lobsided child

[Ameliasmommy]

Hi should I be worried? my daughter is 8 and she is bigger on her left side. I mean her left ear is larger than her right not just sticking out more but the whole lobe is wider/longer. her left foot is 1/2 size bigger than her right (she is a top end H fitting) so has to go up 1/2 size so will fit her bigger foot and therefore needs an insole in her smaller foot! she also finds it impossible to stand with her feet together. her knees touch but feet dont. I dont want to take her to docs yet as dont want her to feel there is somthing odd. should I take her? other wise she is just a normal 8 year old! thanx.

I'm 29 and one of my feet is bigger than the other! If you look REALLY closely, me and my sister both have one eye that is very slightly bigger than the other, though everyone else claims they can't notice it.

I wouldn't worry too much about your DD unless the differences became really pronounced, a half shoe size difference is normal enough, a full size or two full sizes difference would be more of a concern. Your DD is still growing and things may well even out and if it is not affecting her balance or anything like that, the risk of taking her to the dr could be to make her more aware of it and affect her confidence.

thanx littlemisssnowshine. that is just what I dont want to do, knock her confidence. she has noticed her ear. but it doesnt bother her. Ill keep an eye on her. xx

Actually... I don't want to cause concern, but certain medical conditions cause one half of the body to grow faster, and require regular check to reduce (serious) health risks.

I think you should take her to your GP and explain your concerns. Particularly if you think she is more lopsided now at 8yo than she was as a baby or toddler. And also, an other important detail is the thickness of her limbs - on the side with the larger foot and ear, is her calf and thigh bigger than on the other side (or the arms).

Sorry if that is not very reassuring but if you can answer yes to the above questions, it's really important that you go and tell your GP about it, it may be completely normal for her, or there maybe an underlying cause which needs to be assessed.

I havnt noticed a difference in her limbs but I will check that. when she was 5 she was unable to stand straight she would have one of her legs bent slightly (come to think of it I think it was her left leg) we saw a pediatrician and he thought she may have one leg longer than the other. This was over a period of about 6 months it turned out her legs were the same length and he discharged her. yes I think I will take her if not just to put my mind at rest. Thanx

Dd2 is like that.
Her left ear is over 1cm smaller than her right, her left foot is 1/2 size smaller, left eye socket is noticeably smaller (if you look for it)... and she was born missing her left arm from below the elbow.
So I queried whether these were linked with the consultant, and they said that most people aren't symmetrical and have each thing will be bigger, just that it happens to be all the same size with dd2.

I first noticed the ear when I was breastfeeding, she'd be lying with her right ear upwards and I'd think "oh her ear has grown" then change sides and think "actually it is rather tiny after all". My dsis has very small ears too, and both of dd2's ears are small, just one is smaller and so looks terribly dainty.