A lot of things get labelled as “growing pains” but merely because there's pain in a developing child does not mean it's a true growing pain. It is easy to dismiss pain in a growing child as growing pains. A genuine growing pain just happens at night and never in the daytime. The pain is also in the upper calf muscle and behind the knee. If the discomfort occurs in the daytime and in another area than the back of the leg and knee, then it's not a true growing pain and is probably due to something different that needs to be looked into. Typically, it only occurs in younger children and wakes the child from sleep. There will be no history of trauma or any kind of injury to the area which the pain occurs in.
Growing pains are usually somewhat benign and self-limiting, in that they do come right after time. However, they can be distressing to the child and parents at the time and, even more important, there are several serious and uncommon disorders which may have signs much like growing pains, therefore each case needs to be given serious attention and looked into to eliminate these other possible causes. The implications of missing these uncommon reasons for similar symptoms is significant.
The typical management of growing pains is simply reassurance of the child. They should be comforted and helped to return to sleep. Gentle massage or rubbing of the leg will often be useful. In some instances medication can be used to help the pain and relieve the returning to sleep. Stretching just before going to bed and if the pain occurs could also be helpful. Of most importance is education about the nature of growing pains and that it will pass plus an assessment of those potential uncommon and serious causes of the discomfort.