What To Do When Your Child Has Growing Pains
Growing pains are common, but that does not mean they should be ignored. Your blog explains that these flare-ups can affect sleep, mood, energy, emotions, and behavior, and may be tied to stress and tension in the nervous system. It also outlines your clinical approach: using INSiGHT Scans to identify dysfunction and gentle neurologically focused adjustments to help reduce tension and support better regulation. In this video, Dr. Drake breaks down what parents can do to help, why it is important to look deeper than the symptom, and how nervous system support may help kids handle growth spurts with more ease.
If your child keeps complaining of achy legs at night, waking up uncomfortable, or struggling more during growth spurts, you have probably heard the same thing a lot of parents get told: “It’s just growing pains.” And yes, growing pains are common. But that does not mean they should be brushed off. They can affect a lot more than just physical comfort. They can spill over into sleep, mood, energy, emotions, and behavior too.
Growing pains usually show up between ages 3 and 12, and they can come and go for years, especially during times of rapid growth. A lot of parents notice them more in the evening or at night, right when their child is trying to settle down and rest. That is a big reason they can become so frustrating for families. It is not always just a little leg ache. It can turn into rough bedtimes, interrupted sleep, meltdowns, and a child who just does not seem like themselves.
So what can you do to help?
The first thing is this: do not ignore the pattern.
If your child brings up leg pain regularly, especially at night or during growth spurts, start paying attention. Notice when it happens, how often it happens, whether it affects one leg or both, and what else seems to come with it. Are they more emotional? More tired? More sensory-sensitive? Leg pain is only one part of a much bigger picture.
The second thing is to support rest and recovery as much as possible.
Kids who are growing quickly are asking a lot of their bodies. A calm bedtime routine, good hydration, and some simple stretching can all be helpful ways to support a body under extra physical stress. These are not flashy answers, but they matter. A nervous system that is already overloaded does not need more chaos at the end of the day. It needs support, consistency, and a real chance to settle.
The third thing is to look deeper than the symptom itself.
This is where the conversation gets really important. Growing pains are often treated like a normal part of childhood, but there is more going on underneath them. During growth spurts, bones can lengthen faster than the surrounding muscles and ligaments can adapt. That creates extra tension in the muscles, ligaments, and sensory nerves. And when that stress builds, it can contribute to neurospinal misalignments, nerve irritation, and pain signals that kids experience as growing pains.
And that matters because when tension builds in the body, it does not always stay “just physical.” In some kids, especially those already dealing with sensory challenges, ADHD, autism, or chronic stress patterns, growing pains can show up alongside bigger sensory, emotional, and behavioral struggles. When the sympathetic fight-or-flight side of the nervous system is running too high for too long, the body can have a harder time adapting well to stress..
That leads to the fourth thing you can do: support the nervous system
At Innate, that is exactly where we start. We use INSiGHT Scans to look for areas of dysfunction and stress in the nervous system, and then use gentle, neurologically-focused adjustments to help restore balance and reduce tension. The goal is not to simply cover up the pain. It is to look at the stress patterns that may be driving it in the first place.
And that can be a huge shift for parents. Because growing pains are connected to nervous system stress, helping the body regulate better will do more than just ease discomfort. It will also support better sleep, better recovery, and a child who feels much more settled overall.
So yes, growing pains may be common. But common does not mean your child has to simply tough it out. And it does not mean you have to sit back and wait for them to outgrow it.
Pay attention to the pattern. Support recovery. Look deeper at the stress underneath it.
Because when we stop dismissing growing pains as “just part of childhood,” we can start helping kids grow with more comfort, more resilience, and a whole lot less struggle.