4.5yr old and pot belly

[Wonder-Full]

This is something that's been in the back of my mind since I started learning more about gut healing in regards to my ds. DD has unfortunately been shunted down the list of priorities of things to look into, but I think the time is now.

As background - ever since she was born she would only poo about every 4 days. When she finally pooed it was thick like toothpaste, very smelly, a deep mustard/light brown colour and would totally fill/overfill a nappy. When she was in that newborn stage she would experience pain with the build up and passing of the poo but as the months went on it didn't seem to bother her. I was assured by my midwife it was completely normal for a breastfed baby to be like this (completely different to my ds who would poop with every feed and with a watery/mustard seed look).

She has always had a big pot belly. Eats a balanced whole foods diet, went on the GAPS diet (grain free) for a few months bar eating porridge for breakfast. Has probiotics (including yoghurt), fish oil and multi vits daily. She was dairy free for a period of the GAPS diet and while I thought there was an improvement initially, it was only for one day so could have been something else or my imagination.

I have in my mind to investigate salicylates (thanks MT), but she doesn't seem to "bloat up" during the day and not gassy nor complains of tummy discomfort ever, she poos every day now (and they are very "normal" looking - always) and has done every since starting on solids. The belly is just always there. She also has an outie belly button and a bit of a sway back (imo) - no paed has mentioned anything as appearing out of the ordinary with her (not that she's been looked over for this, but I would have thought they might have noticed it when she was referred to a paed. as a 6wk old until she was 2 for cafe au latte spots and a cavenous hemangioma on her spine). Apparently nothing to be concerned about.

She does seem to get an itchy anus (but I've noticed that only in the last 3mths or so), but I can't "see" any aggravation down there. Having been on the GAPS diet and with the probiotics etc, could this likely be a candida issue despite the continued good diet etc? She does like fruit, but would probably have 2 pieces maximum a day.

What would your next course of action be if you were faced with this?

[Serephina]

Has she been completely grain free at any stage? You mention GAPS but also porridge in the same sentence so I'm a little confused.

An itchy anus can be a sign of low stomach acid which is interesting because you mentioned that both yourself and your DS have the same condition in another thread. Do you think this could be an issue for your DD as well?

[cartersmom]

I know bloating and an itchy bum can be a parasitic issue as well (which is actually pretty common).

I had a few of the problem you mentioned a while back and now do cleanses twice a year (although have not since I had DS b/c I am still BF), but oh boy what comes outta me in those cleanses is :eek: and I eat a healthy diet 90% of the time. I always tested negative for parasites (or the ones they actually test for) but I know most people have them and I did because I have eyes and I know what I have seen :alien:.

[Wonder-Full]

Has she been completely grain free at any stage? You mention GAPS but also porridge in the same sentence so I'm a little confused.
No, you're right. Except for oats, she had no other starch - but yeah I guess this then meant it wouldn't have worked effectively anyway, but at that stage I didn't *really* think she had any issues, poos were normal etc, so didn't feel she needed any gut healing as she didn't seem to have any of the "symtoms" if that makese sense? So I felt if she was on a very reduced starch diet that it might still be beneficial for her.


An itchy anus can be a sign of low stomach acid which is interesting because you mentioned that both yourself and your DS have the same condition in another thread. Do you think this could be an issue for your DD as well?
OK, this is interesting re the stomach acid! I hadn't noticed her wee turning pink with the beetroot so discounted it as being an issue for her. I was going to give her the HCl when I get some tomorrow anyway, so will be interesting to see what her tolerance level for it is.


I know bloating and an itchy bum can be a parasitic issue as well (which is actually pretty common).
Yes, it was her itchy bottom that had me dosing us all herbally for worms just recently but I haven't noticed any change for her (and we never noticed any). But in reading the thread on worms it would seem that herbals treatments aren't always that effective.

[Wonder-Full]

Cartersmom when you say to did a cleanse, was that like a herbal cleanse programme?

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Hmmm.... if it's possibly an HCL issue, then it's also likely to be a pancreatic digestive enzyme issue.

[Wonder-Full]

Wow, there really SO much to learn lol!

A bit of googling turned this article (http://www.bodyecology.com/07/09/20/low_stomach_acid_symptoms.php) up (despite it having a "sell" at the end it was still useful) and I can certainly relate to a heap of symptoms for all of us. it also mentions the pancreas. OK, off to find a suitable product now and something that preferably provides HCL along with other digestive enzymes particularly for proteins since it seems to be these types of foods that are coming through undigested for DS in particular.

[deesalie]

I'd go and get a stool analysis done

[TanyaL]

Have you ever done structural work with her? Something like CST or chiro? I've read that some kids will do the infrequent pooping thing, and thus get bacteria imbalances, due in large part to subtle structural issues.

I guess the other thing is gluten. Not sure if your oats were GF, or if oat protein is problematic all on its own, but that's a fairly simple thing to trial.

[Wonder-Full]

She hasn't had an osteo appt for a few years and it was for her glue ear when we last did those so could be a good idea to get her a go-over to see if there's anything structural going on.

She was GF until the beginning of the year since DS has coeliacs and is gluten free. I only started giving her oats when we stopped breakfast cereals so there has been no change in her belly with going starch free (but introducing oats).

Deesalie, thanks for that. I do wonder if I should just go to the GP and explain it all and see if there is any obvious medical reason for it and push for a stool sample which would rule out a bunch of stuff.

I just went out and got some HCl+pepsin as well as the papaya enzymes, so will start that with tonight's meal for all of us and see if that helps in any way over the next month.

[cartersmom]

Cartersmom when you say to did a cleanse, was that like a herbal cleanse programme?


yup...it consisted of some capsules whcih were all antiparasitic herbs and there was a kids version too), some herbal fiber blend and some tea to drink at night. It was a 30 day cleanse...what came out was :alien: