7 Year Old Complaining of Cramps in Legs

I would also look into the calcium too. I used to get leg cramps and only drinking milk in the evenings helped. But I also had some "issues" that prevented me from going to school as I hated it too.

Why haven't you taken him to the doctor? There are lots of reasons for leg cramps: lack of calcium, magnesium, and potassium, to name a few, and the only way is to do a few tests. Take him to the doctor.

Bananas are good for cramps in the legs. They have worked for me.

I know this may sound gross but my mother-in-law read somewhere that a teaspoon of mustard stops the cramps within minutes....that's all she does now and it takes the cramps away! Another remedy is pickle juice. Here's what I found on the internet. I hope it works for your son :)

Mustard For years coaches have given mustard to their athletes with leg cramps. Cramps are sometimes caused by a deficiency in acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that stimulates your muscles to work. Mustard has acetic acid, which helps the body make more acetylcholine. Take a spoonful or two of mustard.

Pickle juice As with mustard coaches have given pickle juice to their athletes with leg cramps. Cramps are sometimes caused by a deficiency in acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that stimulates your muscles to work. Pickle juice has acetic acid, which helps the body make more acetylcholine. Take a few ounces of pickle juice.

I'm not sure of the name, I believe it's called Anschlager's syndrome, but it's when the bones are growing and the ligaments and tendons are stretching to match that growth and it's painful. My younger brother and my sons both experienced this. Ibuprofen helped and we massaged their legs. Ankles, knees and hips hurt, because that's where the tendons and ligaments are connected. It will pass, but growth spurts is when it hurts the most. Check it out with your pediatrician just for safety's sake. As far as him not liking to go to school, have a discussion with his teacher and see what's happening in the classroom and take a look at what's going on at home. Kids manifest stress in a variety of ways.

Bananas are a good source of potassium which helps counteract high levels of lactic acid which can cause cramps.

I'd honestly recommend a few things here:

1. Speak with your pediatrician to see if these are true growing pains. All the areas you mention have growth plates (epiphyseal plates) that may be causing the pain. Or, it could be related to muscular issues as he grows/ages.

2. See a dietician to see how you can incorporate more foods with essential nutrients into his diet. Calcium can come from so many different sources - broccoli, yogurt, spinach, etc. A dietician will work with what he likes to eat and help you make sure he gets the nutrients he needs.

Good luck!

Im sure maybe some of it is because he may not want to go to school, but if it is full on growing pains then i feel for the little guy. I am very tall and started having them around 5 and they would hurt really bad, especially at night. My parents would have to rub my legs with bengay (yuck) and i would have to take something for the pain. That lasted for a LONG time - I mean years. Warm baths also helped. Hang in there!

My mother-inlaw said that children can get cramps in legs if they are growing to fast as well. Has your son had a growth spurt lately.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to increase calcium and potassium in his diet. Many kids don't eat enough dark leafy greens which are the most affectively absorbed forms of calcium. The supplements in milk and dairy don't get absorbed as easily.

But, it sounds like growing pains. We use Hyland's Leg Cramps on our little ones when dealing with growing pains. It works in less than a minute in most cases and won't effect the liver like tylenol and other medications.

there was another post like this recently. check out: http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/8860064106498031617

I've only heard of calcium deficiency causing leg cramps. Is he having cramps or pain? A cramp has a squeezing sort of feel to it while a pain is constant. You could try having him take a calcium supplement. Recently they have discovered that we need Vit. D3 to more efficiently utilize the calcium. The supplement should also have magnesium. I think that you can also buy potassium supplements.

I suggest that you take your son to a podiatrist. A podiatrist is a doctor specializing in disorders of the feet.

I had pain in my legs when I was in grade school. My father would rub the with his work roughened hands and that would help. Heat also helped. Eventually they took me to see a podiatrist and we learned that my flat feet weren't the usual sort of normal flat feet that do not cause pain. My feet are missing a ligament, tendon or something so that the bones spread out more than normal when I stand. I did exercises to strengthen the muscles in my feet and wore custom orthotics in lace up supportive shoes for several years. The pain stopped. In my twenties I discovered that I didn't need to wear the orthotics or lace up shoes. And that I had developed an arch.

Arnica cream rubbed on his legs will stop those growing pains from hurting.

Also you can make green leafy vegetables (kale, mustard, spinach, Swiss Chard, collard greens) three times a week to add calcium that is digestable to his diet and yours.

Updated

Arnica cream rubbed on his legs will stop those growing pains from hurting.

Also you can make green leafy vegetables (kale, mustard, spinach, Swiss Chard, collard greens) three times a week to add calcium that is digestable to his diet and yours.

Calcium is also very important for muscle cramps. Find a liquid Calcium/Magnesium supplement and have him take it daily.
People think that you only need calcium for bones but, you also need it for muscles.
Also keep in mind that as they are growing that bones get longer faster than muscle, then kids get "growing pains". So stretching several times a day can help. I found that stretching with my kids in the morning helped me and them. Soon we all felt better!
I use a liquid calcium called Oste-Cal. I also heard that Fred Meyer has a good one.
Good luck!

It seems your son may be suffering from growing pains as my daughter has been since age 3. She had the screaming fits too, so much so that I had taken her to ER and asked for leg x-rays which were negative. Over the years since then I have tried bananas, potassium, but nothing seems to change her pains (which for her are always behind the knees) and I was told there really is no preventive measure. Her doctor told me that when she gets these pains to immediately give her children's pain relief so I now carry it in my purse. I have applied heat and massage which seems to help along w/the pain relief, but at age ten she still suffers though much less often. I am told that some suffer into adulthood from these pains and that there is really nothing that can be done except to get them pain relief as soon as possible.

I'm pretty sure they make orange juice with added potassium. At least they used to.

It could be growing pains too.

One option you could give him is that he either has to deal with the pain or eat potassium rich foods. You might even give him a trial period of 2 weeks or something. He has a potassium food every day for 2 weeks and if it doesn't help, you won't push it. If it does help, he'll continue eatting potassium foods. Something like that. After 2 weeks, he's likely to be acclimated to more foods and willing to eat them even if they don't help his cramps.

Potassium is depleted daily so remember to get enough foods on a daily basis...I would try this and see if it helps (potatoes are also high in potassium) and if it doesn't, I would go to the doc, there could be something more serious going on than just growing pains.

Kind of sounds like growing pains.

But I suffer from Charlie horses that hurt hurt hurt - so I take a multi vitamin and drink SmartWater - with electrolytes.

I would like others - suggest you try the food/vitamin route before the Tylenol. Warm bathes the like. I'd also follow up with your doctor to see what other advice they may give.

calcium is what he needs. Took care of my leg cramps, not just milk. Try a calcium supplement.

It could also be calcium. I had cramps all my life--painful ones--but when I finally asked my doctor about it, he gave me two shots of calcium... and the pain went away. I'm not sure it's the same for your son (since I don't know how males and females respond differently), but I still get leg cramps if I don't take calcium regularly. Once I feel a twinge, I take a few tablets, and the next day I'm fine.

I'd take him to a doctor to see what might be causing the pains. I know that kids as young as five could go through growing pains, too.

Good luck!

My friends son has pains in his legs (he's 6) and the doctor told her it was growing pains.

'couple of years ago, if I recall correctly, potatoes were being advertised as higher in potassium than bananas. (The campaign was essentially 'potatoes have gotten a bad rap as empty carbs but they still have all the good things that caused generations before to prize them.')

My son also had terrible leg cramps. They went completely away when he got custom fit orthotics. My kids all have flat feet. 2 of them need orthotics because of leg or foot pain, the other one has never had any pain. The Dr. said that running around all day while your leg isn't properly aligned will frequently cause leg cramps (mistakenly labled growing pains) at night when the child lies down. In grown-ups or older children, it will cause shin splints. The Dr. took x-rays and didn't just say I needed to purchase $300 orthotics to fix the problem. He took the time to examin my kids and said that if they weren't having pain, they didn't need them.
$300 was not very much to pay for a pain free child. Most insurance companies will pay for them now.
A pediatrician may not know about leg pains and orthotics, nor will a regular podiatrist (foot Dr.). We went to a pediatric podiatrist.
Your pediatrician should be able to do blood tests to check for nutritional deficiencies, however, my youngest has always been a picky eater and underweight for his height and the Dr. has never suggested he might have a vitamin or mineral deficiency. It is actually quite easy, on an american diet, to get most of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. Just read a typical cereal box for nutritional content. The RDA's that are given are for adults, so most children don't need as much as is listed. Your son is probably not malnurished in potassium, but ask your doctor about possible causes of leg cramps. If he doesn't have an answer, go see a podiatrist who works with kids.
B.

Watermelon also has a lot of potassium.