6 Year Old Having Trouble Walking

does he have any other symptoms? is it constant leg pain and is he lethargic? i don't mean to scare you but hopefully it's not accompanied by any other symptoms that are flu-like. a friend of mine's son just got diagnosed with Leukemia a few weeks ago when she took him in for routine dr. visit because he had some leg pain with other symptoms.

hopefully it's just a cramp or sore muscles though!

If he was very physical yesterday he may have sprained his foot. I once broke my foot and I was able to walk on it the day that I broke it, but by that night it really hurt and by the next day I couldn't walk on it at all. If it is a sprain though it should get better.

Last year about this time my then one year old who had been walking since she was 10 months old. Woak up from nap at the sitters and couldn't walk. She ended up having an infection in her hip. The doctors are not sure what caused it. She walked in to nap and couldn't walk for about a week afterwards. She is fine now just had to give her motrane several times a day. What ever the bottle says. She is now 27 months and doing just fine. She is healty with no side effects. when had to have x-rays and blood tests a er visit and a Dr visit. Some of that is just because I am a big worry wort. I would take him to Dr right away.

I know your son is 6, but when I was 2 years old my parents said I woke up one morning and all the sudden I couldn't walk for pain in my left knee. Of course I don't remember too much of it because I was only 2, but I have heard all of the stories from family. My parents took me to Kansas City Children's Research Hospital and since my knee was swollen they decided...after lots of tests, that I had juvenile arthritis. So they pumped me full of lots of lots of painkillers and I went back every so often for blood work and checkups. I totally, even though I was only 2, remember being poked by the needle each time. The doctors were telling my parents that I may be in a wheel chair for the rest of my life. That was a devistating thought to them of course. One day while at work my mom's friend said "you should take her to a chiropractor". Well, EVERYONE in my family was totally against the idea, but I wasn't getting any better and my mom felt she had no choice. As I was a very active child and it killed her to see me sitting on the sideline of all the fun activities my cousins were doing. So, against everyone's wishes including my father's she secretively took me to her friend Chiropractor. He took one look at me and said "I need an xray". That is key....never let a Chiropractor touch you unless they take xrays. That is a good way to tell a quack from the real deal. He knew that even though my knee was swollen, it didn't mean it was my knee that was injured. Sure enough it wasn't, it was my hip. He told my mom he would not touch me until she took me off all the medication the doctors had put me on because the meds were really hurting my kidneys at such strong doses. When a child's hip pop's out of place it then causes undo pressure on knees, ankles, back. It causes swelling and pain in other areas besides the hip. I don't know if that is what is wrong with your son, but I just don't want anyone to go through what my parents and I went through for months before finding out what the real, simple to solve problem was. After a few, unpainful visits to Dr. Morgan, my chiropractor, I was running and playing like a normal kid again. I was the Chiropractors youngest patient and to this day he still remembers me.

Could just be growing pains, but Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis is nothing to mess around with - if he's in pain & if that's the cause, better to know it now. Is the area where it hurts red/pink/warm/swollen? A simple blood test can determine whether or not he has it. I'm an adult with RA and I don't take Rx meds for it, I control it with natural remedies; my nephew was about 7 when he was diagnosed with JRA (same complaints as your son) and he takes an Rx med for it - if it turns out you need more info, please let me know and I'll be happy to help.

I have a 6-year-old son, too. He wakes up with these leg cramps and foot cramps that make him scream they hurt so bad, and he can't walk. What I do is massage it until it starts feeling better. One time I was up all night massaging his legs and feet but by morning he was better. My sister went through the same thing at this age...she is now 6' tall...but she also had more severe pain and my mom took her to the doctor and one of her legs was significantly shorter than the other. Fortunately it didn't take anything but more growth spurts to even them out. Good luck.

B.

I would get it checked out if it continues. Realize growing can do some really crazy things to your body though. My sister-in-law had siezures and they couldn't figure out what was going on and a few months later she had grown about a foot. All children vary, but growth symptoms tend to run strongly in families. My husbands family has always had really bad pains and clumsiness. I hope all works out well for you. Also, he may be kicking something in his sleep. It may have been injured from before and made it hurt more easily. Is his bed next to a wall.

You need to get him in ASAP to Shriner's hospital. There are several reason why this is happing. I am a Shriner mother and I sugest that he needs to be seen if you have a video camera take it of when he can barely use his leg and send it to the hospital just because it does not happen often does not mean that it is not a serious sitution. Cause the older and more active he gets the worse it will be. there should be a shriner representative in your area. If you can not find one please e-mail me and I will be glad to find a representative for you. here is my e-mail ____@____.com
Have it checked by the best before it is to late. Sorry I forgot to mention that Shriner is free and they will find what is wrong and how to fix it and it cost you nothing.

I'd take him to the doctor and have it checked out just to be safe. There's a disorder called Legg-Perthe's disease that can develop during a child's growing years (more common in boys ages 8-13). It is caused by the growth plate on the leg not getting enough blood, essentially 'dying' for a while, then spontaneously growing again. It's very correctable if caught. I had it when I was little but didn't find out until I was about 25 - far too late to fix it. The only symptoms I had were knee and ankle weakness and leg cramps. It sounds scarier than it needs to, especially if caught, but unchecked it can lead to having to get a hip replacement (which they normally won't do until you're over 65) and dealing with an altered gait.