DS complaining of leg pain at night - growing pains?

[BertieBotts]

He's 5 but this has been happening on and off since he was about 3. At first I thought it was related to potty training and was constipation which he was feeling for some reason in his legs instead of his tummy. But now he has no problems with witholding poo and it's still happening.

He will cry and tell me his legs are hurting and he can't sleep. He does seem to genuinely be in pain. Sometimes I give him calpol and this helps him go back to sleep, although now we are abroad and you can't get nice, sugary calpol, you can only get bitter orange horrible tasting medicine - we usually bribe him with sweets if he needs it. I don't really want to give him sweets in the middle of the night so I let him get into bed with me and rub his legs and he usually falls asleep. (If I do the same in his bed he wakes up again later). Actually TBH I used to sometimes give him fruit squash instead of calpol and this "worked" too, as in it calmed him down enough to go back to sleep.

Is this what they call "growing pains" or could it be something else and should I take him to the doctor or is it something he'll just grow out of?

As it has been going on for 2 years on and off, it seems wise to seek medical opinion

take him to the gp but also look at vit d supplements, iron supplements and magnesium spray or epsom salts baths. they can all help with muscle pain. but gp as well

My middle dd has had this since 4 ish , she s 10 now and still happens maybe once or twice a month where she wakes crying with leg cramps and takes ages to get back to sleep. It does seem to sometimes happen more often after P E or sport events.

Shouldn't need vitamin D as we're in the south of Germany. But I'll ask his paediatrician.

Not particularly bendy or flexible (I am though!) and I have no idea if he's flat footed (I was though!)

my ds is 5 too and it's exactly ss you describe for us.
dh recalls having significant growing pain as a child. We just give a dose of calpol if required.

We had this with DS throughout his primary school years (thankfully not every night!) - I think it was a combination of a lot of sport and growing pains. DH used to rub his legs and sometimes I gave him a hot water bottle. Last year he could barely bend his legs when he came downstairs in the morning, so stiffened up overnight!
He is now 13, taller than me and still has them/sports injuries, but usually moans a lot less

I definitely suffered with growing pains myself as a child.

Hypermobility. Get him referred, he may need inserts in his shoes like my son x