Growing pains

It’s midnight. You wake up with a tear-streaked face staring at you.

“Mom, my legs hurt.”

It wouldn’t be so concerning except that it’s happening four nights a week, for months. Right?

So, what do you do?

• Scream (or sweetly say), “Your fine, now get back in bed!” Confidently roll over and go back to sleep.
• Pull the child up into bed with you and worry till they go to sleep, then scour Google trying to figure out what the heck is going on.
• Take them back to their room and massage their legs until they are able to go to sleep.

Growing pains…

• Are not really because of growth but we’re not really sure why they happen.
• Are located in the legs, sometimes in the arms.
• Occur at night (bedtime or 1-2 hours into sleep) or with activity.
• Occur at ages 3-6 years of age and again at 8-12.
• Are concentrated in the muscle and not the joints.

You should be more worried when there is..

• Swelling or redness
• Associated fever
• A limp
• Pain is consistent throughout the day

What do you do to treat your child?

• Reassure them that everything is OK
• Massage
• Warmth (heating pad)
• Ibuprofen if severe pain