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My daughter of 8 yrs has always suffered really badly with shin cramps. Have been to the drs numerous times and get told its "growing Pains". Does anyone else's children suffer with this. My daughter really is in pain and cries so much when this happens, which is usually at night time, sometime even waking her up. IN need of advice, Thanks

Even though my kids are younger they too have both experienced these cramps/growing pains. My husband suffered from them as a child and his doctor at the time as well as our pediatrician now also says they are just growing pains.

There are two things we have found that helps - exercise and potassium.
What is needed for exercise should be self explanatory but I will share what I have researched about potassium.
Somewhere about 3-4 grams is recommended for children age 3-8/4-9, once she hits age 9-10 I believe it jumps up to a recommendation of 4-5 grams of potassium. I do not remember the exact numbers but I know I have researched it on the USDA website.
The easiest way I found to increase potassium intake was with bananas. (This is often recommended for moms who have growing pains/cramps when pregnant as well!) Both my kids had bad attacks around the age of 2, and again at 4, but I am sure they will suffer more (my husband did until he was 16 or 17). They are not constant, they will have a few weeks that are bad and then go months without flare ups. When they are NOT having flare ups I make sure my kids have a banana at least every other day. When they are having flare ups then they have at least one if not two bananas a day. (A banana has between 300 and 400 milligrams so 10 bananas will equal the recommended daily amount if there is no other potassium intake.
My kids luckily love bananas but besides just eating a plain whole banana other options include: dried banana chips, banana pancakes/waffles, banana smoothie (banana, yogurt - any flavor and milk,) banana milkshake (throw a banana into the blender while making any milkshake,) taking a store bought muffin/bread mix and adding mashed banana to the mix just prior to baking (my kids love banana chocolate chip muffins for breakfast - i but the $0.50 box of jiffy muffin mix and add two mashed bananas and cook just like the directions on the box and I have breakfast for them for the week).
Other items high in potassium (though I found the banana to be the best option) include dairy (another reason the smoothie and milkshake are good options), green veggies (broccoli, spinach, brussels sprouts), beans (many varieties), and whole wheat products.

ClaireF, thanks for posing your question here.

My kids have gone through varying degrees of leg cramps as well.

Ryan seems to be the my worse case. He crys from the pain at times and wakes up in the middle of the night complaining of it.

I talked to our peditrician and he too feels that it is growing type pains.

There is a story on here that another mom posted (Pete-N-RepeatsMom) that is of a little boy with one leg. The other was removed due to cancer.

I researched leg pains online and other mom testimony I have read said that some doctors dismissed what ended up being leg cancer as growing pains intially.

As a mom, you need to go with your gut. Yes, growing pains are very common and most children seem to have issues here and there, some more severe than others with them. But, if you feel that it is something that you should go further with- do it.

Ask your doctor for xrays or scans of your child's legs to ease any fears that you may have.

Good luck and I hope your daughter can find relief in her pains. Keep us updated

Shawn, I didn't see in that story anything about leg cramps precipitating the boys situation?? BUT, if it was there, I am glad to know that. One of my sisters had severe leg cramps as a child - like you have all said awoken in the night crying out. My husband said he had them, too. One of our sons has them on both legs - I can't even say at what age they began, seems like he's always had them - and it breaks my heart! Now, I am thinking of getting them x-rayed or scanned as you mentioned, Shawn. I'd rather be safe then sorry. Thank you for mentioning that.

Sarah, yes, exercise and potassium can help! Thing is mine get LOTS of both and the one still has the cramps and pain. We have a massage table in our home and I try to use it with the boys each week. We've been better about it in the past, but are starting up again. When it happens at night - as everyone else here experiences - I just gently massage his legs and soothe him to sleep.

Michelle, it was not mentioned in that paticular story. In the story you posted, the little boy was a baby when his leg was removed. He would have been to young to communicate leg pain descriptively.

I have seen and read mom testimony that leg cramps was one of the precursors of a cancer diagnosis in their children.

I thought I missed something and went back and read it again - When I posted about it, I had read it to my husband with the boys in and around, so I could have missed it. I know it said his was removed at 1 year, but I think even at 1 year, children can relate leg pain by crying and grabbing the leg. I have had a couple of friends who've had their children experience leg cramps even as little as a year and that is what the children did, so it didn't seem odd to me that a young child could tell pain by their behavior. I wonder what this little boy did to initiate the parents looking further into their son's leg?

Also, my husband said he thinks that sometimes the degree of physical activity can bring on leg and shin cramps. he had them as a child and then he was a catcher in baseball for many years and he still has the leg cramps in one especially. Of course, growth spurts are an obvious culprit too, as it seems with one of our sons.

A few things to add. . .

I have researched this a lot because I had cramps a lot between starting at age 11 and still occasionally today. I did not mention this originally because mine were mostly in the lymph node areas not the chins. My doctors had thought leukemia was a possibility because of the white blood cell count and ultrasound results. In the end it was something simple and no long-term problems - cat scratch fever/disease.

Anyway because of this I made sure I asked lots of questions. There are many medical mysteries so you nobody should rely on someone elses experiences, however, based on my doctors and my kids doctors it seems that the cases of cramps being cancer occurs much younger, and is typically found at the age when children start crawling and walking. That does NOT mean that is always true - my sources have said that is just more common.

Michelle - I also agree about the degree of physical activity. Exercise can help lessen cramps IF done properly. Another reason I have witnessed with cramps is playing sports/exercising without warming up and cooling down properly. Your body needs that time to get ready for more strenuous activity and will get mad (give you cramps) if you don't allow your body this time.

Sarah