3 Year Old and Sudden Knee Pain

My middle daughter(4) gets these pains as well. They seem to get pretty intense once a year or every six months. I just give her Tylenol about 30 minutes before bed once the pains start. For her, they will last two to three nights in a row and then be gone for a while. There really is not much we can do for her, so we just comfort her the best we can. I've never had them and have no clue what they are like, but my husband says they hurt pretty bad.

a child who is faking an injury will not ask to go the hospital, they will however ask to skip school the following day. did you check the knee for any truama or injury ? could another child have kicked him and somehow moved the kneecap ? even a very small child can kick hard enough to give an adult a shiner, as i learned when my little girl decided to test the theory.better to have it checked then to have some busy body social worker taking up space on your couch after getting an "anonyimus" tip about your childs knee pain.
K. h.

I can very vividly remember growing pains and how bad they hurt.

I would make sure he's plenty hydrated and maybe try ibuprophen for a couple days (if its a pulled muscle or something like that the anti-inflamatory could help bring relief).

I have never heard of growing pains hurting so badly. It does not sound like growing pains to me. Does your son drink enough milk, or eat enough yogurt or cottage cheese, or any other kind of cheese? If he isn't getting enough calcium, that may be the reason why his knees hurt. Since his knees hurt so badly, I think there is a good chance it will happen again, which is why you should take your son to the doctor ASAP even though the pain went away. You don't want this to happen again, so take him to the doctor TODAY. If he were my kid, I wouldn't dismiss it. Take this seriously. Good luck.

Exactly what my son is going through now. He's 7, but even when he was younger, I'd ask him to point to right where it hurts with 1 finger. He always points to the same place on either leg, right behind the knee. I think it is growing pains in combination with extra activity or different types of exertion. It nearly always happens in the evening or right before bed. I give a little Tylenol and he's soon okay. I had the same thing when I was growing up in the 70's, I called them leg aches and my mom used to give me aspirin and rub my legs with alcohol (don't know why alcohol but oh well!) until the pain subsided. It does hurt a lot, but goes away pretty quickly.

used to happen to me all the time. still does on occasion. what i've found works is tylenol and a warm bath. in that order. as warm as he can take it. it's like an ache really. kind of like the feeling when hitting your funny bone but in your legs or knee in his case. it used to happen to me most the night of a rough day like a day i had a soccer game. once we figured that out my mom gave me tylenol before bed on the night i had games so that these pains didnt wake me in the middle of the night.

Yes, that happened to my son off and on -- he is growing and he probably overstrained his knees by jumping all day. So, some combination of growing pains and pulled muscles/ligaments. Hot shower and tylenol is usually the answer -- it does hurt a lot, but he is most likely fine. Tell him to lay off the jumping a bit for a few days -- not that he can't jump, but kids that age can jump constantly for an hour or so and if he's an active little guy, his knees can start to hurt while he's jumping and he'll keep having fun right through the pain. Then, at night when he calms down, he realizes it REALLY hurts.

One of my cousins had terrible growing pains growing up. All I know is that they are somewhat normal, can be extremely painful, and there isn't much the doctors could do for her :(
I'm so sorry your little boy is going through this (you and hubby, too!), hang in there, all of you, and hopefully they will go away sooner rather than later. My cousin had them for about 3.5 years, from about 3-7ish, and then they disappeared as quickly as they had come.

Exactly same thing happening with my son. He was fine until last evening and suddenly said, he cannot walk because his knee hurts? I was very worried, gave Ibuprofen and put him on bed. Slept well but woke up with same pain this morning. Planning to give some Tylenol but not sure if I should take it serious or not?

I had "growing pains" when I was about your son's age. They would usually happen in the spring and summer when I was outside, running around a lot. Also, my mother kept me slightly dehydrated so I wouldn't wet the bed. I remember crying and writhing in bed because the pain was so bad. Mom thought I was faking it and just wanted in a baby aspirin (that's how long ago this was), also, she was mad because she would have to go down to the kitchen and get the baby aspirin because she didn't think to keep some in the upstairs bathroom.

The pain can be intense (as I've described). From personal experience, a "growing pain" probably works something like a heel spur (which I also have). A lot of pressure is put on the knee joint, and an active child just puts more pressure on it. Once the pressure is off, such as lying in bed, some physiological change takes place (I'm not sure what, maybe slightly swollen tissue, blood being able to circulate better, constricted blood circulation, etc.) which the body reads as pain. My heel spur only bothered me at night when I was trying to go to sleep, just like the "growing pains."

Make sure your son stays hydrated. If his knees hurt, don't be afraid to give him a pain reliever. The baby aspirin probably worked for me (and pretty quickly) because it is a pain reliever and might help reduce swelling. Tylenol and Motrin are very good pain relievers. I was prescribed ibuprofen for my heel spur, and that helped a lot. See if you notice what level of activity might provoke "growing pains" like soccer practice and give him a pain reliever before bed.

The pain is very real, but fortunately doesn't last in to the next day, and he will "grow" out of them. My daughter hasn't had any growing pains, as far as I know. But I make sure she stays hydrated.