Abdominal Pain, Age 11 and Younger

Many things can affect how your body responds to a symptom and what kind of care you may need. These include:

• Your age. Babies and older adults tend to get sicker quicker.
• Your overall health. If you have a condition such as diabetes, HIV, cancer, or heart disease, you may need to pay closer attention to certain symptoms and seek care sooner.
• Medicines you take. Certain medicines, such as blood thinners (anticoagulants), medicines that suppress the immune system like steroids or chemotherapy, herbal remedies, or supplements can cause symptoms or make them worse.
• Recent health events, such as surgery or injury. These kinds of events can cause symptoms afterwards or make them more serious.
• Your health habits and lifestyle, such as eating and exercise habits, smoking, alcohol or drug use, sexual history, and travel.

With cramping pain in the belly:

• The pain may hurt a little or a lot.
• The amount of pain may change from minute to minute. Cramps often get better when you pass gas or have a bowel movement.
• The pain may feel like a tightness or pinching in your belly.
• The pain may be in one specific area or be over a larger area. It may move around.

Babies can quickly get dehydrated when they lose fluids because of problems like vomiting or fever.

Symptoms of dehydration can range from mild to severe. For example:

• The baby may be fussy or cranky (mild dehydration), or the baby may be very sleepy and hard to wake up (severe dehydration).
• The baby may have a little less urine than usual (mild dehydration), or the baby may not be urinating at all (severe dehydration).

You can get dehydrated when you lose a lot of fluids because of problems like vomiting or fever.

Symptoms of dehydration can range from mild to severe. For example:

• You may feel tired and edgy (mild dehydration), or you may feel weak, not alert, and not able to think clearly (severe dehydration).
• You may pass less urine than usual (mild dehydration), or you may not be passing urine at all (severe dehydration).

Severe dehydration means:

• The baby may be very sleepy and hard to wake up.
• The baby may have a very dry mouth and very dry eyes (no tears).
• The baby may have no wet diapers in 12 or more hours.

Moderate dehydration means:

• The baby may have no wet diapers in 6 hours.
• The baby may have a dry mouth and dry eyes (fewer tears than usual).

Mild dehydration means:

• The baby may pass a little less urine than usual.

Severe dehydration means:

• The child's mouth and eyes may be extremely dry.
• The child may pass little or no urine for 12 or more hours.
• The child may not seem alert or able to think clearly.
• The child may be too weak or dizzy to stand.
• The child may pass out.

Moderate dehydration means:

• The child may be a lot more thirsty than usual.
• The child's mouth and eyes may be drier than usual.
• The child may pass little or no urine for 8 or more hours.
• The child may feel dizzy when he or she stands or sits up.

Mild dehydration means:

• The child may be more thirsty than usual.
• The child may pass less urine than usual.

If you're not sure if a child's fever is high, moderate, or mild, think about these issues:

With a high fever:

• The child feels very hot.
• It is likely one of the highest fevers the child has ever had.

With a moderate fever:

• The child feels warm or hot.
• You are sure the child has a fever.

With a mild fever:

• The child may feel a little warm.
• You think the child might have a fever, but you're not sure.

A baby that is extremely sick:

• May be limp and floppy like a rag doll.
• May not respond at all to being held, touched, or talked to.
• May be hard to wake up.

A baby that is sick (but not extremely sick):

• May be sleepier than usual.
• May not eat or drink as much as usual.

Pain in children under 3 years

It can be hard to tell how much pain a baby or toddler is in.

• Severe pain (8 to 10): The pain is so bad that the baby cannot sleep, cannot get comfortable, and cries constantly no matter what you do. The baby may kick, make fists, or grimace.
• Moderate pain (5 to 7): The baby is very fussy, clings to you a lot, and may have trouble sleeping but responds when you try to comfort him or her.
• Mild pain (1 to 4): The baby is a little fussy and clings to you a little but responds when you try to comfort him or her.

Pain in children 3 years and older

• Severe pain (8 to 10): The pain is so bad that the child can't stand it for more than a few hours, can't sleep, and can't do anything else except focus on the pain. No one can tolerate severe pain for more than a few hours.
• Moderate pain (5 to 7): The pain is bad enough to disrupt the child's normal activities and sleep, but the child can tolerate it for hours or days.
• Mild pain (1 to 4): The child notices and may complain of the pain, but it is not bad enough to disrupt his or her sleep or activities.

Shock is a life-threatening condition that may occur quickly after a sudden illness or injury.

Babies and young children often have several symptoms of shock. These include:

• Passing out (losing consciousness).
• Being very sleepy or hard to wake up.
• Not responding when being touched or talked to.
• Breathing much faster than usual.
• Acting confused. The child may not know where he or she is.

Blood in the stool can come from anywhere in the digestive tract, such as the stomach or intestines. Depending on where the blood is coming from and how fast it is moving, it may be bright red, reddish brown, or black like tar.

A little bit of bright red blood on the stool or on the toilet paper is often caused by mild irritation of the rectum. For example, this can happen if you have to strain hard to pass a stool or if you have a hemorrhoid.

A large amount of blood in the stool may mean a more serious problem is present. For example, if there is a lot of blood in the stool, not just on the surface, you may need to call your doctor right away. If there are just a few drops on the stool or in the diaper, you may need to let your doctor know today to discuss your symptoms. Black stools may mean you have blood in the digestive tract that may need treatment right away, or may go away on its own.

Certain medicines and foods can affect the color of stool. Diarrhea medicines (such as Pepto-Bismol) and iron tablets can make the stool black. Eating lots of beets may turn the stool red. Eating foods with black or dark blue food coloring can turn the stool black.

If you take aspirin or some other medicine (called a blood thinner) that prevents blood clots, it can cause some blood in your stools. If you take a blood thinner and have ongoing blood in your stools, call your doctor to discuss your symptoms.

Certain health conditions and medicines weaken the immune system's ability to fight off infection and illness. Some examples in children are:

• Diseases such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, and congenital heart disease.
• Steroid medicines, which are used to treat a variety of conditions.
• Medicines taken after organ transplant.
• Chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer.
• Not having a spleen.

Temperature varies a little depending on how you measure it. For children up to 11 years old, here are the ranges for high, moderate, and mild according to how you took the temperature.

Oral (by mouth), ear, or rectal temperature

• High: 104° F (40° C) and higher
• Moderate: 100.4° F (38° C) to 103.9° F (39.9° C)
• Mild: 100.3° F (37.9° C) and lower

A forehead (temporal) scanner is usually 0.5° F (0.3° C) to 1° F (0.6° C) lower than an oral temperature.

Armpit (axillary) temperature

• High: 103° F (39.5° C) and higher
• Moderate: 99.4° F (37.4° C) to 102.9° F (39.4° C)
• Mild: 99.3° F (37.3° C) and lower

Note: For children under 5 years old, rectal temperatures are the most accurate.

It is easy for your diabetes to become out of control when you are sick. Because of an illness:

• Your blood sugar may be too high or too low.
• You may not be able take your diabetes medicine (if you are vomiting or having trouble keeping food or fluids down).
• You may not know how to adjust the timing or dose of your diabetes medicine.
• You may not be eating enough or drinking enough fluids.

An illness plan for people with diabetes usually covers things like:

• How often to test blood sugar and what the target range is.
• Whether and how to adjust the dose and timing of insulin or other diabetes medicines.
• What to do if you have trouble keeping food or fluids down.
• When to call your doctor.

The plan is designed to help keep your diabetes in control even though you are sick. When you have diabetes, even a minor illness can cause problems.

Many prescription and nonprescription medicines can cause belly pain or cramping. A few examples are:

• Aspirin, ibuprofen (such as Advil or Motrin), and naproxen (such as Aleve).
• Antibiotics.
• Antidiarrheals.
• Laxatives.
• Iron supplements.