My 2 1/2 year old son (who's already taller than all of the kiddos in his daycare class), has been abruptly stopping what he's doing and bursting out into tears complaining that his leg hurts. We ask him to touch where it hurts and it's varied from his calf to his knee. Cameron doesn't cry often when he's in pain. Even when he twisted his ankle at the park. So when the tears started streaming we knew something was wrong.
This is the second "wave" of these painful outbursts in as many months and when we asked his teacher if anything happened at school she casually said, "No, not that I know of....It could be growing pains". I looked it up in my "What to Expect" book and sure enough, it was there.
I've already put a call in to his pediatrician and am waiting for her call back. In the mean time, have any of you mommies and daddies experienced the same thing with your little ones? And is there anything we can do during these spells to ease the pain for him?
Bless my husband's heart -- he was alone with him when the first spell hit my son. He was terrified and wanted to take him to the Emergency Room. The only reason he didn’t was because after about 5 minutes of my son’s crying and squirming in pain, he’d start back laughing and jumping around, singing and dancing.
Yep. Real.
Giving my son bananas every day (they have a lot of potassium in them which helps with muscle cramps) and massaging the affected area really REALLY helped a lot. Ditto ibuprofen to help with swelling.
Yes they are very real. My oldest had them the worst. Motrin, helped at night while she slept. Other than that, not much you can do. It will pass.
Yes, Yes, Yes.. Our nephew and niece really suffered with growing pains. They would also cry so hard my sister took my nephew to the doctor.. They started tracking his growth.. His were mainly in his legs (he is now 6'2 and a sophomore in HS) he wants to be 6'3 so he can be taller than his dad.. , my niece had chest type pains when she was younger..
The doctor suggested more fluids, bananas and more night time sleeping..
yes they are real. and are very pain full. My daughter complains mostly at night, but sometimes during the day. I do a compression type of massage on her legs and feet (squeeze his leg between your hands). you can squeeze surprisingly hard, the counter pressure feels good to them. You can try having him lay on the floor with his knees bent and feet on the floor, press down on his knee at the same angle of his thigh bone, like you are pushing his hip and knee into the floor( my daughter loves this one). and some good old tylenol or Ibuprofen if needed.
According to our pediatrican, they are real. My son had them starting about the age of your son, and has pretty much outgrown them by 7.5. We treated them with squishy cold packs and iburophen. I'd still check with your pediatrican, but that's likely what it is.
Yes they are real. When I was little they hurt so bad that I would cry myself to sleep. My son now is having them. Some peoples are not as bad as others. I just massage his legs and give him tylanol.
They are real, my youngest brother had them terribly. I remember my dad rubbing his legs with lotion or oil or anything to make it more comfortable ... the 'massage' seemed to help. Good luck, poor baby.
you bet your bottom dollar they are real!! I remember getting all the time and they were PAINFUL! My mom didn't ever try anything to help, so I don't have any tips :(
Yes! I actually remember going through growing pains. I would wake in the middle of the night with charlie horses and bone pain. My brother would walk me slowly around the room until the pain subsided.
I agree with the more fluids and bananas. A dose of motrin before bed on the days he complains might be helpful too. Motrin has a anti-inflammatory effect along with the pain relief.
I was older, 9 or 10, but I remember crying at night because my legs hurt as a child. My mom told me the same thing, they were growing pains. So I do believe they are real, but have no idea if there is any relief. Just check with your pedi and see what they recommend.
I didn't read the other responses so sorry if I repeat, but growing pains are actually real. When my son was about 11 months old he just fell to the ground one day and wouldn't walk and was clearly in pain. These episodes occurred over the next few months at various times so we ended up taking him to an orthopedic doctor and to my surprise, he told me that growing pains is a real condition. He told me that my son was a L. young, but it was possible. He said they typically occur in kids aged 2 to 6 I think, I can't remember the age range. We got blood work and x-rays and so far all tests came back normal for my son, so right now we are just thinking that he had growing pains. Since my son couldn't really talk when these episodes were happening, he would grab and point to his leg and cry and wouldn't stand on it. It sounds a lot like what your son is going through. Good luck, I hope all goes well.
Yep, growing pains hurt.
My son grew 4 inches during his 4th year and sometimes he'd wake up crying in the middle of the night.
His pains were anywhere there are long bones (upper lower arm/legs).
We tried rubbing, warm bath, heating pad, Aspercream and sometimes they helped, other times they didn't.
Once his growing slowed down again they seemed to ease off in frequency.
But then he shot up again 4 inches during his 6th year, and he did it again during his 8th year and the pains came back (but he was less frightened by them then).
He's 12 now, and I'm expecting another major rapid growth spurt anytime now, and I'm fairly sure he's not finished with growing pains yet.
I have no doubt they aren't real I went through them & now so are mine
Growing pains are real. However, I would recommend treating them naturally. My mom took me to a chiropractor who would realign my painful joints. I specifically remember my knees/legs. It was really gentle treatment and lasted longer than my mom massaging me. I would recommend Spector chiropractic. SpectorChiropracticDFW.com or call ###-###-####
My dd went through this around the 13 month mark. She seemed to grow 2 inches in 3-4 days. She couldn't sleep...she would wake up crying miserably and it was clear that her legs were hurting her. Rubbing them helped some but it was hard to watch her grimmace and jerk her legs in her sleep.
Yes, it's real. I remember getting them. My dtrs got them,but not as much as my son. He usually gets them at night, it wakes him up. Massage helps the best but once in a while I give him tylenol when it's bad.
Yes, they're real. But I haven't heard of kids as young as yours having them. Why not take him to the pediatrician and ask there?
I know they hit my godson hard in early grade school and my grade-school daughter also gets them occasionally.
If the pain is like a leg cramp, see if you can get him to take off his shoes and stand barefoot, feet totally flat, on a cold, hard floor -- not carpet, not outside, has to be hard and cool. Pressing down on the floor barefoot can help relieve calf cramps (I thought it was a myth until I myself tried it. It works for me but might not work on a wiggly kid his age). The pains do pass. Also try gentle massage though he might say that hurts worse.
Yes - youngest son got them, in the chest area! That was on the scary side, but the pedi checked him out and said it was growing pains! First I had heard of such and do not remember the other kids having them!
i heard a tsp of mustard helps.
Yes they are! I have 4 kids and all of them had growing pains. A little tylenol a warm bath or a massage seemed to help them. My 10 and 8 year olds still get them.
