4 Year Old Complains of Leg Pain at Night. Is He Faking?

I think he IS in pain - real pain - at least once a night, and that he might be waking up other times *anticipating* pain, and he's really worried about it. Have you tried a placebo? Say, orange juice thickened with corn starch (or whatever juice he likes). Put it in an empty Tylenol (or other medicine bottle) and dispense as usual. If he noticed the different flavor, just tell him you bought a different brand. Try giving it to him before bedtime, saying it should keep his legs feeling great all night until morning.

Try it for a few nights, see what happens. If he's still up multiple times, then try real Tylenol before bed (and then a second dose in the middle of the night, as needed). Poor guy. Poor mom and dad, too. I hope you find relief and answers soon.

I had really bad growing pains when I was a kid. I used to have pain in my knees and shins, sometimes my feet. My mom took me to the doctor, who said nothing was wrong, so my mom sat me down and told me about these "growing pains" and explained that it's a good thing because I'm growing up to be tall and beautiful. I was never given medicine or anything, and my mom didn't make a big deal out of it. Her explanation to me kind of changed my view of it, so it didn't seem so bad the next time, and over time they went away.

If it's 4 times a week, revisit it with the pediatrician to rule out anything else. That said, me, my SD and now my DD all had leg pains off and on from about 2-5 yrs old. Many a night my mom would rub my legs. Growing pains is the only thing the doctors could come up with. My doctor even tested me for growth disorders (I'm short). My DD can calm down very quickly after medication. I don't know if it's faster-acting or just that she knows relief is coming. I would give him the meds when he seems to need it.

My son shot up 4 inches when he was four (and another 4 inches when he was six, and ANOTHER 4 inches when he was 8) and the growing pains were awful.
I'm not kidding you, even though I bought clothes as long as I could and rolled pants/sleeves up I had to replace his wardrobe 3 times each of those years.
He'd wake up crying in the night when his legs and sometimes arms hurt.
We tried warm baths, Tylenol, more bananas, more exercise, less exercise, massages, Aspercream, heating pads, drinking plenty of water - sometimes something would work but not every time.
His preschool teachers said they could almost swear he'd wake up from nap time taller than he was that same morning - he was growing that fast.
Don't assume he's faking it.
How would you like having a pain that no one believed you had?
His growth rate will slow down again sooner or later and the pains will go away (at least until the next major growth spurt).

Give him bananas for potassium and tylenol when he needs it. Growing pains are painful. I had them, and so did my sons. Just don't make a big deal about it. The more you say, the more they worry.

If he hurts, tylenol helps. He doesn't get any other benefit from tylenol.

What you might do is leave a small glass of water beside his bed with a tylenol for him to take himself. Tell him not to wake you up anymore. That way you'll know that it doesn't have anything to do with wanting to wake you up at night.

Dawn

Our 4 year old also has complained of leg pains. We are certain it was from growing. The weekend before her birthday we measured her on the wall and 4 days later (with lots of pain and sleeping), she grew a 1/4 inch!!!

You don't have to give him bad tasting medicine to test that theory. I'd give him some other type of food or drink as a placebo. If that is really what you are thinking.

I'd say tylenol works in about 10 - 15 minutes. Mom's comfort works instantly. :)

My guess is that he is in actual pain, especially if he wakes often through a night with pain and not with Tylenol. Keep track of how often it happens and record it. Make an appointment with your doctor about it and show them your records.

GOOD LUCK!!!

One thing to think about is my nephew kept complaining off and on about leg pain when he was 4. But it would go away quickly and sometimes he would limp and then he would not. They thought he was making it up to get attention. This year at age 6 he was finally diagnosed with juvenile arthritis! So, he was telling the truth all along. His treatments are going very well. My first guess would be growing pains - I used to get them terribly. Another guess is leg cramps. I get those at night but not during the day. Leg cramps will go away really fast too when you rub your leg.

My son is 4 1/2 and going through this right now. His poor little legs hurt so bad he wakes during the night just crying. I know give him ibuprofen the very first time he wakes, then I rub his legs for a few minutes and he goes back to sleep...usually for the rest of the night.

I doubt he is faking if he falls asleep after the massage and I doubt the Tylenol is working in five minutes. He probably breaks the "pain cycle" when he wakes which may give him enough time to fall back to sleep, then the Tylenol kicks in.

Funny, I was up about 4 hours between cries about leg pains last night with my 4 year old. She definitely has growing pains and the pains affect mostly her calves but sometimes her ankles or feet. The primary thing that we use for her discomfort is a rice warm pack. Usually that will do the trick and it helps within minutes for pain relief. Last night was an exception and after repeated applications of the warm pack and massaging her leg, I gave her some Tylenol and a glass of water. From there on she was able to sleep through the rest of the night.

If you are concerned that something else is going on, track the pains on a calendar. Watch your child for symptoms (limping, extra bruising, swollen areas, red or warm areas near the complaint of pain, etc.) and if the symptoms continue, worsen, or progress for 2 weeks, take your child back in to the doctor and request a xray, blood work, and further workup to be done.

Good luck!

This sounds really alarmist, but if you've tried the placebo options as listed below and it's still a problem, go back to your pediatrician & make sure they do a blood test. My friend's 8 year old was just diagnosed with ALL - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, and the symptoms that caused them to go to the doctor were fatigue and leg pains. She had no other symptoms, and a bloodtest was a simple confirmation of the diagnosis - very lucky, as they estimate that they caught it about a month or 2 after onset. She'll be OK.

Try a placebo.
If he is actually having muscle pain, then a dose of calcium, glass of milk or whatever might help. I take calcium/magnesium for muscle cramps at night.
When you massage his leg is the muscle in spasm? Does it feel like a rope and not pliable like the rest of his leg?
Things to check.
Remember, the bone grows faster than the muscle. The muscle must take time to catch up. Encourage stretching, make it fun and do it with him 2 times a day.
The stretching really helped both of my boys.

Growing pains are real for sure, I remember them, but maybe he's having leg cramps? It is curious, as you say, that Tylenol works so instantly, so maybe you could try a placebo. Just use some fruity juice he's never had and tell him it's medicine. If he sleeps all night, you'll know it works and then you can give it to him before bed! :-)

We are still having the same thing. She is quite the drama queen though and if her screams don't wake the neighbors they must be deaf. There were weeks we would not put her to bed without some Motrin before she laid down. My hubby will go in, get his hands full of lotion, and rub her legs for hours. He will rub even after he has dozed off and she is back to sleep.

The docs just say it is growing pains and that everyone has them, it's just worse for some.

I think it is so sad to see her start squirming in her sleep then wake up screaming. I don't think she is faking it, she would stay asleep if possible

First I would try giving him "Tylenol" but instead of it actually being Tylenol, have it actually be a fruit snack or something.....Tell him it's medicine...but really it's not....Try that for a night and see if he goes right back to sleep in 5 minutes......My question is...does he ever complain of the pain during the day? If it's only a night time complaint....it would raise my suspicion of him only wanting "you", "medicine", "water", (stalling) during the night when he wakes up. Maybe it's become a habit for him. Does he know that shots hurt? If he does, maybe tell him......"your leg hurts again? Maybe we need to take you to the Dr. to get you a shot because this happens every night and we cannot continue to give you Tylenol. So maybe we should take you tomorrow to get a shot for your leg." (saying it in a nice calm way) See how he reacts.....If he hates shots, he will more than likely say his leg doesn't hurt anymore....but it won't work if he doesn't remember that shots hurt....LOL
If he complains about the pain during the day......I would take him to a different doctor and have an xray done.....2 yrs is a long time to complain about the same thing. But just at night.....My guess is he just wants mommy.....Good luck!!!!!!

My son also had "growing" pains which would wake him up in the middle of the night and at bed time he would complain of leg pain. He has flat feet and I suspected he needed orthotics (special arch supports). I took him to a pediatric podiatrist and he said that growing pains in children are usually caused by a structural misalignment of the feet. As my son ran around all day, he would put extra stress on his muscles and then when he stoped moving at bed time, these muscles would cramp up. After only a week in the orthotics his pains were gone. He has had them for almost 6 years. He also grew almost 12 inches in one year and never had "growing" pains from growing so quickly so I really think the podiatrist was correct in what causes night time leg aches.
The only draw back is the cost. They run about $300 for a pair of custom made orthotics. Payments can be made at most offices and they do have outgrowth insurance. If your son outgrows his orthotics in less than 36 months, they'll make a new pair for nothing.
B.

My son has these about once a month..growing pains. I remember having them as a kid and they hurt so bad.
He wakes me up says his legs hurt so what I do is give him some tylenol and I put the heating pad around his leg for a few minutes..it helps take the pain away. They are painful and some kids get them pretty offten. I had them ALOT!

My daughter is the same way. She will wake up crying that her leg hurts. I just massage her leg until she falls asleep. It doesn't happen alot, maybe once or twice a month. At first I thought that she was mimicking my MIL. She is always complaining about her leg. But it happens when she hasn't seen her in awhile. I think that it is growing pains. She is a very active kid and gets alot of bruises on her legs. So sometimes I think that in her sleep she may be hitting the bruise and it hurts her. I feel bad but other then wrapping her in bubble wrap there is nothing I can do for the bruises. She refuses to take meds unless she really doesn't feel well so all I can do for her is massage her leg. Maybe its mind over matter that when he takes the tylenol he knows he will feel better and can rest.

I don't have any experience with this problem, but my older sister experienced night time leg pain for years and the doctors were never able to help her. As an adult she started drinking more water and the pains went away. Is there a chance your son is dehydrated?

I am surprised you think your child is making this up. It very well is growing pains and it can happen in the middle of the night, or any time for that matter. I would suggest you go and buy SOMBRA its a natural massage rub that is perfect for this, my own kids used it. I wouldn't get my child hooked on tylenol. If he cries in pain be there for him. For you to leave you child alone in distress because you think he is making this up, is just plain cruel.....and worst case scenario, if he was making this up (which I do not believe) would it really hurt you to go show some love and support to your child ? He may be feeling neglected or scared or something that he needs his mother...is something wrong with that ? Before you know it, he will be independent and not need you for anything -- so take the time now to be the rock your child needs, no matter what.

http://www.sombrausa.com/

(natural pain relieving gel)

R., our son has had these same pains since he was young, he will be 6 in a couple of weeks. We have massaged his feet and legs, put him in the bath, but the thing that works almost immediately for us is getting him in the hot tub. He is able to put his legs in up to his knees and within 5 minutes, he is feeling better. Tylenol hasn't given much relief. So, while I know having a hot tub to help you might not be doable, I do think they are actual pains. We haven't found any meds that seems to help, but we also seem to notice that he gets them more when he has had less sleep that he is accustomed to. Good luck!

as much as you dont like giving them pain medication it is the best thing. He settles down after taking the Tylenol because he knows it is going to get better just like when you take it for a headache you feel better before it actually works because you know there will be an end. Growing pains are really really painful my boys have both been through this we have the warm pads with rice by the microwave just for these. Tylenol and warmth are the only things I know of that help they can have them for months at a time.

my kids both got them. obviously keep your doctor in the loop, but ours told us that a good rule of thumb is that if massage helps, its growing pains, if massage hurts then we worry. I'd try motrin--seems to work faster and less risk of side effects. For my kids the rule was drink a full glass of water and use the heating pad, then if you wake up again I would do meds (otherwise they would be getting lots of meds at some point s in their lives). some gatorade during the day seems to help too, although I am not a fan of it generally.

growing pains are very real. especially in spurts, possibly seek out a masseuse or figure out how to do it yourself

Yes, he is for real. My children and my grandchildren all complained of growing pains. I had them too. Get Arnica cream. Rub it on his legs when he says they hurt. The pain will go away.

Definitely sounds like growing pains. What works for us is to rub Hyland's Leg Cramps on them. On really bad nights, we use Ibuprofen, but most of the time the leg cramps rub works great. I noticed a pattern - in our case it happened at night after a day of rough or lots of play involving a lot of running and jumping. So, we started making sure we pumped them full of water, coconut water (natural electrolyte balancer), a warm bath before bed with epsom salts (the magnesium is great for the muscles) and hyland's rubbed on the legs in the usual spots before bed. This kept the kids from waking up at all or kept ot down to only once in the night.

I use to have growing pains when i was young and my daughter as well. Make sure his bed sheets are loose and not tuckd in. have him do some stretching before bed.. Check in on him that he is not tangling his sheets around him. I would stop with the tylenol

Have they checked calcium. For adults pain like that is calcium deficiency. You may want to get a multi-vitamin with calcium for him or try chewable calcium. Make sure it is bio-available to the body. A lot of calcium aren't. Put them in water and see if they dissolve. That is only one test. You may try Shaklee chewable calcium. Lots of people have had great results with that or at least the children's vitamins. www.nutritionandhealthnow.com

N.