Growing Pains??

My daughter has growing pains as well. She wakes up in the middle of the night and I massage her legs. She says it helps and she goes right back to sleep. Potassium seems to help a lot. We have her eat one banana or kiwi every day (kiwi has a lot of potassium in it too, and she likes them when she gets tired of bananas). This seems to have helped quite a bit. She doesn't wake up nearly as often from the pain. We've noticed that if she doesn't eat a banana or kiwi on any given day she's much more likely to have pains and wake up in the middle of the night.

I did take her to the doctor and did the research online. The growing pains are real and it's just something she'll have to grow out of.

This too shall pass.

Definitely growing pains are real. My very tall husband had them as a kid and now my 4 year old has them about every 3 to 6 months.... We do Motrin and rub them and tell her its because she is growing.

B.,

My youngest still goes through this on occasion and I would rub his legs, put a cold compress on them and then give him Motrin and/or Tylenol and that seems to do the trick. I think it happens more often when he is really playing hard outside. The Motrin and Tylenol really help right away then they fall right back to sleep. My neighbors daughter who is 8 also experiences this as well.
Good Luck,
K.

Hello B.,

I experienced years ago when my daughter kept telling me that her legs were hurting when laying down or walking. No her pains were not from a charlie horse, they actually found that she had a tumor on her pelvic bone. So be very carefull when taking her to the doctor and having them do various exams/sonagrams to be sure you do everything possible to find the source of her pain.

T. R.

The same thing happened/happens to my son. His started when he was 3. After many Dr appts including blood work and xrays, the doctor told me it is growing pains. The Dr told me it should slow down and it has. My son is almost 7 and it hardly ever happens now. My Dr suggested childrens motrin & rubbing his legs before he goes to bed. It helped but did not stop it. Bananas helped to even though they weren't charlie horses. Good luck!!

I know growing pains exist, but I'm one to say "talk to your pediatrician." My cousin had what they thought were growing pains, and finally, when they were terrible all the time and didn't stop, they were able to correctly diagnose her with arthritis. She was in so much pain until it was diagnosed (when she was about 8 or 9, several years after the pain started) and now she is finally able to lead a normal life-she just takes some medicine.

I had growing pains and all 4 of my kids have had them. My girls and I had them in our knee area, one son had them in his shins and the little son has them in his feet. Rubbing helps temporarily but doesn't work for long. Tylenol helps alot as does a little icy hot or bengay. Some children can tolerate this and others don't like it. Growing pains aren't the same as charlie horses. A charlie horse is a muscle cramp and the bananas will help with those, but you'll feel the muscle harden and cramp with that. Growing pains are like phantom pains and most of the time it's when the child has been particularly active. We've seen the doctor on this and after being a parent for 24 years, dealing with growing pains with one child or another for most of them, tylenol really does do the trick!

My daughter went through (and still does at times) that exact thing. We pretty much did what you are doing. We made sure she had plenty of water, occasionally we would have her eat a banana for the potassium. We would rub her legs and give her some motrin. Eventually, she would fall asleep. Good luck.

Hi B.

I had the same problem when I was a kid , I grew in height quite quickly and am now quite a tall adult , I used to get the pain which my parents also called growing pains (or leg aches in child friendly terms) in the backs of my lower leg , it was really painful and always happened at night. My mom used to let me go to bed with a hot water bottle , really not sure if you can get them here (I'm from England) , it's basically a rubber bottle that you fill up with boiled water & some cool water and then the outside of the bottle warms up , I used to lay it under my legs , it also works really well for menstrual pains , but if you could find something similar that would probably help her alot , you could even try ebay....you can find anything on ebay and maybe you could get one shipped over?

Hope this helps

K.

Hi B.,

My son, who is 5 1/2 now, also had the leg pains in the middle of the night. I say had because he seems to have grown out of them, I hope. My doctor told me that he was growing so fast in a short amount of time that the muscles and ligaments were stretching slower than the bones were growing and it caused pain, usually while he slept. I would gave him some Motrin, rub or massage the leg or legs and sometimes putting some warm compresses would help. Hopefully, your daughter will outgrow her "growing pains" real soon, It's tough seeing them in obvious pain and not be able to do much for them. Good Luck!!
K.

Have you asked her doctor about this? I too had "growing pains" in my knees, and occasionally in my elbows, when growing up.(Mine was always joint pain, not a charlie horse type of pain.) I was tall for my age and did seem to grow very fast. I don't have any chronic diseases now (like arthritis) so perhaps it was just growing pains. Personally, if it were my kid, I would ask the doctor and do some research on the internet just to rule out anything else. It is possible that a lot has been learned about "growing pains" since we were kids.

Oh, and rubbing my legs seemed to be the only thing that offered any relief when I was a kid too.

Good luck! I hope that you can find some way to relieve your daughter's pain.

T.

They are real. Same thing happened to my 4 1/2yo(now 5 1/2)last summer. Complained how her knees and legs hurt, wanted to be carried cause they hurt too much From Aug 3 to Sept 17 she grew 1 1/2 inches and overall 4 inches from birthday to birthday.

my son went through this almost everynight for a year! I gave him a banana every night before bed! MIRACLE...the potassium in it aids with the cramps! we called it his "special" medicine! to this day he still remembers how it worked so good! he is now 18~!
good luck and go get some nanners!

i used to get them and still do as an adult. they more feel like the bone in my chin was hit with a hammer. not hard but just enough to make it throb. now as an adult i also get them in my arms as well as any part of my leg. we found out that i would tend to wake at night from it on nights that i'd over exerted myself that day for example a soccer game and would take a tylenol before bed. it worked. taking tylenol after getting the pain helps too but takes awhile to work leaving mom or dad and the child up at night for a couple hours. rubbing the pain makes you not feel the hurt and she can fall asleep while you rub but unless shes really tired and can fall asleep this isnt the fasted method either. here is what ive found to help. heat. either draw a bath as warm as she can stand it and let her soak her legs for awhile or get a heating pad possibly hot water bag and set that on the pain. while its there you wont feel the pain and it either takes it away or helps you to fall asleep until the tylenol works. not sure as i usually pass out before the pain is actually gone. mostly tylenol is what gets rid of the pain but the heat makes it not hurt until the tylenol works. hope that makes sense

I believe there is such a thing, some of my kids have had similar experiences on and off. What I do is have them drink a glass of milk (calcium) and then give them a dose of Tylenol. Usually within a half hour they seem to feel a bit better and fall back asleep. I've noticed these occurances usually have happened after a really active day (of playing sports or just doing a lot of running). I try to remember to make sure they are getting enough calcium in their diet. It seems to do the trick. Good luck!

The same thing happened to me - mostly when I was a bit older, but I'm not that tall, so it probably started later....It mostly happened at night and would be VERY painful, so I would crawl into bed with my grandma and she would rub my legs...a little love from grandma didn't cure it, but it sure did help! It's totally normal and just something she has to go through. I don't think bananas will help since it's more in her bones and not a charlie horse, but bananas never hurt any one. :) Tylenol may help...

My son started growing pains right about that age. He's had three years (not all together but spread out like every other year) where he shot up 4 inches within a single year and he was the tallest in his 4th grade class (5' 2.5" right now). He'll be taller than me before he gets out of elementary school. During those quick growth periods the long bones in his upper / lower legs and upper / lower arms (usually one area at a time) would ache in the evening, over night, or sometimes in the early morning. It feels like achy muscles but it's not. So eating a banana won't hurt, but it won't necessarily help either. The rubbing increases circulation and sometimes helps but not always. My son would like a warm bath or a heating pad if the ache was intense. His Dr said a little Tylenol might help. It took the edge off sometimes, but not always. I make sure he takes a chewable vitamin every day, he likes drinking a lot of milk (and I limit his carbonated drinks to 1 per week), but I think what helped him the most was running around during the day and getting a lot of exercise when his arms and legs were not feeling the pains. As my son gets into his teenage years, he'll probably have a few more sessions with growing pains before he reaches his adult height. At your daughters next checkup, see what her Dr says. In the meantime, sympathize with your daughter (those pains can really hurt), but assure her it will go away eventually. Growing can be a real pain sometimes!

I don't know about growing pains, but is the pain only in one place? If she has consistent leg pain in one leg you may want to bring it to the attention of the doctor. It may e soemthing more specific like an injury or something wrong with her bone. Also, adults get blood clots that casue pain, but I don't think that would be chronic.

Also, it oculd be restless leg syndrome, but I don't know much about that. Most people get that at least occasionally, and it oculd jus tbe very frightening to her because she doesn't know wha tit is.

Work with her on not lettign it scare her. Tell her it is normal for some people - I know my five year old would be really scared and not understand. Teach her how to massage her leg or "shake it out" to help her.

Yes, potassium in bananas help with muscle pain.

I would definately ask the doctor to make sure its nothing serious, and get some other suggestions. I don't think it's out of line ot call the nurse at the pediatrician's office, especially sinc eit is disrupting her sleep. If would be one thing if it woke her up occasionally for a few minutes, but all night is too much.

Hi B.!
My son is almost 4 and gets these pains at night also. I also rub them. I give him Tylenol for the pain. It seems to help because he goes to sleep. I remember my brother getting these when he was younger and my Mom would put a stuff called "Heat" on them. I don't know if they have that stuff anymore or how old your child needs to be for you to use it. Good Luck!
G.

I did get charlie horses when I was in high school. Bananas didn't seem to work for me but a glass of milk before bedtime worked. I have read that they come from a potassium difficiency which is funny because milk doesn't have a whole lot of potassium. Nuts and dried fruit have more potassium. When I was pregnant I got them again and a friend suggested making the sheets at the end of the bed looser so if you point your toes toward the end of the mattress you're not forcing your foot downwards (if you are sleeping on your back) It's hard to explain. Keeping your feet off to the side with your insoles facing the ceiling. Anyway, that helped the most.

I had them too when I was a child. I would be writhing in agony, and my mom would be yelling at me that I was "faking" them. I apologize if I get on a soapbox here, but after my mom died I found out she suffered from growing pains,too. Thanks, Mom, I guess I faked the two broken teeth and the bloody diahrrea from the bacteria in the shallow well, too.

What worked for me was a baby asperin (this was over 40 years ago). Of course, since I didn't have a severed limb or a compound fracture, I didn't "really" need one. I could go right to sleep. Because of my experience, I'm more forthcoming with Tylenol or Advil for my daughter.

Since these pains usually happen in the middle of the night, don't drive yourself and your daughter crazy with warm baths or leg rubs. I'd go straight for the children's Tylenol or Advil, unless you feel better rubbing her legs at two in the morning.

I think the potassium advice sounds good, since I know I was probably lacking vital nutrients as a kid. Whaterver works, bananas, milk or other high potassium food.

Fortunately, my daughter hasn't suffered from growing pains, yet. If she does, I have some children's Advil upstairs for her.

My 6 yr. old son complains of pains in his legs, too and we attribute to growing pains..it is only ocassional. However, I do ask him about his water intake (I work ft, too so I don't get to see what he ingests during the day) and suggest a banana for Potassium. I heard Charlie Horses were due to dehydration...Hope this helps. Good luck!

someone has probably already said this but... i used to have terrible "growing pains" when i was little.i dont think they started until i was about 7 though (not sure) my mom would rub Ben Gay on my legs until i fell back asleep. i would try some kind of sports cream if you havent already. maybe they have a milder one for kids...good luck. i have heard that this runs in families but so far none of my kids have had them.

I vividly remember growing pains and agree that they were agonizing. this sounds like what your daughter is probably experiencing. I would recommend massage and/or Tylenol. Good luck!

Try giving her some Ibuprofen before bedtime when she is having a round with them. We've had these with my son for years, even during the day. He is 6 now! I've heard that boys are worse than girls. Best of luck!

Yes, growing pains are real. It sounds like that's what is going on. My siblings are very tall and had these all the time. They would drink milk before bed, and it seemed to help them.