Four- and Five-Year-Olds

Hello all-

My 4year old son has been crying pretty off and on for a few months about tummy pains and they seem to be really intense.   THey are getting worse and I am taking him to the Dr on Fri but I want to be prepared with some ideas about what it can be so it doesn't get brushed aside.   He cries pretty intensily in pain a couple times a day but the rest of the time acts normal.  His appetite is a bit down.   He is still pooping so don't think he is constipated.  I always try to get him to pee when he is hurting b/c in the past he has held his pee and that causes pain but it isn't that.   It isn't b/c he is hungry b/c it doesn't make it better to eat and he doesn't say he is hungry when it is happening.   He never throws up from it.   He can't explain the pain to me but I am getting super worried.   I know Tylenol has been recalled b/c of bacteria in it, maybe he had some bad Tylenol.  OR maybe he has something else going on in the little tummy??? Should he have blood work or ultrasound or what?  I don't want them to miss anything.

THanks so much in advance for your thoughts :)

I hope you've found good answers by now. If not, the only thing I can think of is to not necessarily dismiss the constipation idea since you can poop regularly and still not get it all out. You'd want to ask your doc to order an abdominal x-ray, which would show whether (and how much) your ds was retaining poop. Often the docs will want to feel the belly to see if there's too much poop, but it is NOT accurate.

Were you able to get any answers at today's appt?