What causes Abdominal pain - children under age 12?
Last updated September 7, 2026.
Most abdominal pain in children under 12 comes from constipation, a stomach virus, gas, or stress, and it clears up on its own within a day or two. The likely cause shifts with the pattern: pain that wakes a child at night, sits low on the right side, or comes with a high fever points somewhere different than pain that shows up only on school mornings. Constipation is the single most common cause and is easy to miss, since a child can still pass small stools daily. Infections outside the gut, including urinary tract infection and strep throat, often show up as belly pain in young kids. Keeping fluids up, offering fiber and regular toilet time after meals, and writing down when the pain happens will usually make the picture clear within a week.
What to do
- Check the bathroom pattern first: Ask how often stools come, how hard they are, and whether your child holds it in at school, since constipation causes more childhood belly pain than anything else.
- Watch the location: Pain that starts near the belly button and moves to the lower right side over several hours, especially with fever or refusal to walk, needs same-day medical care.
- Keep fluids going: With vomiting or diarrhea, offer small sips of water or an oral rehydration solution every few minutes rather than large drinks, and watch for fewer wet diapers or trips to the bathroom.
- Skip adult stomach remedies: Do not give bismuth products or any medicine containing aspirin to a child, and check with a clinician before using laxatives or acid reducers in children under 12.
- Track the triggers: Write down the time of day, what your child ate, what was happening at school, and how long the pain lasted, because two weeks of notes often reveal the cause.
- Get help right away for red flags: Seek emergency care for severe or constant pain, a rigid belly, green vomit, blood in stool, or a child who is limp and hard to wake.
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