Could my 5 yr old have..

[my-three-monkeys]

Growing pains?

Last night at bed time my usually happy DD1 was complaining of her legs 'hurting on the inside'. I have never heard her complain of this before and she ended up being overtired and distressed because she wasn't able to sleep. And so I am wondering about growing pains.....
Could this be growing pains, what age can they happen, and what can I do to help?

Thanks.

[boomba]

Oh your poor DD I am not sure on growning pains but my DS1 was waking some nights with sore legs..then he came down wiht a flu type thing? Maybe take her to the Drs if it is a regular thing?
Hope she is ok x

[Schmickers]

Possibly he could, yes. Is she walking around okay today? The thing that differentiates growing pains from other more serious problems is that they generally occur in the evening or night and are gone by morning, and the child has no ongoing walking problems associated with them.

There's not much you can do apart from heat (try a warm pack) and pain relief as required - you can use paracetamol or ibuprofen, depending on your preference.

[UntoldAngel]

Is she getting plenty of water? Dehydration can cause cramping especially in the legs at night... also a lack of salt can do the same thing from what i've heard
Hope they settle down soon for her... I think growing pains might be a little early IMO

[Neoma]

Sounds like growing pains. I had them when I was young and my kids have it too. Its horrible and I still remember the pain. It brings my kids DD11 and DS 6 to tears every time. As Schmickers said there isn't much you can do but I find that a warm bath, leg rub and heat pack relieve some of the pain. I used to use deep heat for myself and that helped me however I haven't used it on the kids as I am not sure if its suitable.

[my-three-monkeys]

Thanks ladies.

We havn't had any more trouble since that night.

I was thinking dehydration too, but DD is usually pretty good with fluids.

I can remember having the growing pains as a child too, but couldn't for the life of me remember how old I was....

Didn't think of a heat pack at the time but managed to soothe her off to sleep with rubbing her legs.

Replies have been great. I'll be armed and dangerous if it ever happens again!

[Trillian]

I remember that my second brother used to get them so bad he would be screaming in pain from them and Dad would have to rub his legs with deep heat to try to ease the pain. She may just have had a day where she did a lot of running and it was just a muscular thing.