Anyone elses child suffering from 'Growing Pains'?

[unicorn]

dd - age 6 (and half) keeps complaining that her legs are really aching.

I vaguely remember going through similar when I was younger.

Is there anything that can be done to help?

(she does seem to be suffering and it's not helping her behaviour at all.)

[NomDePlume]

I used to get them up my shins all the time when I was younger. I remember getting them from about 6 or 7 and they finally went when I was about 13. It was very uncomfortable and I remmebr it made me v twitchy too, couldn't sit down for too long.

[robinpud]

My dd used to cry her heart out at the same age due to pains in her legs. People said growing pains to me but I scoffed until GP mentioned it! She's now 9 with pins to die for if that helps!

[Flamesparrow]

I get aching legs still now since early childhood, so don't think of them as growing pains (mine might be different). They are worse in cold/damp weather.

Preventatively, the best thing is not to let legs/feet get too cold during the day (socks or slippers on all the time etc). But when it actually kicks in - calpol to take the pain away, a warm bath to warm them through thoroughly, and thick socks and trousers to keep them warmed up and help take the aching away. Chamomilla seems to help my DD too - I don't know if it is just that it calms her down though.

[bigdonna]

hi unicorn my dd is also 6and a half and keeps crying with pains in her legs and feet i hope her feet dont grow anymore shes a size 13 now.i just lie and rub her legs i also sometimes give her nurofen if really bad.My ds suffered with these too but seems to have grown out of them he is 4ft 8ins at 8yrs mind.

[Troutpout]

ds gets them in his legs...and dd gets them in her feet. It's always at nighttime . I had them as a kid too. I just give them calpol

[sunnydelight]

DS2 is 7 and has recently gone through a "growing pains" phase, as did DS1 at a similar age. I give calpol as long as it's not every night.

[KBear]

Yep - DD is 7 and gets them quite bad in her legs. I massage her legs for her if really bad - she has been known to wake up crying in the night with it.

[Lakota]

I used to get them in my heels as a kid. My dad got me an elasticated foot bandage thing. Not sure if it did much really but I felt better that they were being taken seriously.

[Lakota]

I used to get them in my heels as a kid. My dad got me an elasticated foot bandage thing. Not sure if it did much really but I felt better that they were being taken seriously.

[Passionflower]

Oh hell, I had these really badly as a child as well. Hope DD's don't get them, no sign as yet thank god but DD1 is only 5. They hurt like hell so please take it seriously when your DC's complain.

[Gloworm]

ds had these muscle cramps until we started giving him extra calcium, he is almost 4yr and we gice him calcium powder every now and again if he complains of sore legs at night. it always works.

[nannyme]

I was just thinking of booking our dd an appointment with the GP about this. She has been complaining of aching leg/legs a lot at night and I figured 'growing pains' as this is what I used to have. Don't remember my mother ever getting me checked or this ever being a formal diagnosis though! That's why I wanted to go to GP to see if I could get a more medical explanation than just 'growing pains'.

So is it a calcium deficiency that causes it? I know I got cramps while pregnant due to sodium deficiency and used to crave salty porridge at the same time!

I am rather relieved we are not the only ones, but gosh I feel sorry for all our ds's and dds as I remember them being jolly painful.

Liked the comment about the foot bandage and how it worked because it was being taken seriously - so sweet and so true!

[harrisey]

My dd1 has this and was referred to an orthopaedic paediatrician to see about it as she was waking up every night in tears.
He said a lot of people dont beleive in growing pains but he had seen too many cases of it not to take it seriously. My dd1 also has hypermobile joints (double jointed al over) adn this makes it worse apparantly as the joints are not stable enough to keep the legs still at night.
He suggested a low dose of children's ibuprofen at bedtime for a month and then stop it for a month unless the pains came back. Ibuprofen is better for any inflammation/muscle pain than calpol, or so he told me, as it is anti-inflammatory.
She is fine at night now most of the time unti yhe next growth spurt!