When school starts, does your child’s stomach start hurting too? Every fall, pediatric GI waiting rooms fill up with kids who felt fine all summer, and functional abdominal pain in children is one of the most common reasons why. Now they are back in class, and their stomachs are not happy about it.
The pain is real, and it is common. Your child is not making it up, even when every test comes back clear.
If this sounds like your family, you do not have to sort it out alone. You can schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation to talk through what is going on and what might help.
When the tests say “nothing is wrong,” but your child is in pain
Functional abdominal pain belongs to a group of conditions now called disorders of gut-brain interaction, or DGBIs, in the Rome V criteria published in 2026. IBS is part of this group too. The name says it well: the pain comes from how the gut and brain communicate, not from tissue damage or disease.
Think of it this way. The nervous system running through your child’s gut, called the enteric nervous system or “second brain,” is exquisitely sensitive, and when stress goes up, it notices.
This sensitivity is called visceral hypersensitivity. The gut’s pain signals get amplified, so a sensation that feels mild to one person can feel genuinely painful to another. When school starts and worry ramps up, the gut is often the first to get the message.
Understanding this often brings parents real relief. It means nothing dangerous is being missed, and it points toward treatments that work on the gut-brain communication itself.
Why school is peak season for functional abdominal pain in children
New teachers, new schedules, new social dynamics, earlier wake-up times, and lunch in a crowded cafeteria all arrive at once. Even for kids who love school, the first weeks of the year are a lot.
For kids whose gut-brain connection is already sensitive, the return to school can bring a real increase in symptoms. This includes children with:
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Functional abdominal pain
- Functional dyspepsia
- Abdominal migraine
The Monday morning pattern
Missing school because of stomach pain creates its own stress, which creates more stomach pain. It is one of those cycles that feels impossible to break from the inside.
Many parents notice the same rhythm: stomachaches Monday through Friday mornings, then a comfortable weekend, then the pain returns on Monday. I wrote about this pattern a few years ago in Back to school with irritable bowel syndrome, and it is just as true today.
What actually helps functional abdominal pain
Traditional medicine does a great job of ruling things out. It is less effective at treating what is left after the tests come back clear.
The approaches with the strongest evidence for DGBIs in children and teens are:
- Medical hypnosis: Teaches the brain and gut to recalibrate how they communicate, directly addressing visceral hypersensitivity. A landmark randomized controlled trial by Vlieger and colleagues, published in Gastroenterology in 2007, found significant, lasting pain reduction with hypnotherapy compared with standard medical care.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): Addresses the thought patterns and avoidance behaviors that make gut symptoms worse. It is especially useful when anxiety is driving the bus.
- Combined approaches: For many kids, the most effective treatment addresses both the gut response and the underlying anxiety at the same time.
How hypnosis for functional abdominal pain in children
Medical hypnosis is not something done to a child. It is a set of skills a child learns and then uses on their own, and most kids find it relaxing and even fun.
Children learn to settle their bodies and turn down the volume on gut signals, often with imagery such as a soothing warmth spreading through the belly. With practice, they can use these skills anywhere, whether that is in the car on the way to school, in the classroom, or at bedtime.
CBT works alongside hypnosis. A child who thinks, “If my stomach hurts in math class, everyone will notice,” learns to test that thought and replace it with a calmer, more accurate one, like “I have handled this before, and I know what to do.”
That shift alone can quiet the alarm signals the gut is picking up. This is exactly the work I do. You can read more about my approach on the functional abdominal pain page, and TEAM-CBT explains the CBT side of my practice.
Is this covered by the Controlling Your Gut Feelings program?
If your child’s primary issue is IBS or functional abdominal pain, my home video program Controlling Your Gut Feelings® is a complete, evidence-based option. Your family can work through it at home, on your own schedule, using the same medical hypnosis, CBT, and motivational interviewing framework I use in individual sessions. The program is currently being studied in a randomized controlled trial at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
For families who prefer to start with a conversation, or whose child has more complex needs, individual sessions may be the better fit. That includes prominent anxiety, severe symptoms, or a pattern of school avoidance.
Not sure which path makes sense for your child? A free 15-minute phone consultation can help you figure it out together.
What to do right now if school is already hard
A few things are worth doing while you figure out next steps:
- Keep going to school if at all possible. Avoidance is the fuel that keeps anxiety-driven pain going.
- Acknowledge the pain without catastrophizing it. Try something like, “I know your tummy hurts. Your body is learning to handle this. Let’s see if we can get you through first period.”
- Track patterns. Pain before school every day but not on weekends is genuinely useful information, and it helps identify what is driving things.
Working with your child’s school
A short conversation with the school nurse and teachers can make mornings much easier. Many kids do better simply knowing they have a plan if their stomach acts up.
Helpful pieces of a school plan include:
- A bathroom pass your child can use without having to ask out loud
- A brief rest with the school nurse, followed by a return to class rather than a call home
- A water bottle and a snack at their desk
- A formal 504 plan if symptoms are frequent enough to affect learning
The goal is to keep your child in the classroom while giving them tools to manage discomfort there.
When to check in with your pediatrician first
Functional abdominal pain is common, and certain signs deserve a closer look before assuming the gut-brain connection is the whole story. Call your child’s doctor if you notice weight loss, blood in the stool, fever, repeated vomiting, or pain that wakes your child from sleep.
Once more serious causes have been ruled out, you can focus fully on building skills. And if you have been through all of that and you are still in the same spot, that is what I am here for.
Telemedicine for functional abdominal pain
I work with children and teens nationwide via telemedicine, so your child can learn these skills from home without missing more school. Sessions are practical and skill-focused, and parents are part of the process. If your child is dealing with functional abdominal pain, IBS, abdominal migraine, or a related condition, I would be glad to talk with you.
You can schedule your free 15-minute phone consultation here. Together, we can help your child feel more in control of their gut, and more at ease at school.
About Dr. Jeffrey Lazarus, MD, FAAP
Dr. Jeffrey Lazarus is a board-certified pediatrician with over 25 years of clinical experience, specializing in medical hypnosis and cognitive behavioral therapy (TEAM-CBT) for children, teens, and adults. He is one of only 8 pediatricians in the United States certified as an Approved Consultant by The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, and holds Level 3 TEAM-CBT certification.
After completing his pediatric residency at Stanford University Medical Center, Dr. Lazarus built a practice treating a wide range of conditions through medical hypnosis and CBT, including:
- Headaches and migraines
- Irritable bowel syndrome and functional gastrointestinal disorders (now called DGBIs)
- Anxiety, including test anxiety, sports performance anxiety, and public speaking anxiety
- Bedwetting
- Tics and Tourette syndrome
- Chronic pain
- Adapting to your CPAP machine
- And more
He created three home video programs for specific conditions: Keeping the Bed Dry®, Controlling Your Gut Feelings®, and Adapting to CPAP®.
Dr. Lazarus practices in Menlo Park, California, and works with patients nationwide via telemedicine. To schedule your free 15-minute phone consultation, visit JeffLazarusMD.com/contact.
