Growing pains?

[KarenN]

Last night at bedtime my youngest (age 7) said he had cramps in his feet and legs. Wasn't complaining too much, but after our story, I rubbed and massaged his feet and legs, and tucked him in with prayers. About midnight I had to get up to let the dog out. I heard whimpering coming from the boys' room, and I found Ian with his face all swollen from crying, obviously for a very long time, tears streaming down his cheeks and holdng his legs up against his body. He was obviously in GREAT pain. I asked him why he didn't come to get me, and he said he didn't want to "bother me." OH GUILT TRIP HERE.

I got him some motrin, he followed me to the kitchen crying out in pain the whole time, and he actually fell going back to his bedroom. I rubbed his legs and feet for nearly an hour until he finally fell into an exhausted sleep. I checked on him several more times in the night, but he seemed to sleep through after that.

He was fine this morning, albeit a bit tired. Has anyone ever dealt with anything like this? Are they truly just growing pains? Any ideas on how to prevent them or make them any less severe? Oh, and he has STRICT instructions that waking mommy up when he is in pain is NOT bothering her! Geesh!

[Lindanshadow]

When I was little I used to get "growing" pains in my legs. Mostly in the calf mustles. My mom would give me Tylenol (before motrin) and then rubbed my legs down with ben gay. It seemed to work. The pains always seemed to happen at bedtime. I don't know if they were official growing pains or not but my step-son had them all last summer and he grew about 4 inches!
Linda H.

[KarenN]

Thanks, Linda... I HOPE he doesn't grow four inches all at once! He's already one of the tallest in his class. It seems I remember having growing pains in the night, too. And I KNOW my husband's brother had them something terrible. I did a google on them, and it says that nearly 1/3 of all children have them to some degree or other, and the symptoms they described were exactly what I faced last night. One of the things recommended is for the chiled to wear warm socks that cover the calves and long jammies. Ian HATES to be too warm so wears short jammies - guess that's going to have to change if the warmth will help to alleviate the pain.

[trigger]

Oh Karen, my boy has had those for a long time! I asked my doc about it, and he said if it's just at night, it's growing pains. If it's a constant thing, it might need to be checked. Sure enough, whenever he had leg pain at night, he'd have a growth spurt.

I would give him tylenol and rub his legs with lotion. The lotion was more of a mental/attention thing, but it did help him settle down at night.

[Sheryl]

Warm milk with the pain reliever. I had bigtime growing pains as a kid too, but my little sister never did.

[Deleted]

Karen,

My son has gone through some serious growing pains. We consulted the doctor about it because it worried me so badly. The really interesting thing is, she says it comes in spurts (which we all know) but most times they dont even feel it. The unfortunate do. Heres what she recommended. She said when he starts with the pains, start him on Motrin. Normal dose every night for a week. And I asked her about heat/cool. She said I could use my sockies Simple: fill a sock with rice and pop it in the microwave until warm enough for individual (we use two minutes) comfort. (some like it hot, some not )

This has worked so well, that most if the time when one of my kids has an achie anything. They will ask or get the sock for themselves (depending on the kid/age) Before they even mention having a pain.

This was doctor approved and has been approved by ME an up all night Mom (one too many times)! I get to sleep, my kids get to sleep and no one wakes up screaming in the middle of the night more then once in a spurt.

Lisa

[tricia]

Oh, I like that sockie idea! I'll have to remember that one. Kyle has growing pains off and on still, he is getting quite tall, already 5'8 at 13. He is in a growth spurt now, and the jeans that we got when school began look like capris on him! ;D

[Cally]

I have a serious problem with doctors calling things "growing pains". When I was a kid, 3rd grade, I was playing basketball. My knee started hurting, and it came and went. I went to the doctor, he said growing pains. The pain got worse and more frequent, and we went back. Growing pains.

Well, actually I have a really bad knee. . .I've never gotten a dianosis on it, but I've been given strict instructions that if something hurts, to stop doing it immediately. Of course, my high school gym teacher ignored the PT's instructions and made me do squats anyway.

I guess I know nothing about kids, but because of my experience, I think I would take it a little more seriously. But then again, it seems like there are lots of other parents on here who say its normal-so what do I know???

[Marci]

I would get it checked out. I remember a neighbor a teen girl who had pains in her legs and her Dr told her it was growing pains. Turned out she had cancer, Luckily they caught it in time and she did survive but I would have a Dr (or two) check it out.

[Chrisnstar]

My oldest son went through a tremendous growth spurt pre-puberty and into his early teens. He developed Osgood Schlatters' syndrome. Basically, his knees didn't grow at the same rate as the rest of him and he had a lot of pain. It has followed him through out life and made his love of competing in sports difficult and hampered his career in the Marines.

chris

[noblesseoblige]

Rolf, Jr had a terrible time with growing pains. Since he hated milk I always had to be sure that he gets enough Calcium. I put him on a good balanced mineral supplement at the time. It did lessen the pain, but it only lessened it, it won't go away completely.

[Newfygirl]

My oldest son (age 6) has complained from time to time of growing pains. he has ZERO tolerance for pain so its really hard to tell if its serious pain or not. Took him to the chiropractor for the first time yesterday and found out his pelvis is tipped to the left - it can be corrected, but it may or may not be the cause of his pains.