I have a 5 year old son the for the past 4 nights have been been having tummy cramps that he says comes from his belly button, but his belly button is not red. He'll wake up in the middle of the night screaming and telling us to rub his tummy. We've been giving him tylenol and pepto. It seems to help after a little while. He is fine during the day, eating the same. It's just at night when he does this. With it being a weekend, the only choices or er or mec center. And it happening only at night the only choice right now would be the er. Has anyone gone through this with there little ones? I will be taking him to his dr in the morning. Any Ideas? Thanks
It happened again last night so bad, right after he feel asleep. So I tool him to the mec center, they did xrays said it was gas and to see the dr today. I'll let you know what she says. Tuesday: My 5 year old is now feeling so much better, no pain at all, but my 10 year old has been feeling bad for two days. The dr say it was a gasric flu, no N/V but just gassy. Thanks for all the advice!!
How much water is he drinking in a day? It's possible that he may be dehydrated. Dehydration seems to mimick many different things, so take his weight and divide it by 2. That's how much water in ounces he should be drinking. Ex: He's 40lbs, so he should drink 20 ounces of water a day to remain hydrated. Water doesn't include juices, milk, sports drinks, just plain water.
Hope this helps!
All my best,
D.
My first thought was that it was gas.
Unfortunately, Pepto isn't much help with that.
We've used Mylicon - and it's worked WONDERS, even with our 5 year old. There are things that we just know trigger it with her - Pizza, spaghetti, if she's eaten a lot that day, or simply when she might have "extra air in her booty".
I've give him "2 squirts" (2 dropperfuls) before bed, and if he wakes up, possibly another squirt of it.
Could he ave a hernia? I always thought if one had one you would know it. Well not true my husband had to have hi gall bladder taken out and when they went in they found a pretty bad hernia. He complained most of the time at night and also meal times. He also had other stuff going on. He's doing really good now that they finaslly took it out. Made him suffer for 7mo. before they took it out. It was stupid but as he is a high risk patient the new surgeon wouldn't touch him til they ran a battery of useless tests.
I can't find the right word for what it was called, but when my son went through something a couple of mother days ago. He seemed fine during the day, but at night he would wake up in terrible pain. He was unconsolable, then all of the sudden he would stop fall asleep and it would start again. It seemed to come in cycles.
We took our son to the doctor twice. The first time she did mention what he end up having, but sent him home saying it was a virus because he was older than the norm for it. The second time I took him back. She felt his stomach area and he said it hurt when she touched him. This time she sent us to Rainbows for an ultrasound. To check his appendix and for the other condition. The other condition is when your intestines fold in on itself. They found this in the ultrasound. They were able to correct the situation with a barium enima. If they could not correct it with this, my son would have gone into surgery to correct it. When this happens it cuts off blood to that area of the intestine.
If found it intussusception. http://children.webmd.com/tc/intussusception-topic-overview
I know it says it happens in children 2 and under, but our son was older. And I do know of a 5 year old that had it and his mom toke him to the hospital several times before they figured it out.
I hope this helps. I'm not saying this is what your son has, but it helps to have info. Especially when the child is outside of the normal age range for the condition.
It could be a food allergy or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). Definitely have your doctor do a thorough workup. GERD tends to be worst at night, when lying down. Good luck!
It sounds like it is gas. My son also suffers from severe gas cramps, at times. You can try gas medicine and Tums. The belly rubbing is soothing. Sometimes the cramps are so bad that my son has to soak in a bath. It helps. I know that it is heartbraking to see your child in such pain. Let me know how it goes.
Have you checked his testicles? My son and both of my nephews had hernia surgery when they were very young. They were closer to 1 or 2, but from what I understand it is a common problem for boys. I notices my son's when I was giving him a bath. One of them was noticeably larger than the other. The way it was explained to me was that the actual "balls" don't fall into the sac at first. It happens gradually, and sometimes the intestines or fluid can fall in there. I think 5 is older than when it is supposed to happen, but I have heard of it. Good Luck!
It sounds like your son may be constipated or perhaps is just having bad gas build up.When he is active it goes away because he probably releases the gas unknowingly.Does he eat or drink things too fast. And is he chewing his food properly ? You might try milk of magnesia instead of pepto as pepto sometimes will constipate a child.
Debbie
