Tires easily...

I'm wondering if anyone has dealt with something similar. Anthony is 4.5 years old. He is just over 36 inches. I've noticed lately that he is complaining of being tired-from walking. If we go to Six Flags, or camping, etc, he complains he is too tired to walk. Dh or I will end up carrying him. Mostly me though. He's also complaining his legs hurt as well. So my first guess, growing pains. And also, with his legs so short, he just tires out easier. He is seeing the pedi in May for a recheck on his height/weight.

Just curious if anyone else had smaller kids and they complained of being tired. This kid always has me worrying about something! Nicholas will complain about being tired from walking, but that's after we have walked for awhile. With Anthony, he says he is tired within two to three minutes of walking. No joke.

TIA!

 

I would bring it up with the pedi, does he actually look tired to you when he is complaining of being tired? I can always tell when my two start moving slower, being less animated, and looking a little pale.
Both of my kids are on the short side (about 38 inches at their 4 year appointment) and the one time I took them on close to an hour walk, my son was exhausted afterwards. I learned that to take my kids on a long walk, they do better if I stop and rest after 30 minutes.
How long are you out and about when Anthony complains of being tired? Does he complain of being tired during the first activity of the day or does it matter?
My other question would be how is he when he plays and when he is at rest? Does he complain of being tired then?
The other thing to think about, how he is sleeping?

 

As for looking tired, he does right now. Friday they boycotted naps while camping. Then they watched a movie for some quiet time and he passed out, and he was difficult to wake up. Dh told him to wake up for dinner like five times before he actually did. Every time dh asked e said he looked over and he was asleep again.

When camping this past weekend....dh and I were outside setting up the camper. The kids were hanging out. Then we walked to the bathrooms, and within two to three minutes, he started complaining of being tired. And wanting to be picked up. When we are home, he is pretty sedentary overall. He will choose activities outside that don't require a lot of energy.


And he just woke up at 8 am, and he is seriously falling asleep again on the couch. He woke at 6:30 am screaming he needed water, so I got him that, changed his clothes(he was sweating), and he fell right back asleep. When he sleeps, he very very rarely wakes in the middle of the night. He had a two hour nap yesterday, didn't go to bed until close to ten(we packed up the camper and drove home last night due to the impending rain).

I don't know. Now I'm starting to get a bit more worried. Isn't that what mothers do anyways?? But he is asleep again on the couch. They've gone to bed late many times before and gotten up earlier, and he's never been like this-not even when camping.

Could it be something else?? We see the pedi on May 11.

 

Remind me not to google.....

In any case, I know my kid. He just isn't right. He's asleep in my arms as I type. We've been camping for two years now. His lips seem a bit paler. He is struggling to keep his eyes open. Tomorrow he could be a new kid, but if not, I will be calling the pedi in the am. But actually, Nicholas has a 9:30 am appt to have his stitches checked out. Phew!

This parenting thing is never easy.

 

If it's been going on less than a week to 10 days, I'm thinking virus. There are many viruses that we would never suspect because the only symptoms might be a low grade fever or fatigue. Hope all checks out well!

 

Has he been sick in the last couple of weeks? Mono comes to mind & can be quite mild in small children so the initial symptoms might not have been too noticeable. Either that or maybe he is just going through a growth spurt? Although that does sound like an awful lot of sleeping, even for a growth spurt!

 

They had a cold around Easter. He's been fine since.

He did perk up to his usual self once he had a few crackers and some milk. When I see the pedi tomorrow, I am still going to mention it to her, and possibly ask for some bloodwork. If anything, it will be done prior to him seeing her in two weeks. Best to be proactive, right? He does complain his legs hurt, and right behind his knees usually.

I'm just glad he perked up. He really wasn't himself this morning!

 

I would take him to the pedi and make sure to write down all the things you are noticing.

 

I was thinking mono too.

Glad he's feeling better though. But I agree that it never hurts to ask and chat with the pedi about it!

 

Glad he's feeling better but I would take him...whenever I doubt, I take them As for being tired and legs hurting, I have a mixed connective tissue disorder that involves lupus so JT is driving me crazy when he says the ground is too hard (like blacktop at the zoo) and doesn't want to walk and he will also have a harder time trying to do things with his hands. We are keeping an eye on it but mostly he is energetic and runs he just doesn't like really hard ground and luckily nothing is swollen on him!
I hope you get it figured out soon, sounds like an illness but I would have him checked over just in case!

 

Yeah, if I call the pedi for x, y, and z, unless he's had(or any of them) have had a fever for three days or a cold for three weeks-they don't think anything of it. So half the time I feel like a schmuck calling! Granted, I'm talking to the nurses, not the actual pediatrician. Four and a half years later, I'm learning that I now need to lie to get them seen, or be adamant about it. Neither of which are my strong suits.

The only issue with tomorrow is the appointment is for Nicholas. I feel like the frown upon me asking about another child while I am in the office. But, to make a phone call and another appointment when I am already there, seems kind of silly to me as well. The pedi we are seeing tomorrow is not their usual pedi. This is the one who saw Anthony last November for his yearly due to the snowstorm that cancelled his original one. I loved her. She took her time with me, answering all my questions/worries about him, and got the ball rolling into having him evaluated for services, in which he qualified. So, I am actually thrilled we are getting to see her tomorrow.

I will post an update once we are back.

Thanks ladies!

 

I have 5.5 year old who is 47 inches and complains alllllllllllll theeeeeeeeeeeeeeee timeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee about being tired, doesn't want to walk, her legs hurt, etc. etc. etc. I have a 40 year old who is 6'2" and also complains as much as his mini-me. So I think sometimes it's just the kid.

BUT...if it's not usual for him and his lips are pale and he's passing out maybe it is something else. I will say though, when we do a lot of walking (at an amusement park, on the beach, around Boston), she is the first to pass out in the car and hits sleep HARD.

 

Jessy was getting really tired before her heart surgery. She is a bit better now but still tires easier than Jazz

 

He had a heart murmur at birth, not sure if it can return or what not. He did take a nap this afternoon, and otherwise has been himself.

Lol Michelle. He doesnt complain in that whiney way though. Lol! And like I said, we've been busy, go go go for awhile, and he has never acted like this, which is why it was alarming to me.

But, he always mentions he is tired from walking, etc, and I think it has to do with his short stature. I hope the doctor gives me a few minutes to chat with her, so I will arrive early. I will ask for a bloodwork up and hope she agrees to it and go from there. Check his iron and what not.

Here's to maybe an answer tomorrow! Otherwise, in two weeks!

 

My DD is the one that complains of pain behind her knees sometimes as well. I googled it and just figure it is growing pains. My two also can't handle a full day of activity or walking, if we are doing any significant walking I bring a stroller. Weird though, as I expect them to have endless amounts of energy, but actually they are quite tired after a full hour of activity. Hoping this was normal....

 

Meaghan, please keep us posted with what the pedi says. I would definitely ask before Nicholas's appointment if it's okay if you discuss a concern regarding Anthony. I really can't see them having a problem with that.
Good luck :hug:

 

i have no ideas, but you mentioned heart murmurs... my girls had heart murmurs when they were babies, and they went away... on thursday the girls had a physical, and the nurse practitioner said that ivi has a murmur (both when sitting up and lying down... we have to take her to a cardiologist)... and she tires more easily when walking. anyway, i guess they DO come back! either that, or some pedi's just don't catch it...? good luck, i hope he gets to feeling better!!!

 

Sarah was/is always like that, ped never found anything wrong with her and said just growing pains. Turns out she has celiac disease, which means her body isn't absorbing nutrients. No wonder she's low-energy!

That said -- she was on the lazy side as a baby too, and there's no gluten in formula (is there?). She was one of those babies who would rather just sit there and whine for a toy than actually reach for it! Also, celiac disease is something you develop (you are born with a vulnerability to it, but some people never develop the actual disease), and we have no way of knowing when she developed it. So part of it is probably just personality, and probably growing pains too. I can tell that she has a low tolerance for discomfort (I'm like that too -- everything "hurts" me).

All this is a long-winded way of saying that it could be something, and it could be nothing. But if it goes on for a while (like, months), especially if he tends to have a lot of digestive issues, you might want to consider allergy and/or celiac testing.

 

Jessy always has a murmur but what they assumed was the cause wasn't the actual cause(she will always have a slight murmur). She had an undiagnosed hole in her septal wall. Murmurs can be at times hard to hear.

 

Thanks everyone!

I wanted to give an update:

So while seeing the pediatrician, who I love and is not our regular one, I chatted about Anthony while she took out Nicholas's stitches. She too thought it was weird, being so tired. So she said she would do a quick anemia check on him. If that was normal, then maybe chalk it up to being extra tired and needing more sleep. The iron came back at over 13.6 or something, so he's totally fine there. We see her again on May 11 for a height/weight check, so I will take note of when he complains of pain, tiredness, and keep own eye on sleep patterns. As it was today, no nap, they had school, and they went to bed late.

I'm going with he was extra extra tired.... I will definitely mention the heart murmur, just in case. It seems like it reappears at 4 years old for some kids. And Dannielle-I was reading in the bc about Ivi and heart murmur also came up in a search of kids tiring easily.

So hopefully it was just a fluke!

 

Meaghan, thank you for the update. I hope it was a fluke too.
When we went for our 4 year appointment, our pediatrician noticed that Luke had a heart murmur. My mother has one too, hers comes and goes. As for Luke, it's never come up before until now. Out of my two kids, he is the one who does tire easily.