Can children get growing pains at 2 years old?

For the last 4-5 days DD is constantly saying "Owie" at least once every few hours. I checked her out all over, including "down there" and saw nothing unusual. When I ask her to point to where it hurts it's usually around her legs or ankles and feet. I know she is going through a growth spurt because she is sleeping in until 8:00 (which she hasn't done since she was under 1 year old) and she is back to taking 2 naps a day which she hasn't done for over 6 months now. She's also eating a lot more.

I'm just not sure if a child this young can get growing pains. I remember having them when I was around 10-14 years old and I remember them being extremely painful. I occasionally missed school because of it.

Other than guessing it may be growing pains, I have no other idea why she keeps saying "Owie" and it's really driving me crazy. She has her 2 year check up in 3 weeks but I don't want to wait that long to ask.

By Tink on Tuesday, May 3, 2005 - 12:03 pm:

It sounds like it. My son had them around four, when he shot up two inches in a little over a month. Bella just had them about 4 months ago and she grew just over an inch all of a sudden. The only thing that sounds different than my kids is that they were only in pain during the night. Try some motrin or advil if you notice that they are bothering her enough that she doesn't want to play or is having trouble sleeping.

By Imamommyx4 on Tuesday, May 3, 2005 - 12:15 pm:

That is where the growth plates are. And yes you can have gowing pains until late teenage years when they actually stop growing. Dd does it off and on. Haven't had to give her any Motrin yet though. But I use to give the boys Motrin quite often when they were in elementary school.

By Vicki on Tuesday, May 3, 2005 - 12:56 pm:

My dd has never complained of them at all, but I have a friend whos dd gets terrible leg pains. Her ped told her they were growing pain. But like Tink, hers only seem to come at night. They sometimes wake her in the middle of the night they are so bad. I have never heard her talk about them during the day time hours.

By Boxzgrl on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - 11:41 am:

Thanks for the info. I figured thats what it is but i'll run it by the dr. at her 2 year check up as well.

By Katherine on Thursday, May 12, 2005 - 11:18 pm:

Scotty has them during the day. It is mostly his knees that bother him. His dr is also a sports medicine dr and recommended icing them with a mix of 1/2 rubbing alcohol and 1/2 water double bagged in a freezer bag. This makes an excellent ice pack. He also recommended that you not allow them to become a "couch potato" because of it. Using the muscles and tendons is not going to hurt them if they can tolerate the discomfort.

He did not complain of his until he was about 7, though. Gets worse during growth spurts.

By Karen~moderator on Friday, May 13, 2005 - 07:33 am:

Jeff had a big problem with that also, and we took him to an orthopedist who specialized in pediatric sport medicine. Same story with the growth plates. I would definitely mention it to her ped., though.