Growing Pains - Universal City, TX

Motrin or Advil is more effective than Tylenol with this issue. My daughter has had them for years. I just got to where I would carry in my purse if we were on an outing because by the end of the day she would be in a lot of pain. If yours is waking up, try giving it to her before she goes to bed.

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When my daughter had these, I would take a long sock and fill it with rice. I would put the sock in the microwave for about a minut and then wrap the sock around her leg. The heat really made a difference. I was scared to put her in bed with a heating pad all night and this way as time went on it cooled down by itself. Now she keeps the sock in her bedside table and when she wakes up she can heat it by herself.
Good luck.

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Growing pains are NOT in the joints. Growing pains are near the tops and bottoms of the bones - in the arms and legs - not the elbows, ankles, or knees. At 5 years of age my daughter had such soreness in her knees and ankles at night and in the morning that she could not go up and down stairs, nor could she walk very far. I had to put her in a stroller to get her around. I thought it was growing pains and I finally took her to the dr when it did not subside after a week or so. It turned out that she had a peachy-orange rash as well, and these are symptoms of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. A blood test the next morning confirmed that she had JRA. Thank goodness she has a very mild case that is often outgrown at puberty. She takes Naprosin, something similar to Alleve, when she has a flare up. It is an anti-inflamatory. Ibuprofin is an antiflamatory, that is why it works better than Tylenol, and Tylenol causes permanent liver damange if too much is taken, so doctors do not prescribe Tylenol for the aches and pains. JRA flareups are worse at night and early morning, and mild cases often times do not bother the kids during the day. Hopefully this is not what your child has. A blood test is needed to confirm it. Hopefully your daughter just twisted her knee or something and this will pass. Good luck!

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I had awful growing pains and so did my daughter. In addition to what you are already doing, which is great, massaging with rubbing alcohol is something I heard about and that I've used with some success, and so is pulling my daughter's legs, something that her father does better than I do, whether he is stronger or that's just something they invented and on which he is therefore the expert, I'm not sure. This probably won't go on all that long, but it's great that you take her seriously and are doing what you can to help. My mother made fun of me and claimed I was pretending. I would recommend against that!

good luck,
M.

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My little girl gets leg aches as well. Massaging it helps, I also give her hylands leg cramp tablets, a homeopathic remedy. To help her calm down I usually massage it with a little lavender pure essential oil mixed in olive oil. My mom used to always use rubbing alcohol when we had leg aches and I remember that really helped for some reason. Good luck!

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Try having her eat more bananas. The potassium helps with the bones, and hopefully will ease the growing pains...

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In addition to what the others have said, make sure her shoes still fit. It they have gotten too small it could make her legs hurt, especially if she has been active that day. It can happen so fast! They fit one day and are two sizes too small the next.

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My son used to have these and we discovered that if he had extra potassium in his diet (bananas, orange juice, etc.) and we decreased his salt intake that they were fewer and far between. When he did have them, tylenol/motrin/advil and a heating pad seemed to work well. Good luck!

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Take her to a doctor. It is unusal for 3 year olds to complain about their knees. My girlfriend was raising her neice and she complained about that age that her knees were hurting her and my girlfriend thought that she may have Jr. Arthritis but by the time she took her to the doctor she had a form of bone cancer. Hope this is not the case but please check her.

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I have a good friend whose son has had great success with magnet therapy. You can purchase magnetic mattress pads that have amazing healing powers for "growing" pains as well as many other ailments. Sounds a little far fetched, I know - but seeing made me a believer.

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Both of my kids have suffered from growing pains. I always give them Smart Water or Gatorade and massage their legs. They are back to bed in no time.

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I used to get these when I was growing up. Usually in my shins but sometimes in my whole leg. My grandma would rub which hazel and or omega oil on my legs and it worked great. Especially the omega oil. U could also try arnica.

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Good morning A.,

This is what I do when my kids wake up with growing pains.....I give them some tylenol or motrin.....make them eat a banana (because of the potassium) and in the mexican product aisle in Walmart there is little white bottle with yellow label called Arnica and rub it all over their legs and knees and wrap it with a bandage (not too tight where it will stop their circulation) and cover their legs with a blanket......this gives them great relief and they will sleep throughout the night......hope this helps you.

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Hey A.,
My kiddo had similar issues and when my doc did blood work to determine iron levels he identified she had extremely low iron. Low iron can cause restless leg syndrome. Anyway, she is now on an iron supplement and has never had another leg cramp ever again.

Hope this info helps!
C. H.

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Hi A.!
My kids had a lot of leg pains too while growing up. I did like you, massage the legs and gave the nightly tylenol thing too, so that itself is not abnormal. But because the pain seems more focused on her knee, perhaps you should have the doctor check it out.

About me...a 54 yr old mom of two grown kids, one of them a Girl Scout gold award recipient! I was a troop leader for 13 years! Hope you are having fun working for the council!

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Taking her for a doctor visit wouldn't be a bad idea if the things you are trying already don't work.

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Hey A.,

My older daughter over the years has really suffered from growing pains, usually 3 or so times a year. The pains last a few nights at the time. I think your really doing the best things you can with tylenol and massaging. My daughter always said the massage oil really did help.

Now, it seems both my girls are having them....

Good luck,
D

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I too have never experienced this, but it happens with only my 7 yr old. I haven't done tylenol though. What I have done and has worked for my son is I wet a washcloth and warm it up in the microwave and then I put it where it hurt him (usually his knee or calf)...of course make sure it's not too hot, just warm. GOOD LUCK!

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We've been through years of this with our 6 year old son. Our pediatrician has twice sent us to a rheumatologist because the pain would be in an ankle or knee. His advice was exactly what you are already doing--Tylenol and massage. Growing pains are real and do occur at night. In our case, it's a wait-n-see prediction of height, since we have have 6'8" teenage nephew (who is still having growing pains!)

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My daughter was 3 years old when she complain about this. It was a serious problem. I used a green rubbing alcohol that would work. I also covered it with ace wraps to warm it up. My sister and I would have that problem until we became teenagers so I am thinking she inherited from me. There were 8 children and only us 2 had these problems. My sister worse than me. My daughter is not almost 4 still has some problems not as much. I had a doctor tell me for her to drink milk but I told them thats all she drinks and he was suprised and said give her motrin. I only have given her motrin one time the rest of the time I rub that green alcohol on her. She is okay. I really don't know a cure but I know I haven't got one from a doctor either.... Good luck

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Hi there,

I saw your post and thought I had to respond! I feel your pain. My daughter that is now 9, started having these "growing pains" around the age of 3. I hate to tell you, but she still has them some, although much less frequently. Dr. says they are a very normal issue with children, and some kids just have much worse symptoms than others.

These pains kept her, as well as me and my husband up for many, many nights. We found several things that can relieve some pain, just depending on how much she was actually hurting that particular night.

-It seemed to be very relaxing to soak her legs in the bath tub in warm water (sometimes at 2 a.m.)!!

-Massages were always helpful, adding bedtime soothing lotion during the massage aided in sleep.

-They make some really great ice packs that can be purchased at wal-mart and walgreens,(they are not "children" specific)they are gel packs that are inside a cloth like cover so they are not too cold and achy and are about as long as an adult forearm.

*I'm not a huge advocate for stuffing kids with meds unless the really are uncomfortable, but on some nights she needed the following:

-Motrin seemed to work better than Tylenol for relieving the muscle pain.

-Benadryl - if you have ever had allergies you know how annoying uncomfortable they can feel, and in a similar way the muscle leg cramps feel the same. Some nights we would give benadryl which would help her sleep and aid in the comfort and stop the flintching and tightness.

(Of course, check with your doctor on these for dosage. DO NOT COMBINE ANY OF THE ABOVE MEDS.) I'm sure you already know that, but I just need to put it out there just in case!! Feel free to ask me any questions.

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If you have had the problem checked with your pedi and they do not find anything wrong - I would side with growing pains.

Our 9yo daughter has had them for the past 4 years - usually in her calves and thighs. She usually experiences them after a very active day or an activity involving sports. We've tried Tylenol, hot baths, hot showers, heating pads and hand massages. Anything and everything that will work. Unfortunately there really isn't anything you can give them or do that will truly help - it's just a part of them growing.

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Hi A.,
could be growing pains- and you are doing the right thing. Unfortunally there is nothing that can be done- but if it continues for any length of time and does not get any easier I would have her checked. Sometimes a chiropactor can really help--- there are many good ones that specialize in childrens aches and pains.
Good luck and Blessings

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My 2 year old son has had growing pains for the last 8 months or so. His are rather frequent, but always at night and we have had him checked out by his pediatrician and a pediatric rheumatologist. They recommended the same things...massage, heat, Tylenol...but specifically told us to use Tylenol over Motrin because if you have to give it frequently, Tylenol is gentler on their liver and kidneys. Good luck!

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I had the same thing when I was in Jr. High and a Freshman in High School. My mom took me to the Dr. and he said it was growing pains and that I was going to be very tall! (Ha! I'm 5 ft 2!) Anyway, the pains did eventually go away. He gave me some strange exercises to do and excused me from Athletics for a little while so I could do those excersises while everyone else was running track, etc. It was a lot of walking backwards and some stretching. I'm not sure why walking backwards helped but it seemed to do the trick! I'd definitely take her to the Dr. though to make sure everything is ok.

One other thing, our pediatrician (of our 3 year old son) just told us that it is true that you grow while you sleep, that's probably why she is feeling these pains at night.

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Yep, it's growing pains. Both me and my son had growing pains. I would not recommend any drugs. (the FDA has known for over 15 years the permanent damage Tylenol does to the liver, but it's still on the market as an "acceptable risk.")

There are some great topical rubs on the market: BioFreeze, Dr. Wu's, etc. Massaging the legs helped temporarily; it was comforting to know my Mom would do that for me. I also liked hot towels; my son did not. It may sound weird, but swimming also helped me alot. The best thing that worked for my son was taking vitamins with extra calcium (my parents didn't try this for me); his pain went completely away.

Take her off all carbonated beverages. Carbonation leaches calcium from the bones - exactly opposite of what needs to happen for her to move optimally through this phase of growth.