Son has overly sensitive belly button

[Rho1133]

Please help!  My son, who is 8 and has been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder, has a very strange issue with his belly button and lately with his underarms.  He cannot stand for anyone to touch his belly button, even if he laughs, he says it is very painful.  He holds his hand over his navel even if he has a shirt on, and now he says if his arms are not tight to his body he has a feeling that someone is touching him under his arms and it hurts.  He crys often about this. He cannot write sometimes because of this sensatrion he has. Please, can you give me any direction to what I can do to help this little guy?  No one seems to know or have ever heard of this. He is a very bight kid, has a hard time making friends because of the way he acts, even though he cannot help it.  Thank you in advance.

[Sandman2]

   Hey Maggie, read up on sensory integration (or processing) disorder - good site here -   http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/index.html
   When you were growing up, there was virtually no info on this and the docs would have been no help.

[maggiemagz]

i also have this same problem, i cannot stand my belly button touched at all, it goes right thru me just like the sound of fingernails on a black board can go thru some people. I get the same problem in other sensitive/private areas but not my arms, however I cannot wear any kind of tight clothing on any part of my body or i feel constricted and smothered and i itch. I wear lose clothes. i had it all my life and im now a 42 old woman. i wish i knew whats doing it. I feel for your son.

[pd671]

I've had the same problem all my life. Doctors can't touch my stomach without me laughing and taking away their hands. I'm now 75. Live with it.

PD

[Rho1133]

Thank you so much for this great info.  Even though the pants only go to size 10, I will take it, and worry about the next size later.  They are not selling yet, but have e-mailed them to tell me when this is going to happen.  How did you find out about this? You are really wonderful.  I appreciate so much your help.  Rhonda McDowell

[Angelinthemorning]

Oops...that's the blog site, here's the actual website...

http://softclothing.net/Site/Soft.html

[Angelinthemorning]

Check out this website.  It's a clothing line specifically created for kids like your son...

http://www.softclothingblog.net/

[Rho1133]

Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me this.  My son has Sensory Integration Disorder, I am guessing your husband had it, too.  Yes, seams, sox, things like that drive him nuts. He cannot wear pants that zip, only the stretch waist, that is very hard to find for a 9 year old. I did take him to an OC but she didn't help him. He goes totally nuts if you try to touch his belly button, I mean, like, I am afraid he will hurt himself or us if we even try to look at it.  (He wouldnt  mean to hurt us/himself, but he just cant help but fight us)  And he walks around all the time with his hand covering his belly button, looking like he has a stomach ache. He is beginning to have trouble making friends, as he is seen as so strange. He is a straight A student, very bright. My husband and I adopted him when he was 2, but we had him at least 50% of the time since birth, so have seen this progress. He is biologically our grandson.  I am going to take him back to the pediatrician, he may need to have tests to rule out anything physical, then I need to get him on medication or something. He can't go on like this, it seems so cruel. Thank you again, you are wonderful.

[Angelinthemorning]

I just wanted to add that my husband who is now 29 has the same issue with his belly button.  He also had problems with tags and seams in his shirts growing up.  I also would suggest an OT.  There are also different types of brushes you can use to rub on you son's skin to get him "comfortable" with new sensations.  My husband has outgrown the issues with his tags and seams.  Keep pushing your son's ped to give you a referal to an OT.  They will have many suggestions and tools to help your son cope.  In the meantime, just leave his belly button alone.  Buy cotton shirts, there's also website out there that offer clothing for kids with SID.  

On a side note.  My husband is a "normal" functioning adult.  No one would even have any idea that he likes his armpit hairs trimmed b/c they bother him, or he can't stand his belly button to be touched.  These are not things that will have a negative side effect on your child.  The main issue is finding ways to help him cope and adjust to these sensations.

[Rho1133]

Thank you for replying to my post last year. I just now came back to this site, to see if there were anymore repys. My son, now 9, is still suffering with this over sensitivity to his belly button. I have taken him to the pediatrician that suggested he see an Occupational therapist.  She was unable to help him.  It may be physical or not, but either way, he needs help now. I am going to take him back to the pediatrician to ask him to refer my son to someone that can rule out anything physical and then go from there. Thank you again for your response, and if you have any other information, I sure would appreciate it.

[AHP84]

I have a very sensitive belly button too. I can't stand it to be touched, even by me in most cases. It was miserable when I was pregnant and my belly button popped out and my shirts would aggrivate it--I wore a bandaid over my naval until it formed a callous.

Also, my underarms are very sensitive. My main issues are shaving and applying deoderant--it's a bit painful, but I just ignore it. When I was a child, I remember having the same sensations as your son (at about the same age) that felt like someone was touching or tickling my armpits, and I would feel extremely uncomfortable raising my arms up, especially to stretch. I never did tell anyone because I thought I'd just sound stupid with an issue like that. However, I never had the problem to the extent of crying or feeling like I couldn't write. That sounds pretty extreme. I outgrew the underarm issue within a year.

Have him try a bandaid (one of the large, patch-like bandaids) over his belly button and see if that helps him.
I'd suggest if his problems continue to worsen, take him to an occupational therapist, as an OT originally had to diagnose him with SID, so they'd probably be able to point you in the best direction for managing the issue.