"Growing Pains"
Last night I had a major flashback to the days when my boys were babies.I was up all night with my 7 year old son.
I think he was either having growing pains or Charlie Horses.
I felt like a horrible mother because I was getting so frustrated with him. I did not like being woken up. I did sit and massage his leg each time I got up.
There’s just something about a big kid screaming in the middle of the night that gets under my skin. I kept telling him, “There’s nothing I can do about it. Stop crying!”
I know that it was just my frustration with being woken up that was talking. What in the world was I supposed to do to fix that? I tried giving him Tylenol, Benadryl, massaging, and holding him. Nothing worked.
I finally had to just sit there with him. I fell asleep, sitting on the edge of his bed several times.
I think he just wanted me to sit there and watch him cry.
It’s a horrible feeling to see your child in pain and not be able to do anything about it. He was looking at me as if he was thinking, “Why can’t you fix this?”
Does anyone have any tips on Charlie Horse or growing pains?
Post your comments and read others HERE.
Labels: charlie horse, child, crying, growing pains, leg cramps, massage, waking up
posted by Melissa Swanson at 9:00 AM
Melissa is a student, a working mom, and the mother of 4 boys (ages 4, 7, 8, and 10). She is costantly fueled by the tenacity of her boys and their ability to make her laugh! What they say is true, "Laughter is the best medicine!"
7 Comments:
what about some sort of deap-heat cream like adults use for achey muscles? or a heating pad? you can also give him motrin if he can tolerate it-it works fast & lasts longer for pain- i used to get them as a kid & some of that is what my daddy used to do for me- the cream really might help actually-its worth a try!
I hated it when my son would wake up with these. You are right, Tylenol, massaging it, nothing seemed to make it stop. For my son, it was growing pains that came and went, he has not had any in a while. If you think that it is Charlie Horses, try to increase his potassium a little like a bananna or an over-the-counter children's vitamin maybe that will help.
He has both growing pains and charlie horses. So how do I prevent the growing pains? Would using the deep-heat rub do that? I'll have to try the banana thing for the CH's. Thanks!
Pickle juice is also good for leg cramps...it's the saltiness that helps. Also, if it is a charlie horse...the toes will be pointed downward since the muscle is contracting...so be sure and push the top of the foot area toward the knee while massaging...this will help straighten out the muscle (hence the cramping)...i come from a long line of athletes..we dealt with this on numerous occasions :)
There is a Calcium, magnesium, with zinc, all-in-one table that Walmart carries that might really help. It relaxes the leg muscles when they have been over worked and might help you growing son, too. Give him a couple at bed time.
I used to have horrible leg cramps when I was little! My dad would come in my room night after night and rub them for me..I mean really rub them. It sounds funny, but he would also say "In the name of Jesus these leg cramps will go away!" lol! I believed him too..and they did. The older I have gotten them, I still get them, except its in my knees..I have bad knees and the only thing that makes it better is if I pull my knees right up under my chest and sleep on top of them....it seems to stretch the ligaments/muscles that are aching.
I have honestly never heard the pickle juice thing. The bad thing is he hates pickles. I'm not sure if I could get him to drink it or not. I could probably get him to while he's having a cramp. I did get him to point his toes up. Actually, I was holding them up for him. I taught him to do that when it happens.
I'll have to talk to his doctor about the supplements. What age is it safe to take those?
Jenni,
I've had them all my life also. They're horrible. When I was pregnant, both times, I got them almost every night.
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