Growing Pains - Redondo Beach,CA

Easy. I have helped soooo many kids (and parents) with growing pain. Go get Bluebonnett or Lifetime liquid calcium/magnesium - blueberry flavor and give him 1-2 tablespoons of it every night. Within a week, you should see a difference. On a regular basis, 1-2 teaspoons should suffice.

Let me know if you have any questions...and let me know how quickly it worked!

get from whole foods cell salt called Calc Phos 6X or 12X. he needs to take it first thing in the morning and just before the bed time. this is not the only homeopathic remedy that can do the trick w/o resorting to conventional painkillers, but others have to be individually picked by qualified homeopath, so try this first.
Good Luck
V.

Banana's before bed (for the K+... which is needed for muscles not to cramp) & massage.

Ibuprofen (motrin) to help reduce the swelling & inflammation is fine, but if you kick up his potassium levels & are doing upward motion massage (upward to avoid damaging the blood vessel gates, especially on legs), you'll find you need to do a lot less ibuprofen.

Physiology cheatsheet: In order to flex any muscle you have to use a Calcium (Ca++), in order for that musccle to STOP flexing you have to use a Potassium (K+). Our bones act as calcium "banks" so we essentially never run out of Ca++, but we DO run out of K+. Especially athletes and kids.

Two is a little early for growing pains, but I guess it could happen. Do you have lots of tall people in your family? My son gets them bad whenever he's having a major growth year. His first hit when he was 4 yrs old and he shot up 4 inches that year. He's had two other years like that (not in a row, thank goodness) Motrin helped sometimes, but not always. A warm bath or heating pad might provide temporary relief. Exercise, stretching, rest, nutrition - none of it made much difference with my son. His pains would still sometimes wake him up in the night. Try to ease the pain best you can and sympathize.

It could be JRA (juvenille rheumatoid arthritis) My grandaughter was diagnosed with it at the age of 3 & is on medication for it. She sees a rhuematologist regularly. Make sure it is not that because a lot of children are told they have growing pains when they really have JRA & if not treated, it can be crippling.

I have myalgia and I use heat and a body massager to help reduce the pain. A really good body massager like a Medi-Rub is very helpful. It makes it much easier for the person giving the massage to give an effective massage without getting to worn out. Please be careful with heating pads of the electrical nature. They can cause burns if they are left in one place and a person falls asleep. Using a rice bag or some other heat source like a water bottle is better because the heat goes away naturally. Always be sure there are no hot spots by shaking either of these. After the massage the heat should help him sleep.

Hi M. I,
Of course,growing pains are real. Apparently our bodies do their growing mostly at night - kids can grow an inch overnight! It is of course sporadic.

Go for calcium and magnesium, and plenty of water. There are chewable mag-phos tabs (homeopathic) available in chemists - these are great, and suitable for kids. Inexpensive too.

water is the biggest way of reducing / stopping cramps, and kids need huge amounts of calcium when growing, and magnesium helps muscles relax.

When I got leg cramps when PG, I would go and have a big glass of salvital - heaps of magnesium in that! (Salvital is an effervescent powder added to a glass of water we have here in Australia)

Good luck!

C.
http://www.tribalbaby.org

My son had/has incredible pains in his legs when he is growing. He has had them since before he was two. From age two to three he grew 11 inches! I used to just massage his legs until he fell back to sleep. Of course, I was exhausted, but he seemed to respond well to it. What about a cream used for muscle aches or the warm pads that athletes use?
S.

Morning!

I am relieved to know I am not alone with this 're-occurence' of 'growing pains'.

I have three children, 2 boys 6 1/2 & 5 and a girl 3. My boys started having severe pains in their legs and feet once they turned 2 and my daughter since just before she turned 2.

I have gone thru EXACTLY what you are now with my boys, and continue to with my daughter. Though, I have not tried Chiro's.

*Motrin is the remedy that helps my children best. (Just because it's fast acting) BUT I do not give them the full required dosage. A little bit does seem to go a long way. It makes me feel better AND sometimes I use Tylenol instead, which can be temporary relief depending on the severity of the pain.

In my family's situation, the pains taper off as the kids get older. The pains seem to resurface right before a big growth spirt now. My boys can communicate well enough to let me know when it starts to come on.

I can count on my daughter consistently crying and screaming with pain in the middle of the night, on days she does NOT nap.
I prepare her for a hopeful good night's rest by giving her Tylenol before she goes down for the night. She rarely skips naps but is beginning to let me know she no longer wants to take them.

I am so sorry 'M. I', I can go on and on with detail with what we've been thru.

The bottom line is 'It will get better'

FYI: My husband is a family practice doctor and he would rather a homeopathic remedy but Motrin helps best. We both suffered from severe growing pains when we were young, not as young as our kids though.

Hang in there ;)

Try giving him bananas... and apples.
These fruits, have TONS of things in it, which can help. These are whole foods which have hundreds of benefits.
Bananas for example, does help with muscles/cramps etc. Even Athletes eat it for this reason, and before their activities.
And perhaps, give him vitamins.. for kids. Animal Parade makes great ones.

Also try massaging his legs... and have him stretch daily. As for nutrition, make sure that your child gets enough iron, calcium and potassium. Drinking plenty of fluids is essential as well.

Here's a link:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_###-###-####_foods-can-aching-l...

Good luck,
Susan

My daughter, who is now 17, went through at least 3 phases of growing pains. The first 2 times I took her to the doctor. The 2nd time I insisted something was wrong so they took xrays and confirmed she was having growing pains. I gave her Tylenol and felt badly, but no worries - it is just for a short period time. I've always been against medication unless absolutely necessary (and still am). But, if it releives the pain for the short time they are going through the growing pains, it's well worth it. Her 2nd time she was 6 or 7 years and she was able to communicate how painful the pains were... i can only imagine when she was younger! Both at 2 and 6/7 yrs I also rubbed her legs with massage oil and that seemed to help. Her 3rd phase was around 12(?) and she was able to manage with less-mommy help. all the best!

Hi M. I,
Yes I have had the same issues with my daughter who is now 15. She had growing pains as early as 18 mos. She was off the charts in growth. Unfortunately I have not found anything that would take the pain away as well as Motrin. It wasn't too long of a time. We had lots of pain for a while, then it would subside for a time. As long as it isn't daily then you should be okay.
~~D.

I had terrible growing pains growing up too. I remember my mom massaging my legs in the middle of the night. I'm almost 34 and I still get a general achy feeling in my lower legs sometimes. Now I think it would probably just be diagnosed as poor circulation, lack of stretching (I'm a runner) and dehydration. My baby is only 4 months so I don't know much about 2 yr olds, but I wonder if more water in his diet would help with the pain? I know it works wonders for me.

Hello,
My son is 8 Years old. He has had growing pains in his legs since he was 2 years old. His pain is at his worse 2 times a week. I have two big socks full or rice (Tie the sock). I warm them up in microwave and put them on top like a warm compress. I have gave him Motrin only 3 to 4 times in 6 years for it. He also sleeps with a super warm blanket. One last thing My son Ivan is pretty short for his age. As if his body is having a hard time growing. In the Medical Height percentile. He is in the 5%.
I hope this can help.

I have been going through the same thing with my son who is now 8 yrs. old. Just the other night, he was in tears saying it hurt so bad and it was in both legs, so I tried the Icy Hot lotion. After rubbing that in and massaging for about 5 minutes, he finally got relief. He really doesn't like to take medication so for us the Icy Hot is the way to go... and it worked!!!

I'm going through the exact same thing with my 3 year old daughter. I too give her motrin everytime she has an "episode". 98% of the time it happens at night which can be insane trying to stay awake while massaging her legs! I don't feel bad giving her the Motrin as often as I do as it's the only thing that gives her relief! The only other thing that helps (which is difficulty at night time) is a walk & stretching. I have my son sit on the floor with his legs spread and have him reach for his knees with his head, doing this on both right and left sides. Also standing with legs apart and dropping the head down and reaching for the toes. Not so easy with my 3year old so I make her get up and walk around to get the blood flowing better through her legs. For some reason I think circulation plays a part in it.
I have a history of growing pains & my 12 year old son still suffers from it : ( Just out of curiosity, are you guys a tall?? I'm 5.9 & my kids are very tall also.
Thank you for posting your concern as I thought I was the only mom going through this!
Hope that was helpful : )