Stomachaches in the morning

amother

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 7:54 am

Dd gets stomachaches when she eats too soon after she wakes up, particularly when she's tired. On weekends and in the summer, she wakes up, reads for a bit and wakes up slowly for an hour or so, and then gets ready and eats and heads off to her day. For school, she tried to wake up an hour before her regular wakeup time, but it's too little sleep, and she can't seem to do it. So she's getting up a reasonable 45 minutes before she leaves the house, with time to clean up, get dressed and eat. But if she eats she gets a stomachache, and if not she's hungry. She is not allowed to eat in school until recess, which is pretty aft along in the day. What to do?

FranticFrummie

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 8:02 am

Have you tried giving her warm oatmeal for breakfast? It's soothing, and gentle on the stomach. That would be my first thing to do, and if it doesn't help, then check out other possible problems.

It is super common for kids to have headaches or stomach aches in the morning before school. It's very often anxiety related.

The child may not even know it's anxiety, or know how to express it. It just shows up in the body. It's really hard to tell when a child is faking an illness to get out of a test or away from a bully. It's hard to know if the child is eating too early in the morning. It's hard to know if the stomach ache is a genuine physical reaction to stress.

This is something I would discuss with a developmental pediatrician.

If the underlying problem is anxiety, and it's not addressed properly, then it can lead to actual school phobia, school refusal, and truancy. (I went through all of it with DD. I didn't understand until years later.)

amother

Ivory

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 8:30 am

I was like this. I think it's anxiety related. At a certain point I heard breakfast is the most important meal so I forced myself to eat it and I would just vomit every day. Finally after a few months I got used to it and was only very nauseous once or twice a week in the mornings which continued into my adult life too. Finally when I learned what anxiety was did it go away.

amother

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 8:34 am

Thanks. The stomachaches actually started in the summer when she had to get up school hours instead of summer hours for a camp program she really loved, and then they stuck around into school. The onset was very connected to early body development stages. But it's definitely the stomach and not cramps.

In terms of food, she hates oatmeal. In class she's allowed water. And she has tried smoothies and eggs to have something gentler, and finds them to be worse.

Even if it is stress related- that definitely happens with school- what do you do when nothing helps it? I had this with a different kid. The kid knew that they got aches when they were stressed, but no exercises, relaxation techniques or medication got rid of them- once they came, it just took time for them to go away.

amother

Ivory

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 8:38 am

It can be hormonal too. A doctor said to eat a lot of protein like smoked fish in the morning. It did not help me but learning about anxiety as an adult did.

If you can teach your child relaxation idea and it's stress related that could help. My parents didn't do this so as a child nothing helped me. I don't think they knew what anxiety was.

amother

Ghostwhite

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 8:43 am

Can she just take a bag of dry cereal and eat it in the car?
It's easy, light and if she doesn't get to it, she can ask for a bathroom break and eat some if she needs some more before recess

naomi2

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 8:43 am

Ask the teacher if she can discretly leave the classroom for 5 minutes to eat something summertime after class starts and before recess
Edit: Cross posted