Toddler Abdominal Bloating

[anonymous]

Hello everyone,
I was wondering if anyone has had the same problem as me? Here goes... my daughter was diagnosed 2mos. ago w/CF and she has been on her enzymes for the past two months. Her large foul smelling stools have completely disapeared (yea for me, I hated changing those diapers!) However her bloated belly is just as big as always. She is so small in stature that sometimes I think her big belly is going to cause her to tip over. I swear I am not exaggerating! Her pants don't even fit her right because they have to sit way below her waist, kind like a pregnant woman wearing low rise pants. Why hasn't this symptom gone away yet? I asked the doctor and he said to give it more time, but it has already been two months. I wouldn't be so worried if I didn't think that her exploding belly has to cause her some discomfort. Has anyone else had this problem? Did it seem to take forever for it to go away? Or will she struggle with this her whole life? I hope not because I know what it feels like to be a teenage girl and feel bloated. Not only will she feel bloated, she will look bloated. Any comments or suggestions would be great!
Thanks,
Mom to Avery- 21 mos. w/CF

 

[NoDayButToday]

Unfortunately, CFers will always have a little bit of that tummy. I have it. But, I don't FEEL bloated, my stomach has just always been that way-- it's not a physically uncomfortable thing in the way eating TONS and then being bloated is. At the same time, I don't look like I'm pregnant or anything; I doubt anyone else really notices it. I would also think that as Avery gets bigger, it will reduce in size (2 months isn't a huge amount of time), and she will 'grow into it' so to speak. Good luck!

 

[CFHockeyMom]

My CFer is 8 and he has the belly. It makes it hard to find pants that fit. As you say, they are so low and he has no hips to hold them up so his pants are constantly falling down.

 

[allie1]

Hi mom to Avery! I am mom to Allie and I could swear it was me who posted your topic b/c we deal with this too and I have had the same questions. Allie was diagnosed 11 months ago and she STILL has the huge, bloated belly. She is so small everywhere else so it's almost impossible finding pants to fit her. I ask her doctor everytime we go about this and she keeps telling me to give it more time. I do think it has gotten a little better but I would think after almost a year it wouldn't be so noticeable. It makes me feel uncomfortable just looking at her....especially when she is in the tub and it's so hard to ignore. Her stools are so much better so I was hoping this would help her bloated belly.

There are a couple people on here that believe the bloating is related to dairy products. Hopefully, they will post a reply to this topic b/c it's very interesting. My doctor didn't think we should try Allie without dairy b/c it's more beneficial for her to get a lot of milk right now and her belly doesn't seem to bother her. I think it bothers me more b/c it looks so uncomfortable and it's so frustrating trying to buy her pants that fit.

Good luck and know you are not alone in dealing with this.

Amy

 

[Dea]

I am 31 and still have the bloated abdomen. I absolutely hate trying to find jeans. There are days that it is not as bloated as others...but its always there. I know many women with CF who still have it...I'm not the only one. For some reason, it is more prominent in women than men....not sure why. Take Care!
Dea

 

[allie1]

Dea,

Have you ever tried to avoid dairy products? If so, does it help with your bloating? Is your abdomen flat when you wake up and get bigger as the day goes on? This is what happens with my daughter. Thanks.

Amy

 

[rose4cale]

My 2 1/2 yr old has the same problem. We found out a year ago and for the first 6 months I would get soooo mad when people would say "look at how fat he is!" It still gets under my skin sometimes because he is so small, it's just that his belly is so big. But anyway I always feel like he is incredibly uncomfortable because when he sits I can hear him grunt to bend over a reach things.

By the way, he eats a TON of dairy, I may have to try and cut that down to see if it helps. My Dr can't give me any answers in the bloating dept.

 

[carmenada]

hello mom to Avery. my doughter has almost 6 and she still had bloated belly. she never could wear skirt,only with pair of braces and her trousers are always on elastic.

 

[anonymous]

I have the "4-5 months pregnant tummy" and I get so sick of being asked if I'm pregnant. I've always had a pooch my whole life. When I do have gas, it is even more noticable.<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif" border="0">
When I was a baby, my digestion was terrible and I almost died from starvation and one of my doctors mentioned that my pot belly was the result of starvation/malnourishment. (think Etheopians you see on TV). I would love to know if/when any of those poor people ever get nourishment & gain weight if they still always have their pot belly?
Take this with a grain of salt....just thought I'd share.

 

[thefrogprincess]

I never seveloped my belly until about 2 years ago (I'm 23). I always had a flat tummy. Then all of a sudden here was this big pregnant looking tummy (I work in a maternity store too!!!! I have to find clothes that kind of hide it, baggy shirts and such). I find its better the more exercise I get (especially crunches) just to keep the muscles toned. It will probably never go away at this point but a girl can dream.

 

[Dea]

Amy,
Unfortunately, my belly is not flat when I wake up either. It is always poochy..but when theres gas it is worse. I dont eat alot of dairy, so I dont believe that s the cause. Ialways had a big belly when I was an infant as well. Wish I could tell you it would for sure get better. Take Care!
Dea

 

[anonymous]

Sydney's extended belly seems to come and go. She is average size for her age (now, she was very small when she was diagnosed 11 months ago) and it seems like she has grown into her belly for the most part. Every once in a while my husband or I will notice that her belly is sticking out more or feels tight, that is one of our cues that it may be time to adjust her enzymes. Keep in mind though that it isn't unusual for toddlers to have protruding bellies - Sydney has more than one friend (all woCF) her age that have big bellies too.

HTH,
Kelli (mom of Sydney 23 months wcf)

 

[anonymous]

The comment made is very true, my daughter that does not have CF had a tummy until maybe kindergarten-first grade, then it flattened out.

 

[anonymous]

Dairy can cause a bloated belly. I've seen it with my own daughter, and a friend's daughter had the same experience.

 

[anonymous]

The bloated belly seems to be a lot more common in girls than in boys. My daughter is 20 and has found that a dairy-free life is quite helpful--no milk, butter, cheese, ice cream, etc. She carefully reads all labels and stays away from products containing even a trace amount of dairy or casein. Last night at a dinner party she was served lasagna and ate a small amount--she reports that within hours she was completely swollen. Fortunately she enjoys soy milk and tofutti ice cream and she is not underweight. Good luck- although this is not the worst problem, it can be disturbing.

 

[anonymous]

Talk about bloating and dairy conflicts and you get my attention! My son (4 yrs old, diagnosed at age 3) has been having intestinal issues and I am in a constant state of experimentation trying to figure it out. I have gotten a lot of useful information from this site. At one point, we were completely avoiding milk (but always let him have dairy products like butter and cheese). The bloating was there, but worse than the bloating were the constant tummy aches. It was becoming such an issue that I was stressed out whenever he ate. But now (through information on this site and our own experiences) I am developing a new theory for my son (may not be the case for you, you may need to take the information and develop your own theory for your child). One thing that someone from this site posted not too long ago, was that milk in a cf person's digestive tract turns into a glue-like substance in the intestinal tract (I'm paraphrasing). That really stuck in my mind. I think for my son, his intestines were just having a difficult time pushing the stools through his tract. I think that his bloating was in large part, because he was "full of poop" and that he got these tummy aches whenever his intestines were trying to work to push the stools along, on a sticky glued up intestinal tract. I have been working, to help the process along and have seen a HUGE improvement. He is even drinking milk again. I spoke with his doctors with my concerns last week ("he is constipated and having trouble moving things along.) I figure he needs enzyme modification, fiber supplements, or routine laxatives. We are trying increasing his fiber uptake (through the guidance of the doctor, so don't do anything drastic on your own). If I am not happy with his stool output, I will give him a laxative (Dulculax over the counter, we don't like the prescribed Miralax). I am telling you - big improvement and while he still has a big belly, I don't think it appears bloated (just a bit chubby). Funny thing, at his appointment last week, the doctors were a little perplexed because he grew 1/5cm in height, but he gained no weight. I think his previous weight was false because he just was full of poop. He's still in the 60% for weight.

OK, and one more thing I need to mention is bacterial overgrowth. We struggled with this. It was discovered when we believed that our son had lactose intolerance and took the hydrogen breath test. He was NOT lactose intolerant, but had bacterial overgrowth of the bowel. This condition has symptoms that mimic lactose intolerance (like the bloating when drinking milk), but it can be fixed. A specific antibiotic for a week, plus the taking of a probiotic (we use culturelle) daily. He has been taking the probiotic for over a year. I saw improvement after this was cleared up, but still had some troubles until my latest theory that I just posted in the above paragraph.

Good luck!
Jena (still trying to figure it out)
4 yr old son with cf
1 yr old daughter no cf

 

[anonymous]

My daughter's bloating worsened on probiotics...go figure!

 

[anonymous]

My daughter, Lindsey, is 2 & 1/2, and at 11 & 1/2 months, was diagnosed with CF. Her doctor seemed to think the bloating would get better after about a year, and it has gotten better, but she's still bloated, and her pants don't fit quite right, and she looks pregnant (?!?) but, we're just doing all we can. Some days she's not as bloated, but she's always her biggest at her 3-month checkups--go figure. What's weird is she's not passing gas constantly (if ever), and her liver enzymes are fine, and her enzymes are working so well for her. Hang in there--I know it's frustrating.