Conference moira::parenting_v3

Does he get enough calcium?  It is not uncommon for this to happen to pregnant
women, and my ob told me it was a lack of calcium.  My husband occasionally
wakes up with leg cramps and has to go eat something.

FWIW,
Kristen

    Hi Diane,
    
    My 3.5 year old son has had the same thing in the past.  He'd wake up
    out of a sound sleep crying telling me his leg hurt (just below the
    knee).  I figured it was just growing  pains.  It lasted a few nights
    and then stopped.  He just had the same experience last week but now
    it's stopped.  So, I think it's growing pains.
    
    Hope this helps.  Oh, by the way, Ryan only got the pains at night
    too!
    
    Beth McGinnis

    What timing - I was just about to enter the same note.  My 2.4 year old
    daughter gets the same thing.  It only happens at night, about once a
    month or so.  Its always the same knee.  I attributed it to growing
    pains as well.
    
    I still wanted to have it checked out though.  We went to the doctors 
    just this past Monday and I described it to him.  He checked out her knee,
    all the time asking her if it hurt anywhere.  He couldn't see or feel
    anything.  He thinks its probably growing pains as well.  He did say
    that if it gets swollen, red, or starts happening more frequently (like
    every night) that we'll check into it further.  
    
    I just give her Tylenol and as soon as that kicks in, she's fine for
    the rest of the night.
    
    I'd be interested in hearing of others that have gone through this.
    
    Susan
    

   OK, ok... I'll ask.  What is "just growing pains"?  It seems the
   general attitude here to growing pains is "this is nothing to worry
   about, and will pass fairly quickly".  Why is that?
   
   Thanks,
   
   - Tom
   

Also see PARENTING_V2, note 294.  There are 22 replies, I believe.

If I remember correctly from that note, "just growing pains" is an
oxymoron.  Seems that growing pains can be QUITE painful.

Someone else may be able to explain this better (maybe more accurately), but I
believe that the explanation was that the bones were growing faster than the
muscle, so the muscle was being stretched a little too much as was painful. 
When the muscle catches up, it stops hurting.

I don't know why it would be more noticable at night, except that during
the day sometimes kids get so involved in things that they can ignore pain
better.  Evan used to do this when he was teething.

        Carol

Growing pains ... generally attributed to minor, non-specific skeleto-muscular
discomfort, particularly in children experiencing rapid growth.

What a catch-all!

Sometimes the problem may occur in the evening, and may affect the calves
and sometimes the upper arms ... In adults it's often called restless legs.

Anyway, as I understand it, there are a number of causes ... 

1. Insufficient or excess minerals in the blood stream due to growth.

2. Buildup of lactose in rapidly growing muscles due to stress from growth.

3. Different rates of growth of the various muscle layers and or tendons and
   or bones causing muscular stress (essentially the same as 2)

What can you do ?  Well balanced diet.  Extra calcium if recomended by a Dr.
(Note that giving your child lots of extra milk is the same as self-medication
and should not be done without talking to a Dr.)  Massage with a ubricant rub or
a simple linament might help.

Sometimes it occurs after some late nights ... regular and sufficient sleep
patterns usually help.

Stuart

(who has suffered this horror since childhood)

    My four-year-old does exactly the same thing.  It occurs only at night,
    seems very painful, and happens periodically for two or three nights in
    a row.  She has been to the doctor twice since it started (for other
    things) and he's checked out her legs.  His diagnosis?  "Just growing
    pains."
    
    By the way, someone compared it the leg cramps some of us (including
    me) suffer(ed) during pregnancy.  This seems to be different to me. 
    My cramps were in my calves.  These pains happen around Caileigh's
    knees.  I give her Tylenol and rub the sore area until she goes back to
    sleep (within minutes).
    
    -Tracy
    

    Christopher experienced this more often at night, but also
    occassionally during the day.  When I asked the Dr., he said that in a
    child if they fall and injure their knees a lot (which he did), they
    have a tendency to build up a cyst-like knot/deposit in back of the
    knee.  It can usually be felt in an exam, but he could never fell
    Christopher's.  It lasted on and off for about 6-8 mos and went away 
    when the cold weather started and he was indoors more - not falling on
    his knees constantly.  No one ever mentioned growing pains.  A
    "trauma-related problem" was what I believed he called it ....
    
    

    I had "growing pains" as a child. My mother gave me aspirin.

    Aspirin or Acetaminophen (Tylenol) may help ... but as an adult, I
    found no effect ... so it may to some extent be psychological.
    
    The trend today is to avoid giving aspirin to children, particularly
    if they have a viral illness (and it seems that kids are always
    down with viral illnesses these days) ... because of the danger of
    Reye's Syndrome.  Acetaminophen is todays drug of choice for children,
    but beware, as I mentioned in another note some time ago, it is
    easy to overdose with very dangerous results, unlike the more
    progressive over-dose affects of aspirin.
    
    Stuart

    I've had something that sounds like this for maybe 15 years now.
    My knee might get sore or stiff during the day, but at night it
    is like a knife going through it.  I think it has something to
    do with it being in a bent position for a long time which
    sets the pain off.  I'll often wake up yelling and moaning.  I had 
    x-rays done a long time ago.  Seems the back of my kneecap, which is 
    supposed to be smooth, gets bumps on it.  When my knee bends the 
    bumps irritate something or another.
    
    I was also told, "You'll grow out of it".  Guess they thought that
    was growing pains, too.
    
    Donna

    HI Stuart,
    
    I wasn't suggesting that you give a child aspirin for leg pains, just
    that "growing pains" themselves have been around for awhile and I
    remember having them as a kid. I also believe these things have a lot
    to do with an individuals physical makeup. Even as an adult I would
    experience leg pains at night until I took up regular exercise. I
    believe it has to do with my circulatory system.
    
    Jan

    My 5 year old goes through this and I know it is from growing because
    he will experience this for a few nights (maybe 3) and if I measure
    him after these attacks, I find that he has grown.  
    
    Cheryl
    

    When I was a child I experienced alot of pain in both knees... aches,
    it more like the right word.  My mom used to put hot wraps on and give
    me aspirin.  The doctor also diagnosed it as "growing pains."
    
    About 5 years ago [and about 18 years after being told I had growing
    pains], I woke up very much like .0's child.  The pain in my
    knee would shoot up the leg and cause so much discomfort... I wanted to
    cry too!  An orthopedic diagnosed it as chondramalysia-- degenerating
    cartilege in the knees.  

    
    My legs would periodically ache at night during childhood, too. 
    I never thought much about it until just now when I read this note. 
    I thought I was the only one in the world that experienced this.
    
    Interesting!
    
    

    The other very noticeable symptom is the knees will click/crunch/crunch
    when you are climbing stairs.  The interesting thing, though, is that
    the downward motion on stairs is much worse than upwards motion.  Going
    down you have to support your weight on your knees.  It just *sounds*
    worse when I'm going up and they crunch.  Eeeouw!
    
    Suggested exercises to strengthen the muscles and perhaps slow the
    degeneration includes leg lifts with little cans of soup of veggies
    tied around your ankle.  (very light weight).
    
    I would imagine that the symptoms would get worse for someone who is
    pregnant if you gain much weight.  (Chris-- don't tell anyone about my
    Nutella addiction, please!)
    
    Rgds,
    marcia