Walking on tippy toes

[mumsemily]

Hi my 2 1/2 yo dd still walks on her tippy toes, now I know she can walk flat footed but as soon as she starts walking or running she goes back on tip toes.

This is distressing DP as he thinks she'll need help later on.

Any body been through the same thing, should I contact HV or let it go for now??????

Thanks

Lisa

I would talk it through with the HV; it can't do any harm. I think there are exercises that the child can do every day to help (but I'm not sure)...

Definately worth a chat IMO

Chat through with HV. Can mean something (a variety of things) can mean nothing, especially at 2 (my younger 2 have done it at 2- means nothing, my eldest does it at 8- means something).

Does she do it on particular surfaces (her feet may be sensitive to cold wooden floors/itchy carpet etc

She does it all the time, with or without shoes on. We bought her boots to see if that made her walk falt foot it did for a while til she got used to them.

I'll talk to HV and see what she says.

Cheers

My dd1 still does this at 11.

My son had 18 months of physio for walking on tippy toes. He was unable to walk with his heels on the floor and it interfered with his ablity to walk. We did a home exercise programme of stretching exercises and he wore orthoric inserts.

If your little girl can walk with her feet flat then I would not worry. There is absolutely nothing you can do stop a child walking on tiptoes if they want to.

My son is six years old and still walks on his toes, but he can run about the playground and enjoy life. The most important thing is that a child has good functional walking.

There is no point in putting a child through the horrors of physio just to correct a cosmetic problem.

My DH walks on his tip toes now too pretty much. I really don't notice it anymore. Maybe its just something that some people do??

It's usually a sign of too short an achilles tendon, and can be corrected by physio and wearing plasters at night or sometimes during the day. If it's severe dr's or physios sometimes suggest surgery. Some people live it without any intervention, I'm not sure whether it has any significant impact on adult walking, I don't know anyone who has it as an adult, maybe it would be a problem with shoes if it's severe...

Thanks Reallytired, nice to know my profession is horrific!

Seriously though, ideopathic toewalking is quite common, but best get it checked out in case its something else like very mild CP.

Sometimes seen in children with sensory issues, quite common in children with ASD.

And there are adults who do it - I do spot them from time to time. Mostly male - I expect the women are wearing heels, then it wouldnt show!

Can I ask what ASD is????

Message withdrawn

Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Mumsemily please don't worry your child has ASD because she walks on her toes. I've always walked on my tippy-toes because I have high arches in my feet and tight calve muscles. All this means for me is that high heels are more comfortable than flip flops! I do wear ballet shoes and flip-flops but not for any length of time as my back aches. When your DD is onlder she'll be one of the few women (like me) who find killer stilletos really comfy!
Having said that, I'm most comfortable at home in bare feet parading around on my toes.
It seems to be genetic as my (male) cousin had the same problem and lots of physio and an operation to lengthen the muscles and he now walks with a limp. My parents left me to get on with it and apart from a bit of back ache during the summer when it's too hot for anything but flip-flops it's not a problem for me at all.
I think it's worth getting it checked out and keeping an eye on it but please please dont stress.

Message withdrawn

Sorry, didnt mean to frighten - quite often children with ASD toe walk, but deosnt mean that a toe walking child has ASD!

Sorry Fubsy, I didn't mean to insult you.

My son really didn't like physio, at the age of two he tried to put his orthorics down the toilet! Doing the stretching exercises with a stroppy toddler was a challenge.

But you have to admit that the idea of a child being treated with botox and serial casting sounds really unpleasent. Thankfully my son did not need it, but it was seriously considered at one point.

Most idiopathic toewalkers grow out of toewalking without intervention. My son was a really extreme toe walker, he still toe walks at 6 years old but no where near as much. As children get heavier they find it harder to toewalk.

I did feel a bit worried when he went higher up on his toes during a growth spurt, but this seems to be correcting itself without any intervention. Provided he has good functional walking, not in pain and can get his heels to the ground, I am not bothered.

My son is definately not autisic. He has plenty of friends and good play skills. The only thing is that his coordination is very poor and he is not good at PE. He was under the local child development centre for 4 years.

My son enjoys life and living and is not bothered by his toewalking. If he wants treatment for his toewalking then I will support him.

I think toe walking is worth investigating as it can mean something - although usually - in most cases- doesn't.

My cousin toe walked- and does have CP.

My 2 younger sons to walked at 2 - and are absolutely fine.

Like many autistic children (or dyspraxic children) ds1 toe walks (although he didn't at 2). Autistic & dyspraxic children often toe walk because of sensory issues. (That's why we noticed the younger 2 toe walking at an age when we were still keeping an eye on them).

I agree with Fusby- it is worth checking, but not worth losing sleep over- almost certainly nothing (especially if only intermittent).

Im sorry your son had such a bad time of it, Reallytired. But I had to lauh at putting AFOs down the toilet - I used to see a boy who took them off and put them in the bin every day when he got back from school! His big brother would check the bin and get them out

TBH, Ideopathic toe walking is a bit of a mystery, and theres no definative treatment that suits everybody.

Some respond quickly to stretching, as if they just needed someone to "remind" them how to walk with their heels down, while others go through the everything including surgery and still walk on their toes!

Personally I would always discuss treatment options with a parent before forcing a child to do something that can be quite invasive.

I have met a couple of older children who didnt get referred until they were about 11, and they were completely unconcerned about it. It was the mothers who were worried, one because she thought her son looked odd, and one because she thought her daughter would get arthritis in her feet.

Im not sure that theres any evidence about this, although i would presume your feet would hurt as much as the feet of someone who lives in high heels. It can also make shoe firring a bit difficult.

But it certainly seems to bother the parents more than the child.

We try and get dd to stamp and she can do this quite well especially when there are big puddles to jump in.

I know she can walk on with heels down, dp thinks it may have been the babywalker that brought it on as she used her tip toes to push around!!!!!!!

We've bought boots with a slight heel and it doesn't seem to make much difference except in her wellies!!!!

Flashing light trainers are good for toewalkers. I think its important to remember that a toe walker is a person. There is no point in over medicalising them.

Physio is about improving a child quality of life.

My son has never been bullied for toe walking. He had a really nasty child call him "spastic" because he wears hearing aids. My son punched this boy in the stomach and winded him. Both boys were sent to the head and punished equally.

Ds: "Mummy, its really unfair, I got a massive telling off, I didn't mean to punch A in the stomach."

Me: "What do you mean?"

Ds: "I was aiming for the face!"

Schools are far better at dealing with bullying than in the past. This is the only incident of bullying that my son has had for looking different.

Doesn't matter in the least. Will improve her highland dancing.

Have just been to children's outpatients with my 9 year old. Toe walker all her life, takes after her dad, he still does it. didn't really worry about it for a while, but it is now affecting her ability and enjoyment of sports and dancing. She gets tired easily and complains of pain in her feet and legs. They've given us some excercises and will start her on the course of casting to try and stretch the very tight muscles and ligaments. Is there anyone who has experience of this? and also of the surgery that they are suggesting might be needed? Thanks.

My daughter always walked on her tiptoes and HVs etc never commented, eventually at age 4 I took her to the GP who referred her to the hospital.She couldnt put her heels down properly by then. We went along expecting exercises etc but they put her in plaster for 6 weeks to stretch her calf muscles. Was a real shock as she couldnt do swimming etc. It did work, she is now nearly 9 and never walks on her toes but it was a traumatic time so I would advise you get it checked out before you reach that point.

My DS2 is now 9 and was a tippy toe walker. He still does it occasionally now especially when he's tired, but most of the time he walks "flat feet".
we had all sorts of tests done when he was 2 including MRI and they found no reason for it and said he would probably grow out of it.
As he got older we kept reminding him to walk with "flat feet" and in our case that seemed to work.