Distended Or Normal Toddler Belly?

[mardigan]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has an opinion on whether my 28 month old son's belly appears to be a normal rounded toddler belly or somewhat distended. He is small for his age (height and weight) and eats a ton but the only thing that seems to grow is his belly.....

Open Original Shared Link

Thanks,

Lisa

PS This is my first time using Photo Bucket-sorry if the link doesn't work!

[JennyC]

Your link did work! I'm not an expert, but his tummy looks similar to the way my son's did before he was diagnosed. Many children also eat lots of food without being satisfied before diagnosis. Have you had him tested?

[JennyC]

Your link did work! I'm not an expert, but his tummy looks similar to the way my son's did before he was diagnosed. Many children also eat lots of food without being satisfied before diagnosis. Have you had him tested?

[mardigan]

  JennyC said:

Your link did work! I'm not an expert, but his tummy looks similar to the way my son's did before he was diagnosed. Many children also eat lots of food without being satisfied before diagnosis. Have you had him tested?

I am collecting "samples" today to send to Enterolab. Thanks for your reply!

Lisa

[Emilysmomma]

I am not an expert either, but my daughters belly looked just like that too. She was skinny everywhere else except the belly. In fact once we got her on the gluten free diet, she went down a size in clothes even though she weighed a pound more!

[MarsupialMama]

I always appreciate pictures because it confirms in my mind the celiac thing (started gluten-free before diagnosing ) and it makes me realize that other people go through this too, and my child is not going to die tomorrow because of her abdominal issues. (I have been frantic over this issue)

My 2 y/o daughter still looks like this (gluten-free 3 months), although we have noticed improvement just in the last 2 weeks with the belly going down.

Amazingly, my other daughter - almost 4 y/o - had no gluten "symptoms" but from birth always had huge belly. She was not malnourished or skinny-looking anywhere else, so we just figured it was due to her eating a lot. We put her on gluten-free as well 3 months ago an I am AMAZED at how her belly has disappeared. I just thought it was normal - that she ate a lot and loved food. Nope! It was gluten! I wish I had taken pictures of before and after (now)!

So, in answer to your question, imo it seems he does have a little case of bloated-ness due to celiac. It is hard to tell between just a full belly and a bloated one - the times that you can tell are between meals or even better right when he gets up in the morning.

[Izak's Mom]

My 3 yo's belly looks exactly like that - & even bigger. He's been gluten-free since he was 9 mos old though, and after going through a couple really painful rounds of constipation last fall he's now on daily does of Miralax plus digestive enzymes (I crush up some probiotic acidopholous tablets & mix in with the Miralax with his morning milk). His belly still gets super inflated when he has to go poop or when he has gas (which is just about every day), but for me at least it's a good indicator of when to verbally remind him to use the potty (he's been fully potty trained since this spring). I tell him that his belly is getting big because the gas/poop wants to come out and he seems to get the concept. But even when he's not gassy/about to poop his belly is still kinda big. I think the pics are really helpful too, so I've posted some here: Open Original Shared Link

I edited one of them so his weener's not showing, if you're wondering why the crotch part looks weird ;-)

Also FYI, we only did the blood (genetic) test and he had the DQ02 marker; his improvement on the diet was evidence enough for me that we were on the right track although I'm thinking that when he's a bit older I may try a gluten challenge to make sure it's really Celiac and not just a gluten intolerance. But for now, we're gluten free & he's doing well...Mr. Joe Average on the growth charts (49, 50th percentile) and it seems he's been 30lbs forever now, but he eats well and is a sweetheart so I'm happy.

-E

[B'sgirl]

My son's looked like that, and still does on occasion if he gets "contaminated". I started measuring his belly every night just so I could be sure when it bloats. You may want to try that. I think it can go up and down depending on what they eat.

[aprilh]

My son's abdomen looked like that before he went gluten free. He also had intestinal issues, circles under his eyes, gas, constant ear infections, and was skinny everywhere else. Everytime he took a bath, I wanted to cry. He *looked* so malnourished.

Does your son have any other symptoms?

I learned my son had inherited through pregnancy my major candida issues. Then with the IV antibiotics during delivery - that didn't help (positive for Beta Strep).

He/we went gluten free at 2 1/2 years old and it has done wonders. I am not sure if he has celiac or not. I had him tested through Enterolab, but later learned that the test basically indicates if you have gluten intolerance - of any form. There are many other reasons for gluten intolerance in addition to celiac.

Besides removing gluten (he was already dairy and corn free), I have introduced Probiotics into his diet and try and not give him too much sugar. I avoid all dyes and chemicals found in food and cleaning products in order to keep his immune system at its best and not to overload it.

During the first few months of going gluten free, I gave him L-glutamine to assist in healing leaky gut. That and the probiotics ALONG with the diet did wonders for him!

He actually was going in REVERSE on the growth charts before the changes, but he quickly recovered.

[mardigan]

  B said:

My son's looked like that, and still does on occasion if he gets "contaminated". I started measuring his belly every night just so I could be sure when it bloats. You may want to try that. I think it can go up and down depending on what they eat.

I never thought to measure-what a great idea!

Thanks,

Lisa

[mardigan]

  aprilh said:

My son's abdomen looked like that before he went gluten free. He also had intestinal issues, circles under his eyes, gas, constant ear infections, and was skinny everywhere else. Everytime he took a bath, I wanted to cry. He *looked* so malnourished.

Does your son have any other symptoms?

I learned my son had inherited through pregnancy my major candida issues. Then with the IV antibiotics during delivery - that didn't help (positive for Beta Strep).

He/we went gluten free at 2 1/2 years old and it has done wonders. I am not sure if he has celiac or not. I had him tested through Enterolab, but later learned that the test basically indicates if you have gluten intolerance - of any form. There are many other reasons for gluten intolerance in addition to celiac.

Besides removing gluten (he was already dairy and corn free), I have introduced Probiotics into his diet and try and not give him too much sugar. I avoid all dyes and chemicals found in food and cleaning products in order to keep his immune system at its best and not to overload it.

During the first few months of going gluten free, I gave him L-glutamine to assist in healing leaky gut. That and the probiotics ALONG with the diet did wonders for him!

He actually was going in REVERSE on the growth charts before the changes, but he quickly recovered.

Thanks for your reply! Yes, he has other symptoms. He eats a ton and frequently poops six times a day(with undigested food mixed in), has rapid transit, had constant colds from November through mid July, a string of ear infections & slowed growth from 4 months on(He had been way up on the charts until then and then practically fell off them completely). He is not anemic though. As a baby he spit up about 30 times a day until around 8 months; he also had gas pains and would arch his back and pull away while nursing. I did a 3 week elimination of a ton of foods myself(but not gluten-didn't even occur to me to try that!) and it didn't help him at all. He didn't quite meet the criteria for colic but he was not a happy camper much of the time.

Did you discover the yeast issue through Enterolab as well? I mailed his sample off today to Enterolab & can't wait to see the results. I just started taking L-glutamine(I stopped eating sugar & it's supposed to help with cravings but hasn't so far!). I hadn't even considered giving it to him; what dosage do you give him? He does take a probiotic and has a very healthy chemical, dye free diet as well. My husband is only 5'6" and thinks this, coupled with his high fiber diet accounts for his size and all the pooping. I just wonder why such a healthy eater is catching every virus he comes in contact with! How long did it take for you to start to see improvement? How long before you started to see growth? We're going on 2 weeks and I haven't noticed any change yet. He also is not having dairy or soy.

Thanks,

Lisa

[mardigan]

  Emilysmomma said:

I am not an expert either, but my daughters belly looked just like that too. She was skinny everywhere else except the belly. In fact once we got her on the gluten free diet, she went down a size in clothes even though she weighed a pound more!

Thanks for taking the time to reply-it is really helpful!

Lisa

[precious831]

  On 9/3/2008 at 12:36 AM, aprilh said:

My son's abdomen looked like that before he went gluten free. He also had intestinal issues, circles under his eyes, gas, constant ear infections, and was skinny everywhere else. Everytime he took a bath, I wanted to cry. He *looked* so malnourished.

Does your son have any other symptoms?

I learned my son had inherited through pregnancy my major candida issues. Then with the IV antibiotics during delivery - that didn't help (positive for Beta Strep).

He/we went gluten free at 2 1/2 years old and it has done wonders. I am not sure if he has celiac or not. I had him tested through Enterolab, but later learned that the test basically indicates if you have gluten intolerance - of any form. There are many other reasons for gluten intolerance in addition to celiac.

Besides removing gluten (he was already dairy and corn free), I have introduced Probiotics into his diet and try and not give him too much sugar. I avoid all dyes and chemicals found in food and cleaning products in order to keep his immune system at its best and not to overload it.

During the first few months of going gluten free, I gave him L-glutamine to assist in healing leaky gut. That and the probiotics ALONG with the diet did wonders for him!

He actually was going in REVERSE on the growth charts before the changes, but he quickly recovered.

I know this was from 2 yrs ago but I'm hoping you can help me. I'm thinking of giving my DD who will be 3 this fall some L-glutamine but I'm getting conflicting replies. Also was your DS diagnosed w/ leaky gut? I mentioned it to our GI doc and she won't even consider it. MY DD has multiple food allergies, trouble gaining weight and similar symptoms that you mentioned your son has(had). She's on this expensive probiotic right now but I'd like her to take enzymes and/or glutamine.

Sorry to bother you I'm really desperate to help my kid. She's also gluten-free like me although we're not sure she has celiac. When we 1st took her off gluten she gained 2 lbs in a month so we are keeping her gluten-free among other things.

Thanks