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First Aid & Emergencies

Call 911 NOW if you are having:

  • Chest Pain
  • Difficulty Breathing
  • Severe Bleeding
  • Sudden Weakness or Numbness
  • A Medical Emergency
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Abdominal Pain in Children Treatment

Call 911 NOW if: 

  • The child is not moving or is too weak to stand.

1. Have Your Child Rest

  • Avoid activity, especially after eating.

 

2. Treat Symptoms

  • Provide clear fluids to sip, such as water, broth, or fruit juice diluted with water.
  • Serve bland foods, such as saltine crackers, plain bread, dry toast, rice, gelatin, or applesauce.
  • Avoid spicy or greasy foods and caffeinated or carbonated drinks until 48 hours after all symptoms have gone away.
  • Encourage the child to have a bowel movement.
  • Ask your child’s doctor before giving any medicine for abdominal pain. Drugs can mask or worsen the pain. 

 

3. When to Call a Doctor

Call your child’s doctor immediately if your child has any of the following:

  • Persistent pain on the right side of the abdomen, which could be an appendicitis
  • Pain confined to one part of the abdomen
  • Severe or rapidly worsening abdominal pain or pain that doesn’t go away within 24 hours
  • Pain or tenderness when you press on the belly
  • A swollen abdomen or an abdomen that is rigid to the touch
  • Pain in the groin, or pain or swelling in a testicle
  • Unexplained fever
  • Lots of vomiting or diarrhea
  • Bleeding from the rectum
  • Blood in the stool or vomit
  • A recent abdominal injury

 

WebMD Medical Reference

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Reviewed by Robert L. Norris, MD on March 09, 2011
© 2011 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.

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