4 year old waking with leg pain

yogi37

Not sure if this is the correct forum for my query.

My little one has an issue where she wakes during the night in tears from pains in her legs. It is quite consistent in how it occurs. It always happens on days where she is extremely tired and I could nearly pinpoint the days it will happen before she even goes to bed.

We try to give her leg massages before bed, plenty of water during the day in case its anything to do with dehydration but continues to crop up regularly. She always goes off to sleep no bother but then wakes up in pain about an hour later.

It can last anything from 10 mins up to about an hour. Sometimes she gets calpol which can sort it out. Other times we let her into our bed, and then I transfer her back to her own bed a bit later. Some nights it might happen once, other times I might be up and down to her 4 or 5 times.

We have spoken to the GP and a physio about it without any real answers. Its hard to figure out and we wonder if it might be more a psychological issue (she is very sensitive) than physical.

This is probably going on (from time to time) for about 2 years.

Anyone have any thoughts or experienced anything similar with your own kids?

Gremlinertia

Medical advice is not allowed on this forum however i will leave the thread open in case anyone has anything helpful/useful to say

dan1895

That sounds like something I used to suffer from when younger. The pain used to affect the back of the leg right behind the knee. I never got a diagnosis and as I got older the pain became less regular and less severe until I just forgot about it. Afterwards we just put it down to growing pains. Hopefully in the case of your child it is nothing more than growing pains.

drunkmonkey

When she gets into your bed and if you leave her there will you hear any more about the pain. I wonder is she just using it as an excuse as she knows you'll buy it.
Only reason I'm still not in bed is my 4yr old is sleeping in my spot, last night he had an itch, was scared the night before, there's always some excuse but he does vary it in fairness to him but it's going on in one way or another a long time.
Is it safe to get an MRI or something on a 4yr old just to see if there's anything the doctor and physio are missing, if it's only a night time thing though she could be just playing you.
.

guitarhappy

Clever girl. Not saying she doesn't have leg "pains" when she's overtired but she's worked out a pretty good deal. A legs massage and cuddle up in bed with Mum, lots of extra attention - I'd like to move in with you myself. GP and physio can't find anything to be alarmed about and you yourself ask is it psychological? Might be time to think about offering her a hot water bottle next to the legs and get through the night in her own bed like a big girl.

fishy_fishy

The cynicism of some people here is unbelievable.

Have a look into hypermobility syndrome. I used to wake regularly with leg pains and that's what was causing it. Xrays and scans won't show any problem, but tiredness does (still) exacerbate it on 2 counts - firstly, tiredness lowers pain tolerance and secondly, getting that tired often means (especially with kids) having done a lot of activity during the day.

If a 4 year old is waking in pain and crying for up to an hour, sometimes multiple times per night, consistently saying it's leg pain, I'd be chasing answers from doctors before I'd be dismissing it as acting up.

yogi37

fishy_fishy wrote: »

The cynicism of some people here is unbelievable.

Have a look into hypermobility syndrome. I used to wake regularly with leg pains and that's what was causing it. Xrays and scans won't show any problem, but tiredness does (still) exacerbate it on 2 counts - firstly, tiredness lowers pain tolerance and secondly, getting that tired often means (especially with kids) having done a lot of activity during the day.

If a 4 year old is waking in pain and crying for up to an hour, sometimes multiple times per night, consistently saying it's leg pain, I'd be chasing answers from doctors before I'd be dismissing it as acting up.

Thanks fishy. That is helpful, I will look into that. The problem does occur almost exclusively on days where she has been extremely active.

And she definitely does not do it to get a night in mammys bed. Most nights we can relax her and get her back to sleep without a huge amount of difficulty. Some nights she decides to just stay in her own bed even if she has the option to come into ours.

guitarhappy

fishy_fishy wrote: »

The cynicism of some people here is unbelievable.

Have a look into hypermobility syndrome.

I'd be chasing answers from doctors before I'd be dismissing it as acting up.

Hypermobility Syndrome essentially means double jointed in doc speak. She's already stated that the GP and physio she took the child to don't see a medical problem. If they did see a medical problem they would have referred to the appropriate specialist or ordered more tests. Of course, your diagnosis of Hypermobility Syndrome is probably more valuable than the opinions of the GP and physio because of what, you're​ on a forum? Bedtime sounds a little chaotic and inconsistent in this home based on the info the OP gave us.

Gremlinertia

I remind posters to be respectful of each other please

yogi37

guitarhappy wrote: »

Hypermobility Syndrome essentially means double jointed in doc speak. She's already stated that the GP and physio she took the child to don't see a medical problem. If they did see a medical problem they would have referred to the appropriate specialist or ordered more tests. Of course, your diagnosis of Hypermobility Syndrome is probably more valuable than the opinions of the GP and physio because of what, you're​ on a forum? Bedtime sounds a little chaotic and inconsistent in this home based on the info the OP gave us.

The physio and doctor couldn't confirm what the issue is, child still wakes up in pain so there is something causing her discomfort. I wasn't expecting a diagnosis here, just ideas from others experience. Fishy has provided info on her own experience which is helpful.

I would have gone with growing pains myself but it is so consistent in that it happens only when she's had an extremely busy day.

What info have I provided that makes bedtime sound chaotic in our house? Routine is the exact same every night. Kids are in bed and asleep at the same time every night. One happens to wake with sore legs/feet from time to time. We do what we can to try comfort her, and get her back to sleep, hardly chaotic.

iamwhoiam

She might be getting cramps . Try giving her banana before bed .
Maybe mashed banana or a banana milkshake as its a great source of potassium which helps to ward off cramps

drunkmonkey

Do you take her to the toilet when she wakes?

I expect to be visited around 1am. Needing the toilet wakes him but he'll have some excuse why he won't go back to his own room.

Let her into your bed after taking her to the toilet when she wakes. If there's nothing more about the leg after hopping into bed you know it's not physical.

osarusan

Sounds like what used to be called (and might still be called) growing pains? Which, as far as I know, don't actually have anything to do with growing.

My 7 year old boy suffered quite a bit from it over the last 2-3 years. Generally after a day with plenty of running, he wakes up in pain in the middle of the night, usually the calf muscles in his legs. He needs them to be massaged for a while until the pain goes away.

There is no way he is acting up or faking it or looking for attention, because I know what that looks like too.

Some nights it's not too bad, others he could wake up as many as 5 times, though I might just give him Nurofen if it continues, and that sorts it out. He usually has no pain in the morning, and often no memory of the pain during the night either.

Pretty much never any pain while awake during the day, nor is his movement restricted in any way, nor is there any swelling or redness or anything out of the ordinary.

byhookorbycrook

i'd consider bringing her to an OT.

lilmissprincess

Has the physio looked at her feet? My brother woke like this for years as a kid and was fobbed off with growing pains until a different doctor discovered that his feet were leaning to one side and causing the muscles to develop wrong - orthotics in his shoes sorted him out. Not giving medical advice, just anecdotal!