My 2 1/2 Yr Complains of Leg Pain

Hi A. R,

With any complaint of pain, I would address with a doctor to be on the safe side. With children it could be nothing but then it could be something. It could something simple as "growing pains" (ages 3-12) or lack of Potassium/Calcium intake. Growing pains almost always affect both legs and in no way limit the child during the day .The child does not limp during the day and there is never any joint swelling. When the child is seen by their doctor, the examination is completely normal.

There are other causes of nighttime leg pains but these usually include only one leg or the joints. Nighttime pain associated with a limp during the day or reduced physical activity should always be evaluated by the child's doctor. Pain that is made worse when rubbed by the parent, or when the discomfort is in the same exact spot each and every night should also be checked by the pediatrician.

Leg pain that occurs on a very regular basis and is associated with other symptoms, such as decreased appetite, weight loss, pale skin color, and fatigue, may be a sign of a more serious problem and should be checked as soon as possible.

Good Luck to you and many blessings.
D. K

2 moms found this helpful

She's at the age that growing pains are very common. Try giving her a magnesium supplement (I like, and your child will like)Natural Calm with calcium. It comes in a powder form, has lemon and raspberry flavor that you can either add to a small amount of juice or water before bedtime. Just follow the instructions on the back and this will definitely help!

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if the muscles are cramping you can relieve it by holding a bar of soap (any kind will work) and it will relieve the cramp. it is an old wives tale but it works like magic, don't know why, just know it works for me and a lot of my family and friends, I use it for leg cramps i the night, I just put a small bar of soap (hotel size) under my fitted sheet and if my leg starts cramping I put my foot/leg on the soap and it stops. don't know if it will work for growing pains but it works for muscle cramps!

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hi,
please o ahead and take your doughter to Dr . We hade a similar sityation with my nephew, after many tests, some Drs told my sister that he could have a very bed and long to cure sickness,but thank God, it end up being that he had some inflanation between his joints. With anti inflamatory medicin he is good now.This could have come form past intection that your child might had in past. We think after finishing anti biatic, its over,but please even if your child fells and acts good, always take her back for check-up.Its is worth it to pay another Co-pay for your peace of mind.
best for you and your family.
M.

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sounds like growing pains to me... do not use ice though, a warm heating pad is better.

I found with my youngest son that peppermint lotion helps... my step mom gave us some, it was from bath and body works. Helps sooth the muscles.

Growing pains are when the bones and muscles are growing faster then the tendons and ligaments, can cause muscle cramps. I got them really bad from 4-16... my middle son is 18 now had them from about 2-12- he would get his the worst when he would wake up from a nap after playing hard... my youngest son is 14 and still gets them.

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I'm so sorry that your grand-daughter is in so much pain. I am now 32 years and will never forget the pain I had due to growing pains though I was older, maybe around 5-6. They went on for a long time until maybe 10/11 years and occurred every other night. It was mainly in the calf muscles and my dad would rub them with muscle rub or deep heat and then bandage my legs and I would sleep fine. Sometimes the pain was so bad they would get me and my parents up in the middle of the night. Heat definitely helped with this.

Since she is only 2 1/2 years I would put a call in to the doctor just to make sure.

Below is a link that will give you some info on this. Hope this helps and hope she gets some relief.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/aches/growing_pains....

p.s. I never took any pain medication, rubbing with muscles rub, applying a bandage and then a thick knee high stocking is what helped me.

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I had growing pains as a child and it was like you described. My mother would wrap a warmed blanket around my legs, which really felt great. Growing pains really do hurt. I hope that is all that it is for your daughter. The thing is about that, I was older, more like 5 thru 8 years. I know it lasted for years off and on. But I know I was older than 2 1/2. Keep us posted.

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My 7 yr old had this same issue, this is the first time I am hearing of anyone else experiencing it.

His blood work always came back as normal so the dr. wrote it off as growing pains. But this pain seemed so extreme and started very young like 2 yrs.

In the past year he has woken up only a few times with this pain. (which is odd, he's grown tremendously in the last two years)

I would love to hear if anyone else has had similar experiences.

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My daughter is 3 now and she started having leg pains at night when she was 2.5. It's not every night, but at least once a week.

I usually give her ibuprofen and the pain goes away within 30 minutes. She has not mention any leg pain for about a month now. However, I have noticed her milk intake has increased. It's not a really big concern right now because it doesn't happen nightly, but if it did occur nightly, I would take her to the doctor.

Hope you get some answers and she gets relief.

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Hi A., most likely it is growing pains. rub her legs with alcohol or even blue gel helps. It wouldn't hurt to feed her extra potassium. A couple of bananas a day & or baked potatoes. Those are both high in potassium and vitamins. Ibuprofen an hour or so before be will help too. I have 7 grandchildren ages 2 to 12 and we give them ibuprofen, warm bath them rubbed them down with alcohol & they slept much better. Hope this helps your little one.

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I was the same way when I was a kid, and was told it was just "growing pains" call her pedi and have her suggest a specialist. Sorry I don't have the magic answer, stay strong.

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It is probably just "growing pains" since there doesn't seem to be an consistency on one leg or the other. Get her on some omega 3 fatty acid supplements (they reduce inflammation like Motrin) and a good multivitamin/multimineral. I suggest Nordic Naturals, which you can get at Sprouts or Whole Foods.
If you notice any lack of use of the legs or other symptoms, I would go to my pediatrician and request they take x-rays. If the x-rays don't show anything, request an MRI. It is better to be safe than sorry. A few tests can put all of your fears to rest. Good luck.

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If this is going on for more than a few days you should absolutely make a run to the pedi.

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very common growing pains. offer tylenol to help ease the pain. The long bones of the leg are very fast growing and the pain is caused from the muscles,ligaments, and tendons stretching and growing as well. Expect this for a few more years to come.

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Hi,

It could be the sciatic nerve, more info can be found here:
http://www.demosschiro.com/default.cfm?source=chiropracti...

take her to doctor or if no joy there then chiropractor.

My husband has this problem so it could be the same thing.

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If she is in extreme pain, you should rush her to the emergency room right away so they can see what the problem is while it's happening.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi A.,

My daughter has a similar experience. Her pains started when she was almost 3 years old. She's 5.5 yo now and still has some trouble.

I second the bar of soap recommendation. Sounds crazy, but we keep one under my daughter's sheet all the time. The pains do not happen as often now and when they do happen, they are not as severe.

We also apply a hot water bottle (not a heating pad).

Finally, we use this homeopathic cream:
http://therapeutichealthmassage.com/hyland-leg-cramp.html
You can find it at Sunflower Shoppe, Central Market, or Whole Foods.

We tried bananas and my daughter got constipated, even with just one per day. We tried Natural Calm magnesium and I don't know if we just got the dose wrong or what, but that gave her diarrhea.

Good luck!
M.

1 mom found this helpful

Please take her to the pediatrician and INSIST on x-rays. Our daughter complained throughout her entire life and finally when she was 16 years old she REFUSED to be placated any longer. We took her for an x-ray and soon learned she had fibrous dysplasia. It's serious and deserves looking into.

Sorry this is so late in responding. I'm just now catching up on email after having a baby. When our 6 y.o complains about leg pains we give her Tylenol and increase her calcium intake (milk, broccoli, etc.). We keep up the calcium for a few weeks after the pain stops. This seems to help. Good Luck.

My daughter went through this several times. Her pediatrician said that as long as it didn't last for several days, it was just growing pains. I did notice that after each of these episodes (that usually started night) she would shoot up a couple of inches. Tylenol and Motrin both seemed to help. Other than that I just made her as comfy as possible until the next day. This was usually gone within 24 hours each time. It is scary! But if she hasn't hurt herself somehow, and she doesn't have a fever or any other pain, just try to help her through it and don't worry.

My three year old gets that too. I have tried to give her a banana everyday, hoping the potassium will help. I think it is ok, but just stinks. Good Luck!