My 4 Year Old Has Leg Pain and Uncontrollable Crying!!!

Some kids, like some adults, get RLS - restless leg syndrome. It's not terribly well understood. It can be miserable, but it's not going to keep her from running and jumping at the doctor's office. I know several families where one parent has it and one kid does to. I've seen it solved with nutrition. PM me if you want more info.

It really sounds like growing pains.

Still when I was a kid I didn't have to be growing to get them. It was just this throbbing pain in my lower legs. When my kids got it I gave them Motrin, it seemed to help/

When I was going through a growth spurt my legs would hurt too. My dad's legs hurt, and some of my kids legs hurt. (The legs always hurt at night.)

My mom and dad would rub my legs and while it hurt worse at first, it got better as they rubbed my legs. My wife and I got up and rubbed our kids legs. They said it hurt worse when we started, but felt better during the rubbing. My legs would hurt so bad, it brought tears to my eyes and made me cry, even at 13 and 14. The same thing happened to my kids.

I think some of it had to do with a growth spurt. I grew about 8" during 9th and 10th grade.

Good luck to you and yours.

Growing pains...our four year old son has the same problem. Some times it's so much like a charlie horse too. I've also learned though that he's learned screaming and crying makes me run to him to see what is going on. wink wink!

Sounds like growing pains. I cried many a night off and on until I was around 12 years b/c of them. Try bananas, the potassium is what she needs if it is growing pains. I always give them to my kids during their growth spurts. Hope that helps :)

Welcome to mamapedia!!!

I know your pain. My son, who is 10, has a problem with his eye. He's one tough cookie but the pain he gets in his eye sometimes makes him cry. We have to been to an optometrist, ophthalmologist, Johns Hopkins Vilmer Eye Clinic, had an MRI with contrast done and a CAT SCAN. They could find nothing wrong. On the 14th we are going to the National Children's Center to see an Optic Neurologist.

You are your child's advocate. Go to another doctor and don't stop going to doctor's until you find out what's wrong.

Make then take blood tests - check her iron and potassium levels...Make them check for a blood clot or even DVT (especially if you traveled in the past 30 days and she sat for a while), make them take XRAYS, MRIs or whatever is necessary to get to the bottom of why your child is in pain.

Take her to another dr. till they give you an answer. Sometimes you really have to be insistent with doctors. There are many things it could be, but a good doctor should try to help you figure out what it is, not just say there's nothing wrong and send you home.

Three weeks is a long time to cry uncontrollably. As far as I know, growing pains come and go, they aren't there nonstop for three weeks. But you have lots of good advice for growing pains, below.

Hi. I'm so sorry for your daughter's pain. I have always had poor leg circulation (as well as my father and one of my daughters). I would take a nice overly-warm bath before bed and my mom would rub them. Sometimes it helped. This is going to sound odd, but I learned on my own to mentally "accept the pain". I would do a mantra (didn't know that's what it was called when I was four). I would say, "my legs do not hurt" over & over again, while at the same time, not fight the pain.. sounds weird, I know.

Then, in high school, my p.e./health teacher told me to lie on the floor on my back with my legs straight up against the wall (like an L). The butt should be up against the wall and the legs flush with the wall. He said due to poor circulation, this will help as well as stretch the legs. It works! I and my daughter will do this even now. Generally do it for about five minutes, have her bring her legs down, relax, maybe even walk a bit then do it again. Repeat 3-6 times. It really does help.

Best of luck and sorry this is soooo long! :)

That is hard as a mom because it's so hard to know exactly how and what they are feeling. I agree that it does sound a lot like growing pains of some kind. I know that seems to be a catchall answer, but sometimes that's the only one. It is odd however that your pediatrician would completely rule that out. I would probably either get a second opinion or at least try and talk to your doctor again after fully explaining the situation and asking more questions, possibly some that are spurred by some of your responses so far.

I will also add that my daughter is almost 5, but earlier in the year this happened a lot with her foot. She would complain and cry over her foot hurting and it would even sometimes wake her up at night. We would always just put an ice pack on it, do kisses and hugs and she would get better soon.

It's hard to know exactly how much pain they're feeling but sometimes if you apply a remedy, like the ice pack, it actually does help plus it is partial placebo and makes it feel better faster. So I'd adopt some sort of a routine like either rubbing her legs, doing an ice pack, or something that works!

If you have a Children's Hospital in the area I'd take her there. They are so familiar with all things kids - much more so than the average doc even a pedi, IMO.

In my experience, growing pains usually occur after a day of a lot of exercise, at least with my kids and grandkids. So if she's still having that much pain when she hasn't been that active, I wonder if it is growing pains. Also, my kids and grandkids always wanted me to massage their legs when they hurt - they said it helped.

I would try to find a Childrens Hospital.

When I was younger, I would get leg-aches in the evenings after heavy-leg-use that day. Mom would have me put my legs up (lay on the floor with legs up at a 45 degree angle or steeper leaning up on the couch) and she would rub them. After about 20-30 minutes they felt better. I had this happen a LOT as a child. Even teenage years and even in college I would (myself) turn in my bed and prop my feet up on the headboard to elevate my legs a lot and sit there and read/watch tv whenever my legs started aching. Reasons? I have no idea, but I noticed as an adult that it happened more on those highly-active-walking days. I haven't had the aches in a long time (I'm 32). My guess is that maybe I was lacking adequate water or something like that.

Just what MY situation was. If I were you and this was my child, I would get a second opinion from a different doctor after reading what mamas post on here.

@Tori's answer: My son also has said his foot hurts, often at nighttime. I think that may be that they get a charlie-horse (needs to drink more water) or their foot fell asleep (tingly sensation). I have put "boo boo spray" on my son's foot to help it stop hurting. It's some lavendar oil spray I got. Does the trick a lot of the times.

sounds like it could be growing pains. I used to cry myself to sleep at night when I had them. I would give her some ibuprofen or Tylenol and see if that helps!

Personally, I would find another Dr. and get a second and third opinion if necessary. You know your child best and just because one Dr. brushed you off doesn't mean nothing is wrong.

I would be asking for some x-rays, just to be sure?

~My son also has growing pains...it is hard to watch, I know!

Could they be charlie horses or cramps? My son gets them all the time. We soak him in a luke warm bath and it seems to help enough to go back to sleep. Are there issues with circulation in the family?

I don't mean to sound snarky but do you buy her good quality shoes that are properly fitted to provide the best support? Good shoes can often make a difference. My kids don't wear flip flops or flats with no cushion or their legs and feet will hurt. I go with crocs or stride rite with very rare exceptions.

I have a few quirky, hopefully cheaper ways to weed out whats wrong. If its growing pains, the pain is in the large bones of the legs, not the joints. It is significant for 3-5 yr olds, and is common towards the end of the day. Try increasing her fluid intake, massage, warm packs or a warm bath, and tylenol/ibuprofen.

If you think its restless leg syndrome, try giving her some tonic water due to the quinine in it. The doctors used to prescribe quinine by itself.

If you think it is charlie horses, try putting a bar of soap under her sheets. Any kind will work except dove or ivory. Quirky but it works.

If the pain continues, lasts all day/night despite all your efforts, get a second opinion.

Good luck! Both my 4 and 3 yr old's have growing pains and they wake up at all hours of the night crying, sometimes having a hard time walking or bearing weight on it. I hope you find an answer that works for you.