Muscle Cramps: How to Care for Your Child

A muscle cramp is a painful tightening (contraction) of a muscle that can last from a few seconds to a few minutes. Often, they happen during or after exercise or while using a particular muscle (for example, a finger cramp while typing). Rest, stretching, and extra liquids help relieve most muscle cramps. Here's how to care for your child as they recover from muscle cramps and ways to help prevent them.

As your child recovers from muscle cramps:

• Have them rest the muscle that was cramping for a few hours.

• Make sure they drink plenty of liquids. Follow your health care provider's recommendation for what your child should drink (water, oral electrolyte solution, or sports drink) and how much. Usually if their pee is very light yellow, they are getting enough liquids. 

• Have them take any supplements or vitamins as recommended by your health care provider.

• Help them avoid caffeine, which draws water out of the body through pee.

• Offer a regular diet. 

• If your child's muscle is sore from the cramping, you can try:

  • gentle massage and stretching

  • having your child take a warm bath

  • a heating pad

  • ice wrapped in a towel

  • helping your child relax (for example through deep breathing or meditation)

  • medicines such as acetaminophen (Tylenol^® or a store brand) or ibuprofen (Advil^®, Motrin^®, or a store brand) if your health care provider says it's OK. Follow the directions on the label for how much to give and how often.

To help prevent muscle cramps, encourage your child to:

• Drink plenty of liquids. Drinking water is usually enough to keep kids hydrated. Health care providers might recommend that kids who do endurance sports (such as football, running, tennis, or soccer) or exercise in hot weather drink liquids with salt in them (such as oral electrolyte solutions or sports drinks) or add salt to their food. Ask your health care provider about the right amount of salt for your child.

• Avoid caffeine.

• Take any supplements or vitamins as recommended by your health care provider.

• Warm up and stretch before exercising. Stretch after exercising. 

• Dress in light clothing and only wear the minimum gear needed to stay safe when exercising in hot weather. For example, at football practice when working on endurance through running, they can take off their helmet and padding.

Your child:

• has muscle cramps when they aren't exercising or that don't go away within an hour with rest and drinking liquids

• starts vomiting

• shows signs of dehydration (not enough liquid in the body), such as extreme thirst or not peeing at least every 8 hours

Your child:

• seems dizzy or confused

• has a seizure or passes out

What causes muscle cramps? It's not exactly clear why muscle cramps happen. They may happen for different reasons in different people, such as:

• not drinking enough liquids

• not having enough salt in the diet

• losing a lot of salt through sweating

• using muscles that aren't used regularly

• a message sent from the brain when the muscles get tired

What should I do if my child cramps again? To help your child:

• If they are doing a sport or activity, have them stop so they can rest the muscle.

• If they are in a hot environment, get them to a cool place, if possible. Or you can put ice packs wrapped in a towel on their skin to cool them.

• It may help to:

  • Give plenty of water. Ask your health care provider if you should give your child a sports drink or other drink with salt in it. 

  • Encourage your child to relax and take deep breaths.

  • Massage or stretch the muscle that is cramping. 

  • Put a heating pad or ice wrapped in a towel on the muscle that is cramping. 

  • Have your child take a warm bath.