Thread: My 7-year old daughter always complains about her tummy hurting?

My 7 year old daughter always complains that her tummy hurts. Always! The doctor says nothing is wrong. It's affecting her attendance at school and she has quit all her activities such as dance, baseball and Girl Scouts cuz of her stomach problems. I'm at my wits end! Do I just ignore her and hope she outgrows it and what do I do in the meantime?

it is possible the tummy ache is not physical byt psychological. my daughter gets tummy ache when there is change. a new teacher at school etc. we would carry on as normal unless her tummy ache seriously intervened in her activity and for the most part, it would subside as she faced her troubles and adapted to the new situation.

you know if your daughter has serious tummy trouble or if she is easily distracted from it.

EDIT: just wanted to add - we had her physically checked as well incase of constipation or the like....and she was given a clean bill of health. Dr confirmed what i already thought. he trouble wasnt physical. doesnt mean her tummy doesnt hurt, just means you are looking for a different cause other than physical. go with your instinct.

haahaa
im so sorry for laughing but when my sister was 7 she complained about playing soccer because her hands were cold. sometimes 7-year-olds exaggerate things........
but id still go back to the doctors office. maybe ask another doctor what they think. consider all the possibilities!! ask her where it hurts and keep an eye on her diet. i dont know much about that subject so sorry i couldnt be of much help. but i have seen alot of medical shows where doctors dont know whats wrong and they pass it off as something else. so my point is BE PERSISTANT. no matter what it is your daughter wouldnt be doing this to get out of something, shes 7, to young to be lying to get out of a test or something...... listen to her and find a couple doctors ask them for their opinions. good luck i hope she feels better:-)

I agree with other posters who say to avoid dairy to see if that helps, but wanted to add a suggestion --- also avoid sugar for a few days. Basically anything processed. My daughter just doesn't tolerate it well, and gets horrible tummy aches, but neither doctor I took her to saw a problem. So if she feels better after a few days of getting rid of the processed sugar in her system, you will know, Good luck!

Take her for a second opinion. If that also shows that their is nothing physically wrong maybe get her some counseling.

Try benafiber sometimes its because they arent getting enough fiber, hope she feels better!

My 7 year old son says the same thing almost every day, but then he wants to eat. He says he needs to eat because his stomach hurts. I don't get it. It would be a good idea to take him to a GI Dr. I am doing to have to do that.

Well, obviously something IS wrong.

Take your daughter to another doctor. In the meantime, explore possibilities such as lactose intolerance, which is very common and causes bad tummy aches.

It's easy to check for lactose intolerance: just eliminates (dairy in all its forms). If her tummy aches go away, you have have your answer.

All the best.

Try taking her off milk products and other various common allergens. Get a second opinion. Stomach complaints are common in food allergies. Also, there could be something wrong with her spincter in her stomach.