Children have leg cramps when sleeping at night

We all know that children are lively and active by nature, but once a child has health problems, parents will always be particularly worried. Many parents will find that their children have cramps when they sleep at night, which often makes parents particularly worried and afraid that it will affect the healthy growth of their children. If such a problem occurs, we must understand the cause and make timely adjustments. Let's learn about children's calf cramps when they sleep at night.

Children have leg cramps when sleeping at night

Causes and solutions for calf cramps

The scientific name for cramps is muscle spasm, which is a spontaneous tonic contraction of muscles. Muscle cramps most commonly occur in the calves and toes. The pain is unbearable when they occur, especially in the middle of the night when cramps often wake people up in pain. The pain cannot be relieved for a long time and it affects sleep.

The most common causes of leg cramps are:

① Cold stimulation from the external environment, such as low room temperature at night in winter, using a quilt that is too thin during sleep, or exposing legs and feet outside the quilt.

② Fatigue, lack of sleep, rest or excessive rest can lead to the accumulation of local acidic metabolic products, which can cause muscle spasms. Walking or exercising for too long, which causes excessive fatigue in the lower limbs, or lack of rest and sleep, can cause lactic acid accumulation. Sleeping and resting too much or too long can slow down blood circulation and cause carbon dioxide accumulation.

③ Decreased estrogen levels and osteoporosis in elderly women can cause low blood calcium levels, increased muscle irritability, and frequent cramps.

④ Bad sleeping posture, such as lying on your back for a long time with the quilt pressing on your feet, or lying on your stomach for a long time with your feet against the bed, forcing certain calf muscles to be in an absolutely relaxed state for a long time, causing "passive contracture" of the muscles.

Emergency treatment for leg cramps

Whenever you have leg cramps, you can immediately grab the big toe on the cramped side with your hand, then slowly straighten your foot, and then stretch your leg forcefully, and the calf muscle will stop cramping. Alternatively, you can use both hands to vigorously massage your calf, which will also be effective.

If leg cramps occur frequently, you should seek medical treatment.

The simplest thing is to relax when you have a cramp, then slowly straighten your leg.

The above is an introduction to calf cramps in children when they sleep at night. When encountering the phenomenon of children having cramps when they sleep at night, parents should not be too nervous. First of all, they must make timely judgments based on the child’s age. If the child is relatively young, it may be that the nervous system is not fully developed, which is a normal phenomenon. If the child gradually grows up and still has this phenomenon, we must take the child to the hospital for examination. In addition, pay attention to the child’s diet to make sure he eats more high-calcium foods, and pay attention to keeping the child’s body warm.