I was awoken by a stuffled cry.
In my sleepy haze I strained to hear… and eventaully heard it again.
Tears. Agonizing tears.
I got up and went to my son. He was sobbing quietly in his pillow, clutching his leg.
“My leg mom, it hurts.”
Wrapping my arms around him and holding on as tightly as I could, I felt my own tears forming, because I didn’t know what else I could do.
I remember growing pains when I was young. I remember how painful they were and how confused I was.
My parents would tell me, “Your growing!” And I would just shake my head. What does that mean?
Colton has cried in my arms a couple times now. And I am at a loss.
Can you help?
What do you do? Would you give your child something for the pain? How do you explain what a growing pain is?
I have never commented before, so hello.
Not to frighten you but if the pain is too severe, then take him to the doctors right away. My 7 year old had severe pain in her leg that we just assumed was growing pains and it ended up being a staph infection in her femur located right next to her growth plate. She was in the hospital for 4 days, and currently has a picc line for 6 weeks of iv antibiotics. ANYBODY can get what my daughter has, the staph that everyone carries somehow got in her blood stream and carried it to her femur. Its like a lightning strike, but anytime I hear the words severe growing pains, my heart sinks and I tell them my daughters story. I am praying it is just growing pains for your boy!
Hi, When my daughter complains of her legs aching we let her use the heating pad. It feels comforting to her and doesn’t seem to make it worse.
Ooooh I remember having those horrible pains when I was little. My mom always ran cold water over a wash cloth then wrapped the cloth around my legs. She would put another towel over the washcloth so my bed wouldn’t get wet, and it seemed to do the trick for me.
Most of our kids went through this for a few years. We found out that giving them liquid calcium magnesium every day seemed to help them not to get the aches. Once they had sore legs, any kind of heat (rice bag heated in microwave, heating pad, hot water bottle etc.) or even just rubbing their legs seemed to help. The biggest difference for us though, was to prevent them with the calcium/magnesium supplement.
Honestly? I don’t remember my kids experiencing growing pains at all.
But there have been other pains. The suggestions of heating pads and ice packs are good. I always found a back scratch and a head massage to be helpful, too.
Honestly? I don’t remember my kids experiencing growing pains at all.
But there have been other pains. The suggestions of heating pads and ice packs are good. I always found a back scratch and a head massage to be helpful, too.
We do heating pads with Boo. She gets bad pains that timing wise go with growth spurts. They always seem to fall when her appetite is on the rize, and her sleep is longer.
We do the massage and a hot corn bag the first time they wake up. If they wake up a second time I give them a dose of ibuprofen. There is no sense in not preventing the pain when it is simple to do. We both have a better day the next day!
I agree with the calcium/magnesium. That type of pain, if doctors don’t have any reason but “growing” can be relieved by taking enough calcium. It is a natural pain reliever, and helps the bones be strong and grow.
Calcium/magnesium for sure! Helped both of my boys with this issue.
my daughter has gotten them for years, I give her motrin and it seems to help. She’s so tall and is still getting them at 13. Started at age 6 I believe.
Terrible growing pains are common in my family, and I am no stranger to them. I once grew 6 inches in one year and experienced severe growing pains. My dad did for me what his father had done for him: he would mix together equal parts water, rubbing alcohol and baby oil. Before bed, he would apply it gently and lovingly with a washcloth and explain how it would help the pain go away. The alcohol is cooling when it evaporates and the baby oil helps it go on smoothly and replenishes moisture the alcohol takes away. My dad always said that the application is more important than the mixture. I know it always brought me comfort. Hope it helps!
Poor boy! Honestly I think his mamas love is the best medicine, but I wouldn’t hesitate to give him Tylenol or something similar if he is in a lot of pain.
As for explaining it, other than trying to put a positive spin on getting taller I don’t know that there is much you can do.
Try making sure he is getting enough potassium too, that can help with the cramping he might be feeling.
All those muscles and bones are stretching to make him a tall, healthy young man. I remember our son went through it as well. I agree with comments above — a lot of mama love, perhaps rubbing the leg(s) with a favorite lotion, and by all means tylenol! It’s so hard to watch your kiddo go through this – esp. when it disturbs their sleep, but it’s a normal part of many kids’ childhood. Before long, you will be remembering back…
I would say a heating pad first and see if that helps. if it continues I would take him to the Dr just to check. hoping he feels better soon, it is hard to watch them be in pain
My oldest daughter, who will be 14 next month, is still growing and she cries when she has her growing pains. It is indeed heartbreaking. Praying for your little one to quickly pass this growing spurt!
I am a massage student and I have so many children that I massage for these pains including my own. Gentle massage seems to help, both the legs and the feet. (Feet is another problem area). I use long sweeping strokes (relaxation techniques) in the afternoon or just before bed this helps relieve the pain. I try to get the mums to do it too as everyone knows mummy is the best one to fix things. I use oil as well, (there are ones out there that are suitable for children even with allergies) it is water soluable and wipes away quite easily when finished. Good luck it is awful when our kiddies cry out in pain.
The same thing happens to Abby! The only thing that helps her is me massaging it. And sometimes I will give her an ice pack.
My chiropractor told me to get her more calcium too.
I hope your little guy gets better!
xoxo
Please get your child checked by a doctor before dissmissing these pains as growing pains, the pain could be from any amount of illnesses, I won’t give you any examples, I don’t want to freak you out!
We give Nathan Children’s Tylenol and it seems to do the trick. His dad will massage his legs until the Tylenol kicks in and we sit with him and talk to him. He’s a tall kid and gets them often. We explained to him that his bones are stretching so he can become taller and that it’s hard work for his body. He seemed to understand that.
Funny I am reading this on a pukey night. I used to have the same pains. We called them leg aches. My mom would let me lay with her, lay on her side, and let me put my hurting leg between hers. I don’t know whether it was me being still or the warmth, but it really helped, and now that I am getting my turn to be up at night with a crying kid, I am hoping he has the same good memories. Vicks also seemed to work. When I tell people that I feel like Im talking about the dad on my big fat greek wedding, but mom thought vicks cured everything, and really, it seemed to!
For our three boys my husband always took some rubbing alcohol and well, rubbed it on while massaging their legs. It helped every time. It is tough, giving the simple explanation of ‘you’re growing’, but it doesn’t last forever. Good luck!
i have heard that growing pains are not really from growing but are a sign of a magnesium deficiency.
This might sound odd but I took my son to the chiropractor because of his severe growing pains. I took him in 6 months ago and we have not had a single waking up in the middle of the night event! what the chiropractor did was safe and extremely effective.
Also if you have one of those rice things that you heat up and it smells good too, do that. It’s a little safer than a heating pad that you have to plug in.
Praying for you and your little guy!
A warm compress seems to help. Also, massage. I don’t give ibuprofen for growing pains until no one in the house is sleeping…and it is 3am. Yeah…I do give in sometimes. But normally a warm compress and massage will do the trick.
I am so sorry for your son, and I can totally empathize with you. My oldest son has them, and when he does, they often hit him in the middle of the night. It might not the popular thing to do, but I will admit that I do give him Motrin for it, especially in the middle of the night. Honestly, I have tried rocking, comforting, and massaging, but it usually takes the Motrin before he can relax and go back to sleep comfortably.
I am so sorry for your son, and I can totally empathize with you. My oldest son has them, and when he does, they often hit him in the middle of the night. It might not the popular thing to do, but I will admit that I do give him Motrin for it, especially in the middle of the night. Honestly, I have tried rocking, comforting, and massaging, but it usually takes the Motrin before he can relax and go back to sleep comfortably.
When I was a kid, my grandmother gave me a hot water bottle for the pain. Every night my mom filled it with the hottest water she could get from the tap, and tucked me into bed with it. It became sort of a lovey to me, too, even when I didn’t hurt it comforted me.
My son is going through this same thing right now…. it rots!
My mom used to lay me down on the couch/bed and start by smoothing my hair …talking to me softly and telling me to pretend I was a noodle…floating in the pan!
It sounds so weird as a grown up … and my husband laughed and laughed the first time I said that… but it worked for me when I was a kid and it works for SuperBoy…. the idea of relaxing…being calm…breathing.. when we are in pain we don’t breathe well…we tense our muscles…that makes the pain worse I think ….
So goofy…but I’ll try anything when he cries like that!!
I’ve never commented before, but after reading this post and recalling my own experience with childhood growing pains, I thought I simply must comment. My mother also would provide something warm for my pains, like a hot water bottle, but also the “magic trick” for me as a little girl was a piece of cheese! Of course, this doesn’t really have an effect, but to a small child who believes it will, it is a great comfort
I can certainly remember waking up many times, with pains in my legs so bad I could barely walk and calling to my mother for a piece of cheese, lol. If i had my cheese and a hot water bottle, I would know all would be okay again soon. Maybe come up with your own “magic cure”, give your son a hot water bottle, and I bet before you know it he will be able to drift back off to sleep.
Good blog.. I got the good information in this The biggest difference for us though, was to prevent them with the magnesium supplement. I can totally empathize with you. My oldest son has them, and when he does, they often hit him in the middle of the night.thanks for the blog..keep it up..
magnesium.
I’m old so my doctor told my mom it was just growing pains and nothing could be done but maybe a baby aspirin. Funny neither of my sisters had them and they were both tall. I was the shorty.
When my nephew started getting them, my sister and I took him to the Dr and he suggested calcium. It actually lessened the severity within a few days. Of course now we know you need to keep a balance between calcium and magnesium so I agree with other posters on that.
Since magnesium is a “brain” mineral it’s important that everyone maintain proper levels, just as calcium is for healthy bones. Might I suggest adding a bit of yogurt for more calcium and beans, nuts and/or green veggies to your menu to help for all the family.
My son gets them. But, we have found that it’s not the “bone” that hurts so much as his muscles. Since he has Asperger’s he’s especially sensitive to pain. When it’s really bad we do pain killer, a bath, and then stretch his muscles and massage his legs. (usually it hits in his calves)
I’m not so sure if it’s actually “growing pains” as muscle cramps…or muscles stretching.