Parents of young children often face a problem when a baby or an older toddler begins to have a severe stomach ache. In such unexpected and unpleasant situations, you need to know what usually causes pain, what causes nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, what medications, decoctions can be used before a doctor arrives or an ambulance arrives. You also need to remember the rules of first aid for fever, constipation, persistent diarrhea. If a child has a stomach ache, only a few medications can be given at home, and their list is rather short.
Incorrect first aid measures for abdominal pain can harm the child, worsen his condition, so it is better not to experiment with pills and potions on your own. Means that help adults should not be used, the dosages in them are very different. The best option is to use proven folk remedies (decoctions of herbs, tinctures, teas), induce vomiting to cleanse the stomach, and replenish the water-salt balance with abundant drinking. It is impossible to ignore the deteriorating condition of the baby - even mild pains can be harbingers of appendicitis, pancreatitis or severe poisoning.
The main causes of pain
A child's stomach can hurt for various reasons, and in most gastrointestinal diseases, this symptom is the main one. Additional are considered weakness, nausea, diarrhea (or constipation), vomiting, fever, cramps. It is important to correctly determine the localization of pain, to understand where (in the side, left, right, above / below the navel, in the right, upper abdomen) it hurts. This will help to exclude / suggest diseases such as appendicitis, peritonitis, intestinal infection.
The most common causes of abdominal pain in children of all ages are:
- Colic and accumulated flatulence in the intestines. This problem usually manifests itself in infancy in babies up to one year old, associated with the still unformed digestive system. Dill water, light stroking massage helps to get rid of colic.
- Infringement of an inguinal hernia. At the same time, the child complains of cramps, sweats a lot, turns pale, becomes lethargic, often the pain is supplemented by nausea, vomiting, restless behavior, crying, and fever. If you don't see a doctor, the consequences can be dire.
- Infection with parasites, worms. It is possible to detect a disease in even a one-year-old, even in a three-to-five-year-old child, by strong grinding of teeth in a dream and itching around the anus. Also, the symptoms of infection with worms include a change in appetite, the appearance of nausea.
- Poisoning by low-quality products. An attack of pain in this case is complemented by vomiting, diarrhea, increased gas formation, and fever.
- Appendicitis, pancreatitis, or peritonitis. The symptoms of these serious diseases are similar - children complain of severe pain in the abdomen or side, the navel area, nausea, diarrhea with mucus, weakness, and vomiting are observed. If you suspect appendicitis, you should urgently call an ambulance.
- Dysentery. An infectious disease is accompanied by diarrhea, chills / fever, fever, and vomiting. The disease causes rapid dehydration of the body; treatment in a hospital with special medications is required.
- Severe bruise. A child may experience pain after active sports, falls, collisions with someone, anything, or increased stress. A bruise often provokes a malfunction of the diaphragm or problems with the pancreas.
- Improper nutrition. Malfunctions in the work of the small or large intestine often occur after eating fatty, salty foods, fast food, smoked meats, marinades.
- Intestinal infection. People often have another name - "sharp stomach". With this disease, the abdominal wall tenses, pains, vomiting occur, and the temperature rises.
With all the above symptoms, when the stomach turns, one should not delay calling a doctor, visiting a hospital, a thorough examination and taking prescribed medications.
What Can Cause Diarrhea / Constipation
Common causes of abdominal pain, nausea and lethargy in children are prolonged (more than 2-3 days) constipation or severe diarrhea (loose watery stools 5-6 times a day). They can arise both due to intestinal infections or poisoning (in this case, diarrhea begins in a small child more often), and due to other factors (a one-year-old baby has eaten an apple, a banana, drank purchased milk, a two-year-old or three-year-old crumbs overeat meat, sweet cookies). Constipation often occurs with improper diet, violation of the drinking regime, the use of certain foods.
Diarrhea or upset stool when taking any food is most often observed in infants when switching from breastfeeding to complementary foods, in children under the age of 5-6 years. It can occur due to overeating, poisoning, malnutrition, the introduction of unfamiliar fruits and vegetables into the diet. Constipation occurs in a child of any age, whether it is a newborn or a teenager 15-16 years old, due to malfunctioning of the digestive tract, certain diseases, and the use of fastening products.
If diarrhea or constipation is a rare, isolated phenomenon caused by the introduction of a certain product in the menu of a newborn or in the diet of a nursing mother, it is worth just excluding it for a while, and the problem will disappear. If loose stools are observed often, the baby should be examined so as not to start a dangerous illness. Frequent constipation, while ignoring complaints, crumbs can turn into chronic ones, so you should definitely consult a doctor.
First aid at home before the arrival of the doctor
If a child has a stomach ache, parents, first of all, must understand where it hurts, find out how long the pain lasts. It is difficult to find out in a one-year-old or one and a half-year-old baby, but a three-year-old baby can already tell and show where it hurts. If the problem is that the child has eaten or drunk something, you can give him warm tea, lay him on his side, and stroke his stomach.
However, if the fever does not subside, diarrhea or vomiting continues for more than 2 hours, a doctor should be called at home. If the stool is green, and the vomit is yellow, greenish, you need to call an ambulance immediately.
Here are some recommendations from doctors on how to behave for parents of a sick child before the arrival of doctors:
Exclude any food from the diet, give drink all the time - warm teas, decoctions, still and boiled water. Milk, coffee, juices are prohibited
- Put the child to bed, be nearby because of the danger of starting vomiting. Prepare a basin, a pot, napkins, water just in case.
- Do not give antibiotics, pain pills until the doctor arrives, they will make it difficult to make an accurate diagnosis.
- Try to induce vomiting with plenty of drink in case of nausea, this will alleviate the patient's condition.
Here are the simplest recommendations from pediatricians.
- If the baby is sick and sick. It is necessary to make him drink mineral water without gas in small portions, barely warm tea, a decoction of lemon balm, chamomile, mint or herbal collection. Dill water will also help. In case of poisoning, activated carbon and Smecta will help. The drug "Regidron" will help prevent dehydration.
- If, in addition to the pain in the abdomen, a temperature has been added (above 38 degrees). It should be brought down with antipyretic syrup or remedy. Suitable for this purpose are "Panadol" for children, "Efferalgan", "Paracetamol".
- With diarrhea. Will help "Smecta", activated carbon, "Oralit" or "Regidron", given to the baby strictly according to the instructions, as well as rice broth or infusion of chamomile pharmacy. Allowed to use for treatment and "Lactovit" with "Linex".
- For constipation. Fatty, fried, spicy, baked goods, sweets, pasta should be excluded from the diet, the menu should be supplemented with boiled beets, prunes. The drug "Microlax" will also help with pain, it is allowed to give it even to newborns. Castor oil, vegetable oil as a laxative enema, drugs "Duphalac", "Bisacodyl", "Normase" are able to facilitate defecation.
- If you are worried about bloating and flatulence. It is recommended to give the baby "Espumisan" or "Disflatil", dill water, a warm decoction of chamomile.
Specialists recommend for pain and such drugs as the well-known "No-shpa", "Mezim", "Enterosgel". The main thing is to remember that vomiting and diarrhea for 2 days are dangerous with severe dehydration, it is impossible to treat a child at home in such situations. A doctor's call at home and a thorough examination in a medical institution are required.
Important recommendations
If the doctor, upon examination and further examination, did not reveal serious diseases, it is allowed to treat children at home. It is imperative to follow all recommendations, diet, and take prescribed medications. The most commonly prescribed drugs are:
- "Mezim";
- "Smecta";
- Maalox;
- Enterosgel;
- "Espumisan";
- "Tour";
- Rennie;
- "Phosphalugel";
- "Regidron";
- "Festal";
- Activated carbon.
You can drink decoctions of pharmaceutical herbs, use traditional medicine recipes in the absence of allergies and contraindications. The diet will have to be adhered to for a month.
Every parent should know how to be and what to do in situations when the child has a stomach ache. You need to be especially careful when you complain in the evening, because at night it is more difficult to call a doctor at home. To avoid problems with the stomach and intestines, you should not give children harmful foods, including fast food, soda and smoked meats, replace breast milk with a formula without the consent of the pediatrician. It is impossible and uncontrolled to treat a baby with pills, medicines for any suspicion of nausea, constipation.
