As moms we worry. I was just wondering the same only my daughter is almost 19yrs old but keeps complaining of her lower back.
We don't want to be paranoid but yet we worry as it can be genetic.

At 3 they do mimic a lot. I have a niece who just turned 4 not long ago & its amazing what she picks up.

You don't even realize how much they really pay attention. Long story but she is with her Aunt for now & every time she spends time with her mom she complains of something hurting because her mom complains of the same. She will even mimic babying her arm like her mom. Yet after a few days she stops. Same thing if her mom complains of her back she'll do the same.

Funny she heard someone say they had a broken heart.
Next day told her Aunt her heart was broke & could she please fix it for her, LOL.

I am assuming she gets regular check ups.
Perhaps limiting what you say around her & watch closely. If she displays signs of her knee bothering her then go with your gut feeling. If not then ask at her next appointment if she should be tested. It can't hurt to ask & as a mom no one can blame you for being concerned.
These are just some suggestions or course you'll do what you feel is best, all mom's do.
God bless & good luck. She looks like such a sweet heart.
Sammy

My daughter is 20 and is always thinking she has something bad wrong with her, since she was little. Every time she gets a pain she googles. Once she thought she was dying, and at midnight she insisted I take her to emergency. I made her wait 30 minutes, because I know how she is, it was gas. 30 minutes later and the pain was gone.
I have no idea where she gets it from, but I'm thinking because her daddy died of cancer, and now me sick, she is a little paranoid.
Last week we were in the car, and the sun was directly in our faces. She looked in the car mirror and started freaking out. It looked like a bump in her nose in the sun, and she thought she had a tumor. I kid you not, her boyfriend who was in the backseat and I , had to show her our noses had that same bump inside. It was just skin.

I would take your daughter, because it's you that is worried. And parents always know best. And it would make you feel better. If it comes and goes, try to take her when she has the pain. Might just be a little growing pains I hope.
Hug
Lin

Occasionally my 16 year old son will complain about a sore joint and I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck start to rise. He already has two other autoimmune diseases (Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease) so I don't think I'm overeacting. However, to keep him from getting paranoid I bite my tongue and take a bit of a "wait and see" attitdue. If he continued to complain about it though, I would want it checked out. I still feel guilty that he went almost a month with suspicious symptoms before I took him to the doctor and we found out he had Type 1. My husband pooh-poohed me on that one and I was right so always trust your mommy instincts. If anything you'll just be relieved when it turns out to be nothing. : )

You have to take her to a doctor. She is too young for you to take a chance. You really have no choice . She is to young to be able to completely articulate what is wrong with her. If there is something wrong with her knee ( and remember jra is just one possible cause there may be lots of others ) and you do nothing and she is in pain or it progresses could you live with yourself ?? With a child that little you can't take a chance in my opinion . Take her to the doctor .

It might be more difficult for you, but could you keep track of how often she mentions it? Typically, my doctors have said "tell me about any symptoms you've had for more than seven days straight". I also think that if her knee hurt, she would be showing some involuntary symptoms like limping or inactivity. Knees, as we know, are really crucial to all activity.

When my son was 10 years old he would complain of a stomachache every night when I put him to bed. I got frustrated and ignored it for awhile thinking it was a ploy on his behalf to not have to go sleep. Eventually I became alarmed and took him to pediatric gastrologist. The gastrologist asked me if he was having any social or school issues. I said no. He then informed me that a normal healthy child would not continue to complain if it was not real. So he ran a gamet of tests. It turned out he was lactose intolerent. His life and my meal preparations changeds forever. Moral here is: if your 3 year old keeps complaining, better safe than sorry to check it out!

Thank you so much everyone for your help and replies. I will book her another appt on a day where I can take her and we will get this settled once and for all. I realise that there is a good chance that it is NOT JRA but the chance of it being 'something' is still there. I don't want to risk it. Thanks again everybody....it is so nice to hear that I am not the only one that has gone through something like this! :)

When our three girls were young, I felt like a hypochondriac because I'd decided it was sensible to check anything out with my doctor. That way, I didn't waste time thinking "should I?" or feeling guilty (as we mums do) when the doctor asked ""Why didn't you come before?"
So yes, becrox, go with your gut feeling and get her into a doctor.

I had a great many complaints growing up. My poor mom went nuts trying to determine was was sincere and what wasn't, while I personaly knew that they all were. She would take me, but if a doctor dismissed it as nothing, she would stop there. Except with my stomach that is, when something lands you in the hospital every month, you can't ignore.

I found out that the chances were really good that I have had RA scine I was a teen. It kills her now, knowing that there might have been something she could have done about it.

Meanwhile, interesting question. I'm about to post something very similiar. And BTW, My oldest has alread been diagnosed by GP as possibly having RA, so it's worth looking into.

I had a lot of crap going on with me when I was growing up. With mom being Type I Diabetic and Dad having a life saving surgery as an infant and MANY broken bones growing up . . . things were, amusing, to say the least. I was accident prone (13 broken fingers, yes, a few more than once, some never), broken ankle, broke my nose twice, you get the point. Hypoglycemia at 13, mom kept an eye on my blood sugar for a couple weeks, we made some diet changes, continued monitoring then, with data collected went to the doctor.

Had a congenital defect in one of my kidneys that required surgery at 12.

This is an interesting one. My mom went with me to my first neurology appointment for my migraines, in 2004. My neurologist asked her a lot about my childhood history, stomach aches, head aches and a few other things, but it turns out, I probably had migraines since infancy, but chronic displays differently in kids. I was also "lucky" enough, to get the menstrual migraine symptoms as well, from Mom's side. . . .

I wouldn't brush it off, but I wouldn't rush in for every complaint. I think that if it has continued, it is worth looking into. If anything, because peace of mind is priceless.