Hi!
Does anyone have experience with children with RLS?
How can we make the schoolday better/easier for these children? (Primary school)
I do not think about medication. The child neurologist would like to wait with medication as long as possible.
I think of primary RLS, where Ferritin over 50 does not help.
Well I WAS a child with RLS and I think my eldest may have a touch of it.
For me as a child I was told I had 'growing pains' and spent my early life thinking there was something badly wrong with me that I suffered this strange thing so the first thing I would say, (although it doesn't really need saying from what you've posted), is to take the child seriously and listen to what they say.
Good idea to stay away from drugs, hopefully your young one has many, many years ahead and it would be very early with this condition to use up the medical armoury, (although at silly o'clock in the morning with a crying/uncomfortable child anything would be good). For my child I gave them Tonic Water, (mistaken belief that it helped RLS when it is actually only a bit useful for leg cramps), maybe placebo, may be that she had cramps and not RLS, (although I know only too well what they described), but it seemed/seems to do the trick. Whatever the reason, apart from a foul taste, (I vomited any time I tried it), it will do no harm.
I was advised by a GP to avoid Aspartame, as it is meant to make it worse and lets face it regardless of RLS its a chemical we should really be avoiding. It didn't make a difference to me but then mine is pretty bad.
Have Iron levels checked, (not just Haemoglobin) to rule that out also. If they are 'jiggling' at school talk with the teacher, I lost count of the number of times I was thumped in the head for distracting others by moving, thankfully that way of teaching is at an end, but do talk with the teachers as the will need to know if they are tired at school what's causing it and if they are moving it needs to be allowed and not controlled, (I don't know if you have it yourself but trying not to move is not only near impossible it is very painful/annoying and stressful.
There is so much talk about juicing cannabis to help with epilepsy and the like maybe it would work with other neurological conditions like RLS. I know smoking works and I am not for one minute suggesting you hand them a joint but juiced plant is not psychoactive orally so there would be no stoning only the healing properties BUT I think it takes a lot more so you would need to have plenty of cash or be in the position to grow it - I couldn't juice it for my kid as I cannot afford nor have access to those amounts and their RLS isn't that bad that would warrant it, but if needed I would have no problem trying it juiced, but not smoked or made so as to be psychoactive when eaten - i.e. dissolved in a fat.
Can't think of anything else at the minute but if I do I'll post. Hope this has been of some help, good luck.
I had a doctor friend who considered it cruel to let anyone suffer when there was help available. He also was generous with antibiotics for infections and was outraged when doctors would with hold them for fear they wouldn't be effective later when a worse bug hit. He turned out to be right. Whenever a new illness showed up there was a newer version of the antibiotic. He believed that a doctors role was to relieve suffering and to do no harm and he believed the with holding treatment was doing harm. Insist that your doctor give treatment or change doctors.
There is a discussion group here with a special section for children with RLS
There is a pediatrician I heard speak at the RLS conference in Boston a few years back. Dr. Judith Owens, you can find her book on amazon.com The US RLSF had a copy of her talk on their web site, but was looking for it the other day and cold not find it. She does not believe in with holding treatment either. My oldest niece has 2 kids 11 and 8, and both of them had RLS, PLMD, and the 11 yr old sleep walks. so far no meds, but qetting are getting closer. The boy, the 8 yr old, cannot sit still in school and they thought it was behavior issue until "Auntie' stepped in and informed the teachers about what RLS is. 
Now, they let him get up and walk around and he is so smart, they let him walk around and help other kids with their work. ) That is a good solution for now.
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