toddler complains of back pain

[sarah2032]

I have an almost 2 1/2 year old son who began complaining of back pain in mid-October.  We had just had another baby, so I didn't really think much of it at first.  Then in early November he wouldn't walk, after x-rays and blood work all came back normal our pediatrician diagnosed him with toxic synovitis.  He began walking and was back to normal in a couple days.  However, the occasional complaint of back paincontinued, most of the time when he was laying down.  We took him back in to the Dr. and had more x-rays done.  Then in the beginning of December he began to complain of back pain when he was in his car seat.  Again, i just took it as he wanted out, nothing too alarming.  It has gotten worse that now he will scream like he is in enormous pain whenever he's in the car seat.  I have since paid close attention to what it is that hurts.  He always grabs for the middle of his lower back with his right hand and says that's where it hurts.  We had a Britax Boulevard carseat since April and were praying that it was the carseat that we went and got a new one.  Same thing in the new one.  I then began watching him sit.  When he sits he will not sit with weight equally distributed on both hips, he'll immediately shift his weight to one side or the other, or need to sit sideways with a leg up, then he's fine.  Since a 5 point harness prevents him from doing so, he can't figure out how to fix whatever it is that hurts.  This week he also started it in the stroller.  He will not sit on my lap without shifting to one side or the other.  Even if I distract him with TV or a snack or anything he's all over the place.  If I try to make him sit straight he will immediately begin kicking his legs and squirming his back all over the place, and then scream.  Our pediatrician ordered more x-rays but I don't know what else to do or who else to see for a consult.

[AlannaRose]

I can't believe all of the posts about pain in the back and bellies on toddlers in car seat. My daughter 28 months old started about two weeks ago. My story is exactly the same as all of yours. I have not taken her to the doctor yet bc I was wondering if maybe it's constipation and the car seat brings on the discomfort. She does not have regular bowel movements. Hmmm.... I'll have to keep reading. But it is crazy.

[Ambrdy844]

My 2 year old daughter has been complaining about her back hurting for about a month. She had a fecal test and a urine test done both came back fine. The doc thought it was a milk allergy but it wasn't. So I'm in a spot where I just don't know what to do. We are going back to the dic tom. So hopefully we can get somewhere.

[cmack06]

I thin your issue, samk37 might be a kidney infection.  Uva Ursi and Yarrow are all natural remedies for kidney infections.  I use them on myself and they work better than the antibiotic.  You can order them at http://www.naturessunshine.com/us/shop/

[melouth]

Discitis - I came across this thread of posts a few months back when I was searching for 'lower back pain toddler". I thought I would let you know what came of my further investigation with doctors in Australia where I live AS I HAVE HAD A RESULT- yay!!
Start- She had a small fall down our concrete back steps (2 steps), got up cried, but seemed fine and walked away (had a chesty cough at the time, but wasn't an infection that I knew of).
My daughter's (1.5 years old) symptom list the followed:
- holding her back when walking along
- reduction in bending over forwards to pick something off the floor
- SCREAMING in pain (usually after sleeping, but not always)
- would suddenly drop to the floor and cry at times
- eventually didn't like walking up/down stairs
- eventually wanted to be carried most of the time
These symptoms all developed over about 3 weeks with the intensity increasing. Eventually not really walking at all and the screaming periods lasting up to 45mins -heartbreaking times......
She had an x-ray which showed nothing. Getting a wee sample didn't happen- this is very difficult to obtain!!
Then she developed a 39 degree Celsius fever and the doctors started to worry as infection was their obvious thought.
She had a bone scan of her spine and it showed up a 'hot spot' in her lumbar. Not great news... as could have been a lot of nasty things.
But... then we had an MRI under general anesthetic and this showed that she had DISCITIS (infection of the disc between two of her lumbar).
This is a good thing compared to what it could have been. It's quite unusual and hard to diagnose in young kids that can't talk yet.
10 days in hospital with IV antibiotics. After 3 days she was really on the mend and walking again!!!! Happy dance + tears from us.
7 weeks of STRONG oral antibiotics at home, then another MRI which showed the disc was breaking down as expected (the two lumbar will fuse- won't cause any long term issues at all).
We've finished the antibiotics now and due to have another routine follow up MRI in another month to check all is A-OK... which it will be as she is already back to her crazy/ beautiful/ mischievous/ independent almost 2 year old self.
Bottom line.... if you think it's something... it may be... KEEP GOING BACK TO DOCTORS UNTIL YOUR HAPPY!
I hope this helps someone...

[Averytrio]

Did anyone find any conclusive results? My 5 year old has been complaining about the same thing on and off for two years. Switched seats and gave him miralax for supposed constipation...he is scheduled to have MRI because everything else is clear

[Averytrio]

Did anyone find any conclusive results? My 5 year old has been complaining about the same thing on and off for two years. Switched seats and gave him miralax for supposed constipation...he is scheduled to have MRI because everything else is clear