Growing Pains so often!

amother

Sun, Feb 11 2024, 12:15 pm

My 4.5 DS gets growing pains in his leg a few times a week. He wakes up in middle of the night clutching his legs and crying in pain! I give him painkiller medicine when he won't calm down without and eventually he goes back to sleep.

Is this normal? Maybe it's not growing pains?

amother

Moccasin

Sun, Feb 11 2024, 12:23 pm

My kid had this and we were told it’s growing pains over and over. I finally went to a foot doctor and she needed orthotics so badly her bone was being pushed into the wrong place. I’d recommend having a foot doctor rule anything out. I wish I had gone sooner.

amother

Pink

Sun, Feb 11 2024, 12:30 pm

I personally don't think growing pains are a real thing.

I think it's usually mineral deficiency, chronic infections like strep or lyme or some other sort of inflammation. Someone I know it turned out to be celiac.

Holistic mother on Instagram recently did a post on this.

amother

Poppy

Sun, Feb 11 2024, 12:39 pm

amother Pink wrote:

This.
Same shtussim as colic.

Check for chronic infection, bad posture, vitamin deficiency, mold in the walls.

All my babies were colic.
3 of them were gluten, all 4 of them lactose intolerant.
The first 2 I didn't know. They cried and cried and cried. One gained the other barely. It was such a struggle. Both ended up gluten and lactose intolerant as kids. I had to put them on a diet. And eventually slowly reintroduce dairy and gluten with gut support. The other 2 I stopped eating dairy/ gluten. And they magically became angel babies. I introduced then gluten/diary slowly over time and bh didn't have the pain, sleep and behavioural issues the other kids had.

amother

NeonOrange

Sun, Feb 11 2024, 1:14 pm

amother Pink wrote:

I'm the op of "I'm so scared". I ended pushing for an appointment today. I was sure Dr will so a full blood test. He said it's growing pains. I'm absolutely not comfortable with his decision. I told him so. He said to come back in 2 weeks if it continues. I won't be waiting the full 2 weeks. I think I'll go back next week. I think growing pains might be a real thing if it's occasional, not if it's very frequent.

amother

DarkGray

Sun, Feb 11 2024, 1:26 pm

amother Moccasin wrote:

Similar with my dd. Once she got orthotics, the growing pains mysteriously disappeared.

amother

Papayawhip

Sun, Feb 11 2024, 1:39 pm

So interesting. All three of my kids had/have growing pains. Just took two of them to rheumatologist, and he said absolutely no concerns he thinks is growing pains. They did blood work and a physical exam

amother

Papayawhip

Sun, Feb 11 2024, 1:39 pm

amother DarkGray wrote:

Similar with my dd. Once she got orthotics, the growing pains mysteriously disappeared.

Why would the pains only come at night? My kids only complain late afternoon and nighttime. And they grow out of it.

amother

DarkGray

Sun, Feb 11 2024, 8:39 pm

amother Papayawhip wrote:

Why would the pains only come at night? My kids only complain late afternoon and nighttime. And they grow out of it.

Mainly at night, though not only. For my daughter her arches were weak so when she stood up they would flatten. That made her ankles out of alignment and therefore her knees. Her most common pain was in her knees. I think after a full day of her wearing down on her joints, once she relaxed she would feel it. She’s mostly grown out of it, but once in a while she still complains of discomfort, especially on days with more stress on her joints (a lot of running around, trampoline park, etc.)

amother

Camellia

Mon, Feb 12 2024, 4:02 am

If it is leg cramps, make sure your kid is getting enough potassium (try a banana before bed every night). Leg cramps at night are not uncommon, and if it is both legs rather than the same one leg over and over, cramps could be it, they are extremely painful.

When one of my dd has leg pains, it means she needs new shoes. Even if they still fit, just seems like sometimes the support runs out. As soon as I get her new shoes, the leg pains disappear. So try that.

Also, I have a dd who has had leg pain on and off for years, orthopedist (3rd we've been to) said he thinks one leg is very slightly shorter than the other (like a quarter of a centimeter). We are still exploring this, but I think custom insoles or shoes may be the ultimate answer.

So seeing a podiatrist or orthopedist could also help. Definitely start with the pediatrician for a workup.

(I had lots of growing pains as a kid, but it was in a lot of places, not just legs, and there turned out to be an underlying cause but only found out when I was in my 30s. I don't want to get into it here because it really isn't relevant if it is just legs.)

amother

Snapdragon

Mon, Feb 12 2024, 5:04 am

Dd constantly complained of leg pain I was terrified of what it could be. In the end it’s bh a vitamin D deficiency. So yes while things should be looked into there is no need to panic in advance

amother

Ecru

Mon, Feb 12 2024, 10:01 pm

amother Camellia wrote:

Do you mind sharing?
Have a child with pain in more than legs, with no real answers…