Daughter Waking up in the Middle of the Night W/leg Pain

My daughter has that too and we tell her it's growing pains. We have special growing pain lotion (relaxing lavender baby lotion) that we rub on there. We rub it on her legs before bed to relax her muscles.

My daughter used to wake up in the middle of the night with leg pain as well. I give her multivitamins with supper every night and that has stopped them.

LM,

Try Banana's, when my son played football he would get leg cramps also, the doctor said that the potassimun in bananas help with that. I also tried it after my legs starting cramping after walking and it really worked. If she doesn't like banana you could try a potassaimun pill they work the same. Best of luck

what works well for my daughter (she wakes up about 2x a week..she is also 6) is biofreeze. just roll on (use the roll-on version) and it works instantly w/o meds and you can use is regularly.
tami

Hello ~ My 4 year old also has this problem....i bought her a teddy bear that is stuffed w/flaxseed. We were either giving her motrin or tylenol every night...& it takes awhile to work. I bought it at an arts and crafts fair about 2 years ago (sorry, I can't think of the name....I'll do some digging to see if I can come up w/it) When her leg starts to hurt she says it's time to warm up teddy so we pop him in the microwave for about 40-60 secs almost instant relief....when she first started having the leg pain she was in so much pain that she didn't want to be held or touched she would just scream & cry.

The website is relaxwithflax.com (she has scented and unscented)she's in waterford, mi. I may have to get another one for me scented for some aromatherapy ;0)

BTW we did have xrays & an MRI (for the MRI she did have to be put to sleep) done to rule out anything serious only b/c the pain was always the right leg & same area and was almost a nightly thing (waking her up) for almost a month...she still has the leg pain but not as frequent...she senses the pain coming on before it gets to bad.

Hello. Sorry to hear about your daughter I know that it is miserable for both of you. My sister was having the same problem with her 3 year old. She ended up discovering that she was sensitive to wheat. Every time that she would have wheat she would wake up all night with leg pain. So maybe it is wheat or some other food sensitivity or allergy. Good luck.

When I was little, my legs woke me up all the time. I would cry sometimes they hurt so bad. Went on for years and years. Try having your daughter take a nice warm bath before bed to relax the muscles. If that doesn't work, gently rubbing her legs til her legs are more relaxed. That's about the only thing that worked for me as a kid.

Hello,

Pains like that in the middle of the night are the worst. You have some good suggestions here but I would suggest you either put her in a hot shower (as hot as she can handle) and have her continue to streach it out while in the shower or have her get into an epsom salt bath. You can also make compresses with a washcloth soaked in warm to hot water and epsom salt. The bath would probably work the best. Remember to keep the affected area warm afterward so it doesn't cramp up again.

I hope she finds relief soon -

S.

All 3 of my children had leg pains, that woke them or kept them up at night. We concluded they were growing pains, and they wre always worse after a day of activity. Our only solution was Tyenol or Motrin, but we were able to figure out somewhat if there was an active day, and they have had pains the day before, then we knew they were getting ready to grow and would give them some meds before bed, which did work.

Greetings!

You've received a lot of information! I have an associate who helped her daughter overcome the leg cramps. Would you like some details on what criteria is very important for choosing an effective, well made calcium/magnesium/mineral/D3 supplement?

While I think it is always best to go as natural as possible the milk at night can set up other problems.

I hope that your daughter, and you, get some relief soon.
warmly,
M.

Try having her drink milk and see if that will help.
Perhaps cold baths or compresses to keep the swelling down.

Another thing it might be is she might be mildly dehydrated; if she doesn't get enough water, the body pulls it from the muscles. Try giving her more juice and water.

hi m,y name is D.. i had a foster child with the same problem. the peditrician said the same thing but then the foster mom who had a younger sibling with the same problem took the chid to a orthopedic bone doctor. both boys where dignoase with kolars diease ( unsure of the spelling)the doctor prescribed braces called twister cables that were attached to corrective shoes . both boys out grew the leg pains at night after wearing the braces. the doctor explained kolars diease as the hip and legs are just out of alinment a little bit.

Take her back to the doctor. Get an mri.

Hmmm... I'd agree with the potassium (as well as adding in magnesium as lack of this triggers cramping in the legs - think charlie horse.). See if you can find a good supplement for kids in the health food store for her if she's not fond of certain fruits & veggies that naturally supply it.

WATER intake is a HUGE key here. Is she getting enough? I'm not talking about juices or milk - water flushes the system and lubricates the connective tissues as well as other benefits.

My son experiences leg pains/ but I feel he has them for the lack of water - or growing pains. I know in my work I have seen this occur, but usually depending on the case, it can be both legs at the same time. I am lucky enough to be a CMT & Reflexologist - so I have all the tools I need at my ready to help my family when I need to. You can massage her - just do it very, very gently. Even lightly laying the hands can help. She's in pain and she is upset - you need to calm her down. Have her take breaths (I have my son breath in as I count to four and he exhales as I count to five. Works great, and he's only five. We've been doing this for a few years - so he totally knows what works for him and does not ask for Motrin or anything like that as he wants me to massage him. Kinda nice to see at that age, honestly!).

As your daughter calms down and/or the Motrin kicks in - whichever you choose - use olive oil (this is best - everything else is not the best on the skin for this work) to LIGHTLY stroke up towards the heart from the feet. Go with your daughter's comfort level - she's in charge. Don't knead the tissues like it's dough - that can hurt as the muscles are swollen.

If it keeps up - consider taking her to see someone for some work to help her out and get her through this stage. The extra benefit if you do - massage will indeed help boost her immune system. It does not need to be a full-body by any means. You could have them address the legs and see if someone will work the feet (Reflexology). There's tons of benefits for kids - I see them daily with my own.
Good luck~

Try these thing....
A calcium Magnesium supplement
A banana a day
A cup of gatorade before bedtime
Washing her legs and feet with ivory soap before bedtime.
If she wakes up with the symptoms, stand her in a tub of warm water and suds up her legs with ivory soap. Rinse slightly with warm water, put socks on her feet that you rubbed with dry ivory, turn iside out (where you rubbed the socks) Put slices of a bar of ivory soap under sheets. (I know it sounds ridiculous but I googled it and as crazy as it sounded I tried it and it helped me!

Try stretching her legs and a massage before going to bed at night. Lots of fluids too.

My 13 y/o daughter wakes up in the middle of the night with horrible leg pains, most of the time she will cry because it hurts so bad.She is very active and muscular too. Her pediatrician says that it is growing pains that there is nothing that you can do about it. So i started give her ibuprofen but she said that it never helps. She told me that when she does wake up with leg pain now that she waves her leg back and forth across her sheets/ blankets and her leg will like go not numb but, it won't hurt no more and that she ends up falling sleep. Also they can take hot baths or give them tonic water with Quinine before bedtime. I hope that you will find something to help your daughter because i know it is hard to sit and know that something is hurting them but there is nothing you can do about it.

A calcium/magnesium supplement will help your daughter in more ways than one. The magnesium helps relax muscles and nerves and the calcium, of course, with bones. I use one that also has vitamin D.

Another thing that will help is potassium. My kids are very active in sports and they use a sports drink with natural sugar and 125mg of potassim per 16oz serving. They have never had muscles cramping up on them.

If you would like to know what I use, call me at ###-###-####.

Hope this helps!

Also, I LOVE your attitude (in your A little about me). Did you know that if you laugh 12 times per day, it makes your healthier?

My son has the same problem, I have occasionally too. Our doctor said that it was a lack of potassium, eat bananas. My son liked bananas and it worked, but he got tired of them quick. Because he is a gymnasts and works out alot he really needed to continue the potassium so now he drinks gatorade that has potassium in it. Works well for him.

How are her vitamin and electrolyte levels? Has her pediatrician talked to you about that? If your daughter is very active and muscular, she may need more "muscle food". Bananas are great to help ward off leg cramps... it's something about the potassium I think. Also, how is her calcium intake?

If it's a muscle spasm... do you have a heating pad with a light setting? If she wakes up, you can put it around her leg for five or ten minutes and then turn it off for five or ten minutes. Rinse and repeat a few times and see if that helps relax the spasm.

If it's muscle swelling... you can try icing the area to decrease the swelling... you can alternate ice and heat, gently and carefully over 30 minutes or so. If one feels better to her than the other... go with the one that works.

I'd look into what's causing it too... if she is working out too much, then she might need to rest for a few days and give those muscles time to settle down. She can stretch, walk, keep moving, but nothing too strenuous for those muscles.

Hope that helps... Good luck!

take her to a chiropractor. Or an acupuncturist. Obviously this is something beyond the realm of a general practitioner or pediatrician. Skeletal can affect muscular.

try giving her a banana for a snack before bed. potasium helps with that.

Is is a muscle cramp...like a charlie horse or a pain...like growing pains? My son has terrible growing pains...and you never know when they are going to hit. Massage and hot compresses help until the motrin gives in.

If it is cramping I would talk further to your Dr. about stretches she can do before bed, vitamins, increased potassium and calcium.

I had terrible growing pains when I was little. The only thing that helped was my parents rubbed a muscle rub on my legs - I think it was Bengay?? It smells kind of bad -but it always worked and was the only thing that helped.

Hello,

I am a certified nutritionist/wellness consultant and Shaklee distributor. Often times with kids leg pains they are caused from growing. Using a good quality calcium/magnesium/vitamin D supplement is the best natural solution. If you would like more information or would like to view Shaklee's chewable cal/mag, here is the link...
http://avwellness.myshaklee.com/us/en/products.php?sku=20146

Have a great day,
A.

I used to have that when I was growing up. I was a dancer and had class daily. I can still remember the pain and get it occasionally now. I found that it was worse after a recital or competition. The best thing I did was take Tylenol and a warm bath or used a heating pad. Although heat isn't always the best for muscle soreness, it made me feel better! By the way, massage definitely did not make it feel better!

It could be growing pains as well. I remember lying in bed and my legs hurting. I remember stretching my legs by pulling my ankle up behind me (so my leg was bent) to stretch my thighs.

Perhaps a kids yoga type video that would help with stretching might work. Do Epsom salts work for muscle repair? If it is from being active that might help. Or perhaps a warm bath as well. I would continue with the children's pains meds, too if it seems to help. Good luck!

When my son was the same age as your daughter we went through a similar experience. He also was very active and my first thought was that he pulled muscles. He went through a lot of Tylenol and Motrin which didn't help for long. His pain was in the legs and occasionally his arms. It seemed to always wake him in the middle of the night also. It was on and off for a few years. We actually at one point had x-rays and took him to an orthopedic bone specialist to be looked at. We weren't sure if it was a form of arthritis or just growing pains. They eventually subsided but it took some time. I do remember that warm compresses to the area seem to relieve the pain a bit. I feel her pain and yours ,it seems that when our children are suffering with anything we feel it just as much. Good Luck.

I would give her either a BIG cup of warm milk before bed or a calcium/magnesium supplement (of about 500mg calcium) She could be having leg cramps. Massaging leg cramps does hurt. The other thing is some kids REALLY do have growing pains.

Hello LM, Heat works well. Do you have an electric blanket she can sleep on if not under at night? Hot baths when she wakes can help also. A heating pad on the leg that hurts? Hope this helps, good luck.

She should try a good, absorbable calcium. It is very hard to absorb enough calcium. Our skeletal frame is made up of 80% calcium. Calcium is very calming to body. The first signs of a calcium deficiency are leg and foot cramps. These herbs will help with the side effects, but with the right calcium supplement the cramps should go right away. Yucca is a great herb for pain. Tumeric is an anti-inflamatory. They both work wonderfully.

Potassium in necessary in a growing child's diet. Bananas, sweet potatoes, orange juice are tops on my sons list.

This happens to my daughter all the time and it started around five yrs. I tried to massage her leg but it didn't really help. My kids hate medicine so that was not an option. I tried a warm bath, to let her leg just soak awhile and that did it. In fact it is the only way to get rid of the pain completely and quickly. It works every time, she gets in for about 10 minutes sometimes less and everythings better. Warm bath soothes almost every growing muscle, joint pain. It will get them back to sleep and if you have to do it again, well pretty easy remedy to just run some bath water! I hope this helps your little one and every other mom/dad looking for some way to help this pain. If you all are the same as me, it hurts us just to see them hurting so!! God Bless and Best of Luck, C.

Have you tried elevating her legs at night? If it is swelling as the doctor suggests, perhaps elevation and possibly some compression would help?
My son (7) has had this issue off and on for a few years. I admit I didn't try to elevate (other than when I was in there massaging), but it never occurred to me that it could be swelling. Motrin and massage have gotten us through many a restless night.

My daughter occasionally wakes up in the middle of the night with pains in her legs. I do attribute it to "growing pains" and set a heating pad on low and wrap it around her leg/calf. She usually falls right back asleep and is fine for the rest of the night. She isn't one to take Tylenol or Motrin (she can't stand the taste of any of the flavors), and the heating pad seems to work. Good luck!