Ouch mom, I’m growing

Growing is not easy, and sometimes it even hurts, writes registered dietician Zelda Ackerman

IT’S THE MIDDLE of the night, and everyone is fast asleep, when these awful pains strike and cause an upset in your once peaceful home. Your toddler’s screams echo from his room and wake his baby sister. Mom tries to figure out what’s the matter while ubaba just growls like a bear… a bear who’s had a rude awakening!

Is he making it up, is it his imagination, or a terrible nightmare? Unfortunately not; growing pains are a reality. These unwelcome pains strike in the middle of the night and affect about a third of children between the ages of two and 14 and rob them, and their parents, of a good night’s sleep. Almost 40 percent of all victims are between four and six years old.

WHAT ARE GROWING PAINS?

These are deep pains that repeatedly occur in the legs or arms, striking during the day, evening and even at night. The pain can mostly be felt in the lower leg, around the shin and occurs in both legs at the same time.

But it can also start in the arms, again in both arms.

In the morning when sleep- deprived Mom’s complaining of a headache, her boy is jumping up and down, and there’s no sign of pain.

The pain lasts for between a few minutes and a few hours and there is no set rhythm – it can come every day, or just once every couple of months.

It can occur regularly for a long period of time and then disappear for months at a time.

WHY DO CHILDREN GET IT?

The name says it all, which is why you feel like you want to measure your child after a sleepless night. If there was no sleep to be had, there should be a good reason, and if you can boast at work that your little one is a centimetre taller today, it will make up for the awful night before and your tired eyes.

But although growth happens mostly at night, growing does not cause growing pains. They came up with the term growing pains more than 200 years ago when people thought the pains meant faster growth, but since then evidence has emerged to the contrary.

It makes sense if one keeps in mind that the age in which growing pains usually occur is not when children grow fastest. They grow fastest when

they’re babies and teens, not when they’re toddlers.

So, if it isn’t growth, what causes growing pains?

Many scientists have speculated about this but have been unable to come up with a definitive answer. We know it’s not because your child is too skinny or a little too heavy. Children who are too skinny, just right or too heavy all have the same chance of experiencing growing pains.

A link with rheumatic fever has been researched, and scientists have also speculated that damp in the house could be the cause.

Some doctors reckon it might be all in your toddler’s head; or perhaps it’s all in Mom’s head? Studies have shown that the moms of children experiencing growing pains are more anxious than other moms. It sounds like a chickenand- egg situation, because any person who’s woken up by screaming every night will probably start getting anxious from lack of sleep.

At this stage it seems like there might not be one single thing that causes growing pains but a variety of factors that play a part, individually and also in combination with each other.

Overuse or overexertion because of a lot of physical activity is the first culprit. Some parents see a clear link between these pains and particularly active days. But this theory does not account for the sudden pains during the night or pains in the arms, unless your little one was swinging from the trees like a monkey all day.

Other factors that offer a possible explanation is that children with growing pains have weaker bones and a lower pain threshold. Some studies have also found a link between growing pains and emotional issues in the family or other causes of stress. Special inner soles have curbed growing pains in some children, which points to structural problems, like flat feet or hypermobility of joints, possibly playing a part – at least in some children.

All in all, rapid growth can’t be blamed – so put the measuring tape away, and rather prepare yourself for the night ahead.

SHOULD I GO TO THE DOCTOR?

Don’t lightly brush off all joint pain in toddlers as growing pains. It could also be a sign of a serious illness such as cancer, arthritis or fibromyalgia, which requires medical treatment as soon as possible.

Growing pains could also be confused with spasms, but with spasms you’ll be able to feel the muscle contract.

There are also a few signs that should see you making an appointment with the paediatrician as quickly as possible:

• Pain that occurs in one leg or arm only

• Pain or stiffness in the morning

• Swelling of joints

• Joint pain

• Limping

• Pain when he walks

• Pain when you touch him

• Redness

• He bruises or bleeds easily

• Night sweats

• Fever, listlessness or weight loss with

the aches The doctor will examine your child and do some tests to determine where the problem lies. If your child’s discomfort turns out to be growing pains, you’ll have to hang in there and massage his legs with lots of love. Before you know it, your toddler will have turned into a teen, and the growing pains will have made way for pimples, peer pressure and “leave me alone”.

ARM YOURSELF

They’ve been robbing everyone of a good night’s sleep, and you don’t want to be caught unawares by these pains again. So, arm yourself before you go to bed: a hot-water bottle, ointment or cream and a painkiller.

The hot-water bottle with loving massage is your first line of defence and will, in most cases, relieve the pain. You can massage with something like arnica or just use any cream.

It’s amazing how a normal cream that’s sold to your child as a “magic” ointment can sometimes also do the trick; especially for growing pains caused by emotional issues.

If this doesn’t work, and it’s the third or fourth time you have to get up to console him, you can give a low-dose painkiller such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. For many parents, a spoonful of pain syrup is the first and only option, but if your child has regular growing pains, it’s not good to take lots of pain meds. So, keep it for when the hot-water bottle and massage don’t do the trick, or if the pain is really unbearable.

If your toddler often has growing pains, stretch legs – you can do it together – during the day. Stretch the backs and fronts of your calves and thighs. Leg-strengthening exercises can also help. For kids who have physical issues, inner soles or physiotherapy could help.

There’s no evidence of supplementing with calcium or vitamin D helping, but there have been studies showing that children with growing pains consume less calcium and have weaker bones. So, make sure your child gets two cups of milk or yoghurt every day and sees the sun for a bit to get his dose of vitamin D.

PREVENTION

Because we don’t really know what causes growing pains, it’s difficult to know what to do to prevent these awful pains. It does appear as if your child’s chances are slightly slimmer to experience growing pains if you breastfed – the longer, the better.

One study showed that the chances of breast babies battling growing pains were slimmer than those who were never breastfed. Those who were breastfed for longer than 40 days also had less chance of these pains compared to those who were breastfed for fewer than 40 days.

If your child does experience growing pains, the fact that you breastfed will unfortunately not help the pains to strike less or be less intense.