GROWING PAINS AT 3?

[frenziednester]

My son is going through growing pains (which I believe him about, as I remember them and they chuffing hurt!), but I have been checking the archives and other posters have said it happens between 5 and 9 as a rule. I remember mine at 7-8 years old and also the frustration that my parents didn't believe me, which I also see is common from the archive threads. DS is only 3, but a big lad for his age, and I wondered if anyone else has a preschooler with the same issues? I am trying calpol and massage atm - does anyone have any better ideas?

[paulaplumpbottom]

Take him to the doctor to make sure thats what it is.

[Madora]

Agree - take him to GP. But here are some tips to help at night as my son had severe night pains for some years from aged 2:

1. use ibuprofen as it works far quicker and is anti-inflammatory (do not use if child is asthmatic).
   
2. get child to straighten leg and to stretch his toes towards his nose, then to point them, repeatedly for a few minutes.
   
3. massage legs before bed time and do the above stretching exercise too.

[WigWamBam]

Dd started with growing pains at about 3 and still gets them regularly at 5. She's also tall for her age, although whether that's relevant or not I don't know. I also find Ibuprofen better than Calpol, and agree that gentle stretching and massage are useful

I also agree that you should get him checked out first though, in case it's something else.

[Mercy]

Similar to WWB, my dd started getting these at around 3, most often at night. She is now nearly 6 and has been suffering on and off over the last few months.

And has grown about 3 inches during that time, and is still one of the smallest in hr class!

[cameroonmama]

My ds is almost 3 and was a fabulous sleeper until just recently when he has been waking at night almost every night, often complaining of sore legs. I hadn't considered growing pains until reading your post I thought he was possibly just entering that bad dream phase. I'll try some ibuprofen and mention it to the health visitor.

[fruitful]

DD is 4.5 and the size of an average 3-yr-old; she's been getting leg pains for about 18 months now. More often at night. The GP said it was growing pains. We do nurofen and massage but we try to make minimal fuss and be very boring - it is often hard to tell if she is really in pain or just awake and wanting a fuss. Sometimes she is clearly in pain though so it is real.

[orangeblosson59]

my ds had them from age 3-4 on and off pain was so bad he was crying doctor was very thorough refered us to hospital but examination and tests showed nothing gradually the pains past but only ever gave him calpol

[EmmyLou]

Hot water bottle/lavender wheat bag work for us. Sometimes means DD2 can do without the calpol.

Suprised to hear there is a 'minimum age' consensus. Knowing that she gets growing pains (leg ache) now, when I look back, I remember her waking and crying inconsolably a few times when she was a baby - I remember her little leg feeling hard and knotty under my hand so could have been cramp but part of me wonders if it was growing pains even then. On these occasions she was a nightmare to settle and the only thing to do was take her on a long drive in the car.

She's average height for her age, very sinewy and like a coiled spring. She tends to be very restless and jumping around a lot the night before a bout of pains.

[decafskinnylatte]

I'd back up the previous posts recommending he be seen by a doctor just in case.

My ds suffered from night time pains in his legs and arms for a couple of weeks. When we had him checked out he was diagnised with a streptococcal (sp?) infection in his throat (we hadn't noticed anything wrong with his throat - how bad a mother did I feel?!) and the doc. said that the pains were most probably linked to the infection; apparently arthiritic pains are quite a common side effect...

[nulnulcat]

over past few weeks dd keeps waking up in the night really crying and telling me her legs hurt her, she is really distressed and it takes ages to settle her back down usually in my bed! have been giving her calpol, mentioned it to my mum and said i wondered if it was growing pains but she told me it couldnt be as she too young, she is 3 and has just had quite a big growing spell. dont want to take her to drs and seem an over anxious mum though as she has been ill a lot and we seem to be there all the time with something or other

[jumblesale]

I had this. My mum was told it was growing pains, which she thought was rubbish. I ended up going for an x-ray, it was so bad (there was nothing wrong). The only thing which soothed it (after a night where it was so bad I had to crawl along the landing to my parents' room!)was to run a flannel under the cold tap and wrap it around where it hurts (in my case, my calves). It sounds crazy, I know, and it feels horrible, but it's better than that awful pain.
If you read up on 'restless leg syndrome' you may find it sounds very similar, although this is apparently only supposed to affect women over fifty. I feel so sorry for your little ones, as I've been there and it left me in tears. It's a big comfort to have mum or dad just rub your legs, too. Hope this might be of some help...

[Madora]

Growing pains are not always caused by cramp - sometimes it is joint pain or referred pain from a variety of causes (some benign, others not) - well worth getting checked out. Before you do go to the GP though I suggest you keep a diary for 2 weeks where you record the time of day/night, precisely where the pain is located and how long the pain lasted. I found with my son that if I just massaged it and didn't give Nurofen he would wake up later with worse pain. But his pains were caused by poor muscle tone which then put strain on his joints. BTW a hot water bottle often helps too as soes massaging the muscles before they go to bed (helps stop them tensing up).

[cameroonmama]

since posting a couple of days ago, I have been giving ds nurofen each night and he has slept through without waking 7 to 7! I will try tomorrow night without the nurofen and see what happens.

[Madora]

How did it go?