Individual episodes of growing pains last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, and most children outgrow them entirely by their mid-teens. The pain typically strikes in the evening or at night, resolves completely by morning, and recurs in an episodic pattern over months or years rather than being constant.
How Long Each Episode Lasts
A single episode of growing pains can be as brief as a few minutes or stretch on for hours, depending on severity. The pain almost always shows up in the late afternoon, evening, or during the night, and it’s gone by the time your child wakes up. This nighttime pattern is one of the most consistent features, showing up in nearly half of all clinical descriptions of the condition.
Episodes don’t follow a predictable schedule. Your child might have pain several nights in a row, then go weeks or even months without any. This episodic, on-and-off pattern is normal and doesn’t mean the pain is getting worse when it flares up again.
When Growing Pains Start and Stop
Growing pains tend to occur between ages 3 and 14, with two common peak windows: one in early childhood (roughly ages 3 to 5) and another in the pre-teen years (around ages 8 to 12). Most children stop experiencing them entirely by their mid-teens.
For some kids, the whole experience spans just a few months. For others, episodes come and go over several years. There’s no firm timeline for when they’ll stop, but a useful marker is that the pain tends to fade as bone strength increases. Research measuring bone density in children with growing pains found that their shinbones showed reduced bone strength compared to pain-free kids, and that the pain improved as bone strength caught up.
What Growing Pains Feel Like
The pain is almost always in the legs, most often in the front of the thighs, the calves, or behind the knees. It tends to affect both legs rather than just one, and it hits the muscles rather than the joints. Your child’s legs will look completely normal: no swelling, no redness, no warmth, no limping the next day.
The intensity varies. Some children describe a dull ache, others a throbbing sensation strong enough to wake them from sleep. Despite the name, the pain doesn’t actually happen inside the bones or at growth plates. It’s a deep muscular ache.
Are They Actually Caused by Growing?
Probably not. The name dates back to 1823, but modern research has largely failed to connect growing pains to growth spurts. A scoping review published in Pediatrics found that only 5% of studies claimed any relationship between growth and the pain, while 93% didn’t address the connection at all. One study actually found that growing pains occur during periods of declining growth velocity, not accelerating growth.
The leading theory today is that growing pains represent a local overuse syndrome, similar to what an adult might feel after a long day on their feet. Children who are physically active during the day are more likely to have pain that evening. Lower bone strength in the shins may make those areas more vulnerable to the stress of running, jumping, and climbing. This would explain why the pain tends to disappear as the skeleton matures and strengthens.
There also appears to be a psychological component. Research has found that children with growing pains are more likely to be rated by their parents as having different temperamental and behavioral patterns compared to pain-free children, though teachers didn’t observe the same differences. Some researchers have noted overlap between growing pains, recurring stomach aches, and childhood migraines, suggesting a shared sensitivity pattern rather than a single mechanical cause.
What Helps During an Episode
Three simple interventions tend to work well for most children: gentle massage of the sore area, a heat pad or warm bath before bed, and stretching exercises for the legs. Many parents find that rubbing the calves or thighs for a few minutes is enough to settle the pain and help their child fall back asleep.
Vitamin D has shown positive effects on both the intensity and frequency of episodes. If your child gets growing pains regularly, it’s worth checking whether they’re getting enough through diet or sunlight. Over-the-counter pain relievers can help on particularly rough nights, but most episodes respond to massage and warmth alone.
Stretching the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calf muscles before bed can reduce how often episodes happen. This doesn’t need to be a formal routine. A few minutes of gentle stretches as part of the bedtime wind-down is enough.
Signs That It’s Something Else
Growing pains have a specific profile: bilateral leg pain, in the muscles (not joints), at night, with a completely normal physical exam the next morning. When the pattern breaks from that profile, it’s worth paying closer attention.
- Pain in a single joint with swelling, warmth, or redness could point to juvenile arthritis, which requires symptoms lasting at least six weeks on a daily basis before it’s typically considered as a diagnosis.
- Pain that persists into the morning or causes limping during the day isn’t consistent with growing pains.
- Fever, weight loss, or fatigue alongside leg pain suggests something systemic rather than benign muscle aching.
- Pain that’s always in the same spot rather than shifting between legs or locations deserves evaluation.
Juvenile arthritis comes in several forms. The most common affects four or fewer joints, typically the knees, hips, shoulders, or elbows. A less common form affects five or more joints, often including smaller joints in the hands and feet. The rarest type involves internal organs alongside joint symptoms. All of these look distinctly different from growing pains because they involve visible joint changes and daytime symptoms that don’t disappear by morning.