Category: Children

Are achy legs keeping your child awake at night? They may have growing pains.

Growing pains are cramping, achy muscle pains that some preschoolers and preteens feel in both legs. The pain usually occurs in the late afternoon or evenings. But it may cause your child to wake up in the middle of the night.

Growing pains usually start in early childhood, around age 3 or 4. They tend to strike again in kids aged 8-12.

Causes of Growing Pains

Despite the name “growing pains,” there is no firm evidence that growing pains are linked to growth spurts.

Instead, growing pains may simply be muscle aches due to intense childhood activities that can wear your child’s muscles out. These activities include running, jumping, and climbing. Growing pains seem to be more common after a kid has a particularly full day of sports.

Symptoms of Growing Pains

Growing pains are different for everyone. Some kids have a lot of pain, others do not. Most kids do not have pain every day.

Growing pains can come and go. They may be experienced for months or even years. Most kids outgrow growing pains within a few years.

The pain is usually felt in the late afternoon and evening, right before dinner time, and at bedtime. The leg pains may hurt so much that they may wake your child from sleep.

If your child seems perfectly fine in the morning, don’t be quick to think they were faking. Growing pains disappear in the morning. They usually do not interfere with the child’s ability to play sports or be active.

In general, growing pains are felt in both legs, especially in the front of the thighs, back of legs (calves), or behind the knees.

Studies suggest that children who have growing pains may be more sensitive to pain. Children who have growing pains are also more likely to have headaches and abdominal pain.

How Are Growing Pains Diagnosed?

A doctor can usually diagnose growing pains by examining your child and asking questions about their medical history and symptoms. It is important to rule out any other possible causes of the pain before making the diagnosis of growing pains. This is why it is important to see the doctor if you think your child has growing pains or any limb pain.

If your child has growing pains, the doctor will not see anything abnormal during the physical exam. Blood work and X-rays are usually not needed in this case.

How Are Growing Pains Treated?

Treatment of growing pains depends on how much pain your child has. The following things may ease discomfort and help your child feel better:

• Massaging the legs.
• Stretching the leg muscles. This may be difficult for younger kids.
• Placing a warm cloth or heating pad on the sore leg. Be careful not to burn the skin and do not use during sleep.

If the pain does not get better, ask your health care provider if it’s OK to give your child an over-the-counter pain medicine, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Ask about the appropriate dose for your child. Never give aspirin to a child. Aspirin use in children has been linked to a life-threatening disease called Reye’s syndrome.

When Should I Call the Doctor?

When deciding whether to call the doctor, it’s important to remember that growing pains are almost always felt in both legs. Pain that is only in one leg may be a sign of a more serious condition. Call your health care provider if this happens.

It’s also important to remember that growing pains affect muscles, not joints. And they do not cause limping or fever.

Call your child’s doctor or nurse if leg pain occurs with the following symptoms. They aren’t symptoms of growing pains, but your doctor will need to examine your child and run tests:

• injury, such as a fall
• fever
• loss of appetite
• limping or difficulty walking
• pain in one leg
• rash
• red, warm, painful, swollen joints
• tiredness
• weakness
• weight loss

And of course, call your doctor if you have any other concerns.

 

Look What I Got!

Remember being a kid and finding something delicious in your lunch box? Or did you take one look and swap with someone else? Now that you’re a parent, you’re on deck to pack something your child will love. It’s simpler, and takes less time, than you might think.

Cool for School

Freezing is a go-to technique. Fill muffin cups with yogurt and/or pureed fruit (no sugar added) and freeze overnight. This is a good way to make child-sized portions of meatloaf and quiche, too. As they thaw, these treats will help keep the other stuff in your kid’s lunch box cool at school. Many items — meat, fish, eggs, beans, cheese, milk, rice, pasta, mayo, and butter — need to be chilled.

Read more…

Two-thirds of spinal fractures suffered by American children and teens occur in car crashes when they aren’t wearing seat belts, a new study finds.

Researchers analyzed data on more than 34,500 U.S. patients younger than 18 who suffered spinal fractures between 2009 and 2014. Teens aged 15 to 17 accounted for about 63% of the spinal fractures, two-thirds of which occurred in motor vehicle accidents.

These findings show that around the time teens get their drivers’ licenses, young drivers and passengers are at highest risk for spinal fractures in car crashes, according to the authors of the study published online recently in the journal Spine.

The investigators also found a strong link between not buckling up while in the car and increased risk of spinal fractures.

“Nearly two-thirds of pediatric spinal fractures sustained in [motor vehicle accidents] occurred in children who did not use belts,” Dr. Vishal Sarwahi, from Cohen Children’s Medical Center, in New Hyde Park, N.Y., and colleagues wrote in a journal news release.

Spinal fractures in children and teens were associated with a 3% death rate, with many deaths occurring in unrestrained drivers and passengers, the researchers noted.

Another study finding was that the risk of severe or multiple injuries and death was more than twice as high (nearly 71%) when children and teens didn’t wear seat belts than when they did (29%).

Wearing seat belts was associated with lower rates of multiple vertebral fractures, other types of fractures in addition to spinal fracture, head and brain injuries, and a more than 20% lower risk of death in car crashes.

The researchers also found that 58% of the young spinal fracture patients were male, and that spinal fractures were most common in the South (38%), likely because a lack of public transportation results in more vehicles on the road.

The percentage of U.S. drivers wearing seat belts has risen steadily over the years, but teens and young adults remain less likely to use them, the study authors noted.

The findings highlight the need to take steps to increase seat belt use by younger drivers and passengers, such as targeted approaches using technology and media awareness campaigns, the researchers suggested.

“Ensuring our new, young drivers wear protective devices can greatly reduce morbidity/mortality associated with [motor vehicle accidents] and can help save lives, and spines,” the research team concluded.

Problem: One-Food Wonder

Your child may happily eat some foods and toss others on the floor. Is it just a phase, and how long will it last? What do you do in the meantime: Give them what they want, or hold your ground?

Solution: Don’t Fight It

Don’t turn mealtime into a battle of wills. Keep offering a variety of good-for-you foods, even if your kid rejects it at first. Many kids take their sweet time before deciding they like a new food after all, so keep trying. Offer fruit, vegetables, and even “grown-up” food, without pressure. Your child may surprise you with what they like.

Problem: Won’t Eat Their Veggies

Does your child say they hate asparagus, even though they’ve never tried it? It happens a lot. Many vegetables have a strong smell and taste, especially when cooked. Be patient. They may want to see it and smell it before they’ll taste it, and even then they may spit it right back out. Take a breath and try it again another day.

Solution: Give Them Choices

Many children warm up to veggies when they’ve helped pick them out, whether at the store or at meals. If green veggies turn them off, try orange or red ones instead. Or offer them raw with a dip like ranch dressing or hummus. Although hiding vegetable purées in foods like baked goods or pasta sauce is a short-term fix, it doesn’t teach them to like those veggies when they are out in the open.

Problem: Drinks Their Calories

Does your child drink so much milk or juice during the day that they are not hungry at mealtimes? It can be a problem if they drink so much it makes them miss meals.

Read more…

6:30 a.m. Fuel Up First Thing

If you’re just waking up, you probably haven’t eaten in at least 10 hours. Don’t head out before fueling up! A healthy breakfast can give you and your kids a sharper mind, more energy, and better total nutrition for the day. A balanced breakfast includes protein, carbs, and fiber. Try spreading peanut butter or melted low-fat cheese on a whole-wheat English muffin.

7 a.m. Get Moving

Before heading out for the day, take a brisk 30-minute walk around your neighborhood. You’ll feel invigorated, and you’ll chip away at the 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity that we need every week. Morning exercise may help you lower your blood pressure and daily levels of triglycerides (unhealthy fats) in your system. As a bonus, you may sleep better at night, too.

7:30 a.m. Protect Your Skin

Don’t leave home without it — sunscreen, that is. Sunscreen isn’t just for the beach and the summer. Even in winter — and even when it’s cloudy — UV rays can penetrate and sear your skin, particularly exposed areas like faces, ears, and the backs of the hands. Those are the areas dermatologists treat most for skin cancer.

7:45 a.m. Travel Light

Overloaded backpacks and purses can strain or injure muscles in the neck, shoulders, and back. Backpacks shouldn’t contain more than 10% to 15% of the wearer’s weight. Look for one with wide padded straps. Wear it on both shoulders to distribute weight evenly. Look for lightweight purses, briefcases, and totes, and pack only what you need. Alternate shoulders or the hand you carry it in. You can also try a wheeled bag and roll it on the ground.

8 a.m. Get More from Your Commute

Do you live within a couple of miles of work or school? Then ditch the car and try a walking commute. You’ll save on gas, keep the environment cleaner, and start your day with a healthy glow. Be sure to wear supportive walking shoes. If you have to use a car, drivers and passengers — even kids in school buses — should buckle up or use an appropriate car seat, no matter how short the trip.

10:30 a.m. Snack Smart

Dump the doughnut tray before your next office meeting! Instead, serve healthier options like fresh fruit platters, mini muffins, whole-grain bagels, or yogurt. Maybe you don’t need to serve food at your meeting at all. Maybe you can motivate your colleagues to attend by another method.

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You’re standing in the snack aisle of the supermarket. Lying at your feet is your toddler, who has just been informed (by you) that, no, they cannot have the Cinderella fruit snacks. Their face has turned a shade somewhere between red and purple. Their fists are pounding the floor in fury as they emit a shriek that can be heard in the farthest reaches of the parking lot. The other shoppers are gaping at this spectacle as you wish desperately for a hole to open in the floor and swallow you up.

Many a parent has been through a scenario like this, although the tantrum might have taken a slightly different form; crying, hitting, kicking, stomping, throwing things, and breath holding are all popular tantrum techniques.

Temper tantrums are exceedingly common in children, especially between ages 1 and 4 — the early part of which is sometimes called the “terrible 2s” — when kids are still learning how to communicate effectively. More than half of young children will have one or more tantrums a week as they vent their frustrations and protest their lack of control.

Although they are a normal part of the toddler repertoire, temper tantrums can be distressing to parents. When they occur infrequently, tantrums aren’t a big deal and are best ignored. It’s when they become regular or intense that parents need to look into what’s causing them and find ways to stop them.

Tantrum Triggers
Some children are more prone to tantrums, particularly kids who are intense, hyperactive, or moody, or kids who don’t adapt well to new environments. For most toddlers, tantrums are simply a way of getting out their frustration and testing limits (Will mommy buy me that toy if I scream really loud?).

The smallest things, from asking them to take a bath while they’re in the middle of watching Sesame Street to requesting that they share a favorite stuffed animal with a younger sibling, can set off young children. Any situation that involves change may spawn a tantrum. Add fatigue or hunger to the equation and children, their threshold for tolerance even lower, are even more likely to throw a tantrum.

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For millennia, parents have told their rowdy kids to “Go out and play!” In doing so, most hadn’t a clue they were nurturing the emotional, cognitive, language, and self-regulation skills that build executive function and social aptitude in children, all while enhancing critical brain structures that support pursuing goals and ignoring distractions.

In other words, play is needed for healthy development. So says a recent report published in the journal Pediatrics, which outlines how play advances such skills even as it manages toxic stress. What’s more, playing is shown to support the formation of stable and nurturing relationships with caregivers that kids need to thrive.

While the definition of play is not clear-cut, the researchers agree that play is naturally motivated, uses active engagement, and results in joyful discovery. It’s also voluntary, fun, and spontaneous, with no extrinsic goals.

There are different types of play, says Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD, a child psychologist and the author of Growing Friendships: A Kids’ Guide to Making and Keeping Friends. “Some play is child-directed; it’s about exploring,” she says. “A toddler puts everything in her mouth — she’s curious about the world. Physical play is rough-and-tumble, with kids running and moving their bodies. Social play may involve a child watching another kid, playing alongside him, which becomes cooperative play with shared goals as they interact. Pretend play is when children take on adult roles. Interestingly, this happens cross-culturally at specific developmental times, primarily during the preschool years.”

Free play enables children to understand their own preferences and interests, the report states. But play guided by an adult, where the child does her own actions, better promotes learning with a specific goal in mind.
Kennedy-Moore agrees: “Adult-guided play is not about an adult lecturing, but rather modeling for children by asking questions. For example, if a parent and a child are doing a puzzle, the adult might say, ‘I notice the color yellow is running through here. Do you see a yellow piece?’ Asking questions instead of giving the answers.” This allows a child to figure it out — and succeed — independently.

Play and stress are closely linked, with high levels of play associated with low levels of cortisol. Play may be especially important for children in high-stress family situations, the report says.

4 Game Changers
Use these play tips from Kennedy-Moore in your kids’ downtime to boost social, emotional, and mental development.

Ditch the device. There’s no “right” number of hours for kids to play — but do monitor screen time, Kennedy-Moore says: “Playing a video game virtually with a friend is not the same as a game of tag, where kids negotiate the rules, cooperate, and compete to catch each other.”

Solo play is good — to a point. “Alone play can be wonderful, and it builds imagination,” Kennedy-Moore says. “For instance, kids love playing alone with Legos.” But if your child always plays solo, it can be a red flag for social isolation.

Embrace unstructured play time. “Kids say, ‘I’m bored!’ and parents leap to the rescue,” Kennedy-Moore says. “If they can resist, the child moans and groans — and, then, something wonderful happens: Kids think of something to do. It’s a life skill to follow their own curiosity, entertain themselves, and manage their emotions.”

The play’s the thing. “Play is important and valuable, in and of itself,” Kennedy-Moore says, “even if it doesn’t always encourage development every time. Play is like art — to be appreciated.”