Can a 4Yr Old Start to Have IBS?

Have you tried probiotics to get the good bacteria in there? We've had success with Florastoe for kids. http://florastor.com/ I just dissolve a little packet into their drink.

All IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) means is that someone is having problems in their digestive system but the doctor doesn't know what it is. IBS becomes the generic catch-all term.

So. There's a really high chance that she's eating something that disagrees with her. You need to keep a detailed food journal of everything she's eating and drinking, and record how she feels afterward. Include skin rashes, headaches, stomach pains, nausea, etc.

What you need to know is that your daughter could have issues with milk, but you wouldn't know unless you do an elimination diet. You would have to completely remove ALL TRACES of milk, cheese, cream... anything that contains lactose at all... from her diet for a full 4 weeks before you reintroduce it to see what the reaction is. It takes that long because it takes a full two weeks for the body to expel dairy from the system. Then it takes two more weeks for the body to figure out how to work without the dairy and to feel good.

I have a child that's lactose intolerant, so I know what I'm talking about. We did this. And after a full month off of dairy, we took her to a pediatric gastroenterologist for a nitrogen breath test to confirm what the elimination diet had already told us: she was lactose intolerant.

We've used this elimination diet to figure out other things that she's allergic or sensitive to, such as high fructose corn syrup, artificial food dyes, and other real foods. I've had to do this diet on myself and discovered that I can't eat meat. I can't eat foods with seeds either, like poppy seeds or strawberries.

If you're going to journal, then make it count. If you're going to remove items from her diet to see if they're having an effect on her then it needs to be for significant periods of time so that when you reintroduce them into her diet there's absolutely no question that it's THAT FOOD OH WOW THAT FOOD is definitely causing it.

IBS isn't really a diagnosis; it's a collection of symptoms. So, yes, it could happen with a 4-year-old, but knowing that won't really get you very far.

My recommendation would be to seek out a naturopathic physician and start talking about dietary intolerances. Milk protein, gluten, and eggs are all possibilities. And kids do develop these things midstream in childhood. So even if she had no problem with them before, that doesn't rule them out.

Things to ask for testing of diabetes, celiac, crohns, allergies to dairy, dyes, ensure there is no consumption of fat replacements and artificial sweeteners, no excess sugar or salt cnsumption. These should be checked after ruling out cdiff, rotovirus and ova and parasites.

I would try yogurt or probiotics (yogurt enzymes in pill form). Sounds like a tummy bug. If that doesn't work, then I'd start to look at allergies.

Yes, a child can have IBS or IBD (ulcerative colitis or Crohn's). My daughter was 5 at the time of her diagnosis, but had symptoms for several years before it was diagnosed. I have met kids who were younger than 2 when diagnosed. Does your child have it? It is too soon to know for sure. Could be any number of issues going on. If it doesn't go away in the next month or so, try an elimination diet or something like GAPs (gaps.me) or Specific Carbohydrate Diet (www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info).

If she is suffering the symptoms, what does it matter if that is the diagnosis? She's not too young to hurt or otherwise suffer with this stuff. When you put these limitations on diagnoses, you give doctors the right to do the same. You'll have doctors dismissing her because she's too young to have exactly what it looks like.

If she is 4 and this has been only going on for 3 weeks, I would suspect a stomach virus rather than a food intolerance (if it was milk I would think she would have reacted before now, assuming she has had milk in her system for the last 3 years). Unless you have introduced anything brand new in the last month?

The stomach virus was going around this area like crazy in Feb/March, and it did take us several weeks to fully recover from it.

The food journal is not a bad idea though; I have a friend whos son was having issues and it turned out he was allergic to grapes, which he had been eating for SO LONG that his parents never suspected it as a possiblity.

Have you tried adding some probiotics? My little guy can have a tough time bouncing back from a stomach bug. After talking it over with his doctor, we decided he just can't get the natural flora and fauna of his digestive tract stabilized on his own. We use florastor anytime he any GI upset, whether from a virus or overindulgence in fruit or whtaever. Within a day or so, he is back to his 'regular' self...

I doubt it. Sometimes teething can cause this. Also, allergies to wheat etc.

You might want to try a starchy gluten free type foods.

I second Jessica's suggestion of trying an elimination diet. Have you had your girl seen by a Gastroenterologist?

Just a tip: I control my IBS (which started up in my early 20s as lactose intolerance) following a diet which identifies the kinds of sugars different foods have/produce in the gut. Some sugars totally trigger an attack and I steer clear of these; others are fine. Here is a link to a guide from Stanford, which is pretty explicit in foods to favor and foods to avoid.

http://stanfordhospital.org/digestivehealth/nutrition/DH-...

I have lived my life around this way of eating for the last 2 years, when a friend sent me an article. It was a blessing; even my visit to a specialist didn't produce any of this advice or the good results the diet has offered. Medical doctors are often better at prescribing treatments instead of suggesting limiting diet. While the diet can be limiting, my life is much improved and the primary triggers for me are now pretty much stress/lack of rest.

I hope things improve for your girl. And try probiotics too, or an almond-based yogurt. My son has had the Almond Dream variety and raved about it.

probably not.. but if you have a stomach bug..(which usually starts these things..) it can take a while to get back to normal.

I would go with a bland diet... for a couple more days.. applesauce.. toast any starchy bread food .. potatoes... try to bind her up.

Start reading all the labels in all the food she eats. This could be a reaction to MSG (mono sodium glutamate). It could also be the start of Celiac's disease. There could be milk in things she is eating and you don't realize it. My granddaughter is Autistic and can't have any dairy. Chewing gum helps calm her so my daughter gives her bubble gum, then noticed on the label that the bubble gum she had been giving her for years had milk in it.

I would write down everything she eats for about 2 weeks and monitor and list her symtoms ect. When you do this you may see a pattern between what she eats and her symtoms.

Try giving her something with cinnamon, Cinnamon Grahms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal it helps with any tummy upset.

When you give her fluids, are your giving her one big glass of liquid at a time? Or several small glasses.

If you are giving her 1 8+ oz of fluid at a time, you may be giving her too much at one time. Yes, she needs to stay hydrated, but sometimes giving 1-2 oz every 30 mins works better then giving 8oz that is drunk in 10 mins.

Think of it like when you water plants. Yes a plant may need 4 oz of water a day, however, if you pour all 4 oz on it at once, it will overflow the pot. If you give it water slowly and wait, more water will be absorbed and it will most likely not overflow the pot.