Son with Strange Stomach Trouble

we just went through this with my son... some constapation but so far nothing else. The appeteite is still not better, but he did finally crack 40 lbs.

L.:

The only time my boys have complained about stomach hurting - they have had strep or the flu.

Is his small appetite normal or is this something new?
Is he having regular bowel movements?
Has he lost weight in the last week?
Is his stomach tender to the touch or warm? Especially by the rib area...

If he is looking yellow, then I wouldn't wait for Monday - I would take him to an urgent care or a clinic that is open after-hours...

I hope it's just the flu!!

I have posted this advice before, but I think it applies in your situation:

Before the appointment with the doctor, start a journal, a log, a diary, whatever you want to call it.

Start listing foods your son eats, and keep a basic meal diary. No need yet to list every ingredient, but something along the lines of: Monday: breakfast - oatmeal with milk and brown sugar; lunch - sandwich with ham and American cheese; supper - spaghetti. Glass of milk before bed, and animal crackers. You get the idea. Circle or highlight the days when he develops the stomach pain.

Then, when your son starts mentioning the stomach pain, get specific. Get your journal out. Note everything, like a detective. Complaint: pain in right side. Food: has just eaten peanut butter crackers 20 minutes ago (or hasn't eaten in 3 hours but supper is in the oven). Environment: quiet, tv in other room (or loud, teen sibling playing music, or noisy, etc). Activity: just came in from playing outside, (or has been sitting on couch watching tv, or getting ready for school, or just has come home from school or daycare, etc). Each time, note the complaint, the food, the environment and the activity.

You may see a pattern, or your doctor may. You may say "hey, every day that he ate a lot of cheese and had a big glass of milk, his stomach hurt" or something similar.

Yes, we have had similar problems. Eliminating apple juice (and almost every other juice other than white grape juice) helped tremendously, as did not letting my daughter get too hungry. And small meals, served frequently, other things like that, helped.

My son was complaining for a while of stomach pain. We took him in and it turned out he had areas of compaction caused by a sensitivity to milk proteins. We used meds to clean him out, and cut back on his milk in take and have had not further issues.

-Does he know his body's cues, and when he is hungry?
- Is he a grazer, and has to eat small meals throughout the day? My son is like that. Versus my daughter will eat heartily at each meal. But she needs to graze too. Which is perfectly fine, we have healthy foods.
- My daughter gets stomach pains, when she is gassy or has to poop. She has always been this way.
- Take your son to the Doctor. Stomach pains can be anything. Even stress. My Husband is like that and that is how stress, affects his body.
- Is your son constipated?

- Your son, as you said, is very active and 'thin' for his age. Well, so maybe because he is so active, he gets hungrier more often, and needs to graze... and his stomach pain is him telling him he is hungry and needs to eat???? My son will tell me that. My son is also very active. And lanky for his age but is very tall. My son, never eats in large quantities. He only eats until, full. He knows his body's cues.

And yes see what the Doctor says.

My son had this. Started keeping track.
Realized that when he its Chef B he's fine. When he eats any other type of spaghetti sauce he has stomach pains. Same is true with certain pastas.

He's been on allergy shots for the last 5 years. During the last test he tested pos for malted barley, which is basically yeast. It was in the bread I was buying. Switched to Italian bread and the complaints stopped.

Is your son in school? Is he stressed? Stress can cause stomach and headaches. We know children who had stomach aches and headaches caused by school- they were young in their class, and eventually were retained. After that many of these problems disappeared.
Good luck.

I would try keeping him off of ALL DAIRY.

Take him to the Dr. right away.

God bless him.

I would definitely test him for food intolerance. Even when there is no allergy there can be an intolerance that causes issues. You could put him on an elimination diet and see if the pain lessens and appetite improves. I think a doctor is def the way to go. Your Mommy sense says something isn't right so find out for sure!

My daughter does too. Gas X for kids always works for her, it seems to be gas is her problem, but this seems to be a hereditary thing on my husbands side, and we did have her looked at by the Dr. and he agreed. It could be as simple as gas, or something else.