Last Monday my daughter , who usually has a rather slow bowel ( she goes every other day) had a painful, gassy crampy bm in the moning. She is 6, btw. Within a few hours she had another and another and it became apparent she had something going on. Each BM got softer, almost diahrea, but the cramps were awful and she was crying. . Today is day 6. She's had no vomitting, no fever, and inbetween the cramping and loose stools and gas she's fine. I've had her on a brat diet, nothing sweet, no dairy ...tto slow things down, for 3 days now and her bms have become more solid, but normally if she ate like this she wouldn't poop for a week. She's still had 4 gassy crampy BMs today. The Dr says it's a virus and will run its course but they did take stool for a styudy. The sent it to the lab on Thursday and told me its a 5 day study but on Friday nothing was showing as of yet. Anyone had a virus like this with there kids before? No fever, vommiting, no tiredness, just gassy, cramping, soft BMs and diarhea for a week?
Thanks everyone for your responses...Amanda demanded to go to first grade today so I sent her. The BM's slowed down but she still had cramping yesterday every few hours but she said it wasn't as painful. ( I'm praying for a smooth pain free day for her) I've let her go back to her regular diet and asked the teacher to take her seriously if she says she doesn't feel good ...I want a call to pick her up. Researching probiotics now as her system being slow is something I've always battled, and then this stomach virus or whatever it is has turned everything up on high speed for her. Need to restore balance to her gut again. Thanks again for your responses mamas.
:)
I honestly think it's a virus going around - we've had the EXACT same symptoms all week this week (both my daughter and me). I'm feeling much better today, which is day 4 of my symptoms.
Try I-Flora probiotics and continue no dairy or soy.
Check with your pediatrician - she may have irritable bowel syndrome - I know that sounds crazy but I suffered from it as a child. I was a bit on the nervous side from family stresses and that's what it was. I still live with it but have learned to watch the triggers - greasy food, rich food, etc.
It's not normal for anyone to only poop every other day.
My son is lactose intolerant and when he has milk or milk products his stools are loose also.
It's not ABNORMAL for someone to poop every other day. Just because you go every day doesn't mean everyone else does. If she goes every other day and she is physically healthy, then for her it is normal.
T., I'm not sure what else you can do. Poor baby, she must be so uncomfortable. The probiotics are a very good idea. Maybe some yogurt as well? Let us know what the test shows and when she finally gets back to normal, poor kid.
I have studied nutrition for 10 years now and I'll tell you that it is true that many don't have bowel movements every day but it is NOT healthy. We eat three times a day and if our system is running properly, we should have a bm 2-3 times a day. It's great that you're not giving her dairy. She may very well have eaten something that didn't agree with her. Does she eat quickly, does she chew her food well? Does she drink enough water? Is she under any stress? Children have stress too, any changes to her environment? She just start school? A kid tease her?
I hope she feels better soon!
Is it possible that she could be developing lactose intolerance? I know that these are the symptoms my son experiences when I allow him to have unprocessed dairy. He is mildly lactose intolerant, which causes the dairy induced symptoms. He wasn't when he was younger, it only developed at about your daughter's age. Ask your Ped.
Get her some probiotics. You can get a yogurt-type drink or you can get chewable pills for her. Refrigerated are the best. Any natural foods store will have them, and many grocery stores now do as well.
They should help both this and the regular slow bowel issues she has. Every day from now on - they aren't like antibiotics that you only take for a short time.
I second Sarah D.'s suggestion about the probiotics. You may want to check into this book called The Body Ecology Diet. It's all about restoring balance to your body and your digestive tract. There's also another book called Gut Solutions that is about all things digestive. It's a really great resource of information.
I hope your daughter feels better soon.
yes, it started with me then my 4yr, and finally the baby. After 3 days with me i took some immodium and was fine. Later i taught my 4yr how to take a pill ( half the adult immodium pill) since she would take the liquid. The poor baby wasnt a yr old so docs said to wait it out. But 24hrs after giving her pediolite the diarrea cleared up. Give your daughter pedolite it really helps.
It's either a virus, or something she is eating.
But, my daughter had stomach viruses too.. .and it was like your daughter.
But she does not have slow bowels.
Good that they did testing for her stool.
From the mouth to the anus is a closed system- everytime you eat, something should come out the other end- if not where does it go? Intestines stretching?
Not healthy for her to have a bowel movement every other day. When this acute situation is over then get her on probiotics. This current situation may be because of the rotting food in her intestines- because if the feces are not coming out and it stays in there too long that is what happens.
best, k
