Then, if her tummy is "hard" or not, or in pain or not, or soft to the touch or not... all of these things can help in diagnosing it.

Or, some kids just have tummies that stick out. NOT because they are "fat"... their tummies are just that way. I have seen kids like that.

I would, tell your Doctor, and see IF there is a cause, or if it just the way she is. Because regardless of the cause or normalcy of it or not... I imagine you will keep wondering about it, unless you ask the Doctor and get his/her professional/medical based opinion.

All the best,
Susan

My 4-year old has the same thing. Her tummy is pretty flat in the morning, but by the end of the day, it balloons out. It gets pretty hard too. I was told that she would outgrow it, but it hasn't changed yet. It might just be her body type, but it is weird that it changes throughout the day. Our pediatrician told me to cut out the carbs, but we don't do anything excessive, and I think that it is ridiculous (and impossible) to cut carbs out of a 4-year old's diet. I think that there is something more to it myself, but I don't have any answers. Please let me know if you hear anything. Thanks!

i dont think thats normal, it sounds like a food allergy. my friends daughter had the same problem where her tummy would stick out and it turned out she had a gluten allergy.

It's perfectly normal, something about the muscles not being fully developed to hold it in. I love my daughter's toddler belly. I will miss it and her dimpled elbow and Fred Flintstone feet.

Without seeing it, it is difficult to say. My children have seemingly had "bloated" tummies, especially at the end of the day. But if you have concerns I would talk to you doctor about it.

I think it's really normal. They don't have the same muscle control that we do. The only reason our tummies don't look like that is because we suck it in unconsciously! They don't get that muscle control until they're 3 or 4. So yeah, it's totally normal.

If you are concerned about her diet, though, check out this link:

http://www.mypyramid.gov/mypyramid/index.aspx

You simply enter her age, gender, and activity level and they help lay out a really clear explanation of what your child should be eating though the day. Our doctor said that for little ones like our 2 year olds, we can average it over a week. So if one day was really meat and bread, try to make the next more fruits and veggies.

Hope this helps!

My son is 27 months old and his tummy does that too. He actually has a small waist where his pants sit, but his belly sticks out like a ball above that. He has kind of a big booty too so from the side he looks hilarious. He eats well and is very active so I'm assuming it's all normal. But I'll be reading the responses too.

My 10 year old son is a lean, mean, eating machine and he still has the tummy that sticks out when he has eaten a good deal of food, even if it is healthy. I never understood the open your belt because you're full thing until I saw this tummy phenomenon on my son. He's always had it. The good thing is that as he digests his food his belly goes back to normal. Ask your pediatrician at your next appointment if this is normal or book an appointment now if there seems to be gastric distress: excessive gas, diarrhea, constipation, etc.