5 Serious Causes Of Gas Pain In Children
Parenting is all about caring, loving and enjoying those amazing moments with your child. Apart from these, it is also about taking care that your little one does not suffer through too much of childhood health problems.
Intestinal gas or flatulence in children is a common issue. It often causes a minor discomfort or pain, which would make your child complain a lot. Your child would experience bloating or burning pain in his belly or might be burping frequently or feel a bit nauseous.
Usually, your child may have a gas pain soon after overindulging in occasions like a party or while having outside food. Sometimes, if there is excessive gas in child’s belly or if your child is not able to pass gas freely, it could lead to gas pain.
5 Causes Of Gas Pain In Children:
Various factors can be the culprits behind this condition, here are the main causes of gas in children:
1. Roaming Around While Eating:
If your child has the habit of roaming and playing when you are feeding him, it can cause the air to get trapped within their intestines.
- This is because your child would eat the food quickly or gulp it down without chewing it fully.
- This might lead to indigestion and gas formation.
- Motivate your child to have food at the table and ask him to chew and eat his food.
2. Indulging In Foods With High Fiber Or Fatty Foods:
Your child may tend to have a fiber sensitive gut.
- Keep a record of what foods trigger gas issues in your child.
- Try to limit the serving size of such foods.
- You can also seek your doctor’s advice on this issue.
- If you have fed your baby with an infant formula, lactose intolerance might be the culprit causing the gas pain.
[ Read: Abdominal Pain In Children ]
3. Eating Specific Vegetables:
Even though vegetables are healthy and rich with nutrients, some vegetables might not be free from gas.
- Your child can develop gas when consuming vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli and beans.
- If you are making him eat these vegetables, limit the portion size.
4. Consuming Lots Of Juice:
If your child consumes more than a cup of juice per day, it would cause gas formation in the intestine.
- This is because your child’s belly would have a tough time to digest the sucrose and fructose present in the juice, which would cause formation of gas.
- If your child is below 3 years of age, limit their juice consumption to 4 ounce per day.
- If your child is above 3 years, you can limit the juice to 6 ounce to 8 ounce per day.
- Drinking carbonated or fizzy drinks like soda can trigger indigestion and gas formation as it contains phosphoric acid. Hence avoid soda from your kid’s diet.
5. Low Water Intake:
Your child has to consume many glasses of water each day as it not only keeps him well hydrated but helps in quicker digestion.
- Though it would not eliminate the gas pain in children, it would help in regular bowel movement.
- It will also lower the risk of constipation, which would trigger gas problems in children.
[ Read: Food Allergy In Children ]
How To Relieve Gas Pains In Children?
Gas relief for kids can be got in the following ways:
- Avoid gas inducing foods.
- If you are including foods like milk, whole grains, certain veggies, fruits or cereal regularly in your child’s diet, avoid these foods as it can make the gas pain worse.
- Offer some peppermint tea or ask your child to chew a peppermint leaf to eliminate the gas in the intestine.
- Perform a light massage on your child’s stomach to release the gas.
Offer an antacid or anti-gas medicine for kids which has special formulation for children to eradicate gas pain. Make sure that you buy the medicine that does not have aluminum in it as it is not ideal for children. Also, any medication should only be given after your doctor’s approval.
When Is Gas Pain In Kids A Serious Issue?
- If your child is experiencing gas pain for more than 3 days or has other symptoms such as vomiting, fever, loss in appetite or diarrhea, then you must seek medical assistance immediately.
- Sometimes, gas pain can be a symptom of a food allergy, gastroenteritis, urinary tract infection, lactose intolerance or strep throat. Hence, make sure you don’t ignore the gas pain if it occurs continuously for two days or more.
- Gas pain can be quite a painful experience for your child. It can not only cause discomfort, but can escalate to something more serious if not attended to at the right time.
[ Read: Indigestion In Children ]
Make sure you inculcate the right eating habits in your child. The habits you teach today will stay with him for life long and help lead a better and healthier life ahead.
Share your thoughts on this topic gas pain in children with us in the comment section below.
