Toddler's stomach problems

[minnie1012]

Hi My daughter is 21 months old and seems to have alot of stomach issues. The first thing is she doesn't sleep well at all never has. She goes through periods where she does but then it starts up again. I was told she had acid reflux but most of the medicines didn't work but eventually that seemed to go away and she seemed fine for a few months. She has alot of gas too. Now she is still having issues. Her stomach gets larger as the day goes on, and she gets constipated alot. She also wakes up every night and a few nights ago threw up. We have changed her diet and seen the peditrician, 2 seperate gastroentrologists and an allergist. I don't know if the acid reflux is coming back or if its something else since her belly has always been large. I'm not sure what it can be, I've googled things and can't come up with anything. Any ideas?

 

[MinnieGirl33]

Was she a colicky baby?

I'm surprised the pediatric gastro wasn't able to help. If you haven't already, I would find the best children's hospital near you & find a doc there (I was spoiled being so close to CHOP).

Lactose intolerance? Celiac's?

Have you kept a diary yet? I would keep a very strict diary for a while: food, bowel/bladder, pains, sleep or lack of, bloating, temperment, what you did to try to ease the situation, etc. Anything & everything you can think of and be sure to include times of day. This can be a very helpful in working toward a diagnosis.

Best of luck.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Ask your doctor about irtiable bowel symptom. Her symptoms sound like mine when I was first diagonesed.

 

[Diva of Dragons]

Try giving her goat's milk for a while. It helped a couple of friends of mine. Goat's milk has a different structure than cow's milk and can really help digestive issues in babies and toddlers.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hi My daughter is 21 months old and seems to have alot of stomach issues. The first thing is she doesn't sleep well at all never has. She goes through periods where she does but then it starts up again. I was told she had acid reflux but most of the medicines didn't work but eventually that seemed to go away and she seemed fine for a few months. She has alot of gas too. Now she is still having issues. Her stomach gets larger as the day goes on, and she gets constipated alot. She also wakes up every night and a few nights ago threw up. We have changed her diet and seen the peditrician, 2 seperate gastroentrologists and an allergist. I don't know if the acid reflux is coming back or if its something else since her belly has always been large. I'm not sure what it can be, I've googled things and can't come up with anything. Any ideas?

What is she eating and drinking? Have you tried Miralax for the constipation? Has she had blood from the constipation?

If you are constipated you are going to get reflux. It is a vicious cycle.

 

[minnie1012]

She was tested for celiac and it came back negative. We went dairy free for a while and even wheat free and no change. I actuallly can't get her to even drink milk. She got really bad gas the first few times she had milk so I stopped it for a while now she won't drink it. She wasn't colicy as a baby just bad at sleeping I guess because of the reflux. I kept a food diary and didn't see anything that really triggered. She bascially has good periods and bad and the food doesn't really change. Actually the gluten free food gave her really bad gas.

My cousin has irratable bowel syndrome I didn't consider that because I thought that made you go alot? Hmm I don't know if I should go back to one of the gastro's I already saw or try yet another? The next thing he wants to do is do a scope on her which makes me nervous.

I have been giving her Maalox for the past few days and that is helping her poop and last night she slept all night. She is still bloated though and last night could have been a fluke I have also tried Miralax but I my peditrician said give her alittle and I was like how much is a little? So I never knew if I had the right amount.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Mandychelle79]

I would take all the dairy out of her diet if that is how she reacted to milk. Kinda sucks, no chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, ice cream... but it may help. It does take a while though to get all the dairy out of your system.

 

[laughinplace199]

I would take all the dairy out of her diet if that is how she reacted to milk. Kinda sucks, no chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, ice cream... but it may help. It does take a while though to get all the dairy out of your system.

That's a really good point. My pediatrician said it can take 2 weeks to get all dairy out of your system. I was surprised it could take that long.

 

[fimac]

Have you tried a food elimination diet ? Did anything happen when you brought the foods back ?
Celiac blood tests are unreliable in young children. I know the first time I eliminated gluten from my sons diet I did not see a difference, the second time the difference was huge.
Did the GI doc tell you why he wanted to scope her ? The scope was very helpful in my sons case. It found answers that we did not expect.
There are some labs that will do stool tests to look for food intolerances if you wanted to go that way although many docs do not accept those results, but every little piece of the puzzle helps.

Good luck and keep trying

 

[cheerful chickadee]

awww poor thing. My DD is 2.5 and has had problems with constipation forever! My ped said I should give her 1Tbsp Miralax in juice when she gets really constipated. I thought that was a lot so I ended up giving her 2 teaspoons and that did the job. We pretty much have to give her miralax on a regular basis, 1tsp a day in her drink a few times a week just to keep her regular.

I hope you find answers, it's tough when our little ones are suffering

 

[minnie1012]

awww poor thing. My DD is 2.5 and has had problems with constipation forever! My ped said I should give her 1Tbsp Miralax in juice when she gets really constipated. I thought that was a lot so I ended up giving her 2 teaspoons and that did the job. We pretty much have to give her miralax on a regular basis, 1tsp a day in her drink a few times a week just to keep her regular.

I hope you find answers, it's tough when our little ones are suffering

Was her stomach big when she got constipated? My daughter has this little pot belly pretty much all day well as soon as she starts to eat.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Hi My daughter is 21 months old and seems to have alot of stomach issues. The first thing is she doesn't sleep well at all never has. She goes through periods where she does but then it starts up again. I was told she had acid reflux but most of the medicines didn't work but eventually that seemed to go away and she seemed fine for a few months. She has alot of gas too. Now she is still having issues. Her stomach gets larger as the day goes on, and she gets constipated alot. She also wakes up every night and a few nights ago threw up. We have changed her diet and seen the peditrician, 2 seperate gastroentrologists and an allergist. I don't know if the acid reflux is coming back or if its something else since her belly has always been large. I'm not sure what it can be, I've googled things and can't come up with anything. Any ideas?

Do you give her whole milk? DS had a lot of trouble digesting whole milk and we had to give him skim, which solved the problem.

 

[minnie1012]

Do you give her whole milk? DS had a lot of trouble digesting whole milk and we had to give him skim, which solved the problem.

Whole milk actually gave her really bad gas and we give her 2 % in her cereal (she won't drink it still trying to get her to drink it) and no more strong gas pains but she is still bloated.

 

[Nancyg56]

The little guy I watch had this happen. He tested allergic to dairy and was switched to soy. Holy Smokes! He got bloated, constipated, cranky and just plain miserable. The dr took him off of the soy, put him back on a formula adn he is like a different baby. He is happy, no more constipation, no more bloating and looks like he grew three inches. The allergy tests are not all that reliable in a baby under a year but removing the dairy and the soy products made a difference.

My DGD had acid reflux for several years as well as a dairy adn eggallergy. The pediatric gastroenterologist worked closely with her pediatrician to help diagnose ad treat her. I would go to a children's hospital if you do not find an answer quickly
Good luck!