True Pain in Growing Pains?
Its been several months since your child has been sleeping through the night and it is unheard of for her to wake in the middle of the night anymore. However, suddenly she is waking every night and several times each night. You are baffled because she doesn’t seem sick and isn’t teething, yet she seems so uncomfortable and inconsolable. You talk to all your friends and brainstorm with your spouse yet you can’t figure out what the problem is.
After a few nights and without any intervention from you, your daughter suddenly begins to sleep through the night again. Just as abruptly as she started waking at night she begins to sleep soundly all night long again.
Growing pains. They are real! Older kids who can communicate complain that their legs hurt and if parents evaluate activity during the day they are known to report more small accidents bumping into things and falling down more than usual. Being accident prone in this way and experiencing actual physical pain while sleeping are normal experiences for children going through growth spurts. They can happen anytime but typically they occur at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and each year just before or after a birthday.
Since pain is usually gone by morning, consult your doctor to see if he would recommend use of a pain reliever before bedtime. This often is a quick, easy, and short-term solution. Although in most cases, growing pains subside after a few days, they can come and go for weeks or months at a time.
Next time you’ve ruled out all other reasons for discomfort at night, consider that it’s time to celebrate a season of some serious growing. That is hard and, sometimes, painful work for your children!
Upcoming Talks:
May 14: Grace Lutheran Church MOPS group in Huntington Beach at 10 a.m. discussing the importance of a strong marriage as foundation for good parenting; 6931 Edinger Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA; 92647
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