Ballerina syndrome, walking on tip toes

[Twinsplusonesurprise]

My 2.5yo DD, one of twins, constantly walks on tip toes. She can put her feet down and will do so if I nag nag nag but I would have to say "feet down!" literally every 20 seconds.
It doesn't matter where we are or what we 're doing. Even when she's talking, drawing etc, activities that usually mean standing still, she will be up on her tip toes staggering around. So she falls over ALL the time.
Anyone have any experience of this and how do I get her to stand and walk normally?!

Oddly enough I know of two other children who have this & they are both twins & both dancers!

They have short tendons in the back of their legs. Excercises can help but in the case of the girl I know one of her dance excercises has had to be modified.

Yes so have I and we never used those for that very reason.
Not really early, 38 weeks. No suggestion of cerebral palsy - that I know of.

Ah chestnuts thanks for post but she's only 2.5 and never done any dancing (apart from jiggling around of course!)
I was thinking of enrolling her in gym classes but teacher said it might encourage her more.

The fact they are dancers is a co incidence (or maybe not as in one case the dance was seen to help (I can't say more as the child is/was well known and I don't know them that well) & in the case of the other girl it was sen as a natural ginkgo to send her to dance as she walked like that.

What I meant to get across was that there is a physical reason for it so it might be worth getting your dd checked by a physio

Please don't call walking on tiptoes "Ballerina syndrome". My son at two and half years old was an extreme toewalker and he got really upset with lots of people "joking" that he should do ballet.

Lots of children walk on their toes and its only an issue if the child cannot put their heels down or there are other developmental issues. Don't consult Dr. Google as it will give you nightmares.

Ds could not get his heels down and he wore orthorics and had stetching excercises for 18 months with a child physio. An NHS child physio will not do anything unless it affects the child's walking.

I found it best to ignore my son walking on tiptoes. He has outgrown it now (nearly aged 12).

One of the children I mentioned is a boy. I've sent a pm

Sorry Reallytired, I had heard it referred to as that somewhere else you see.
I think you're all right and I maybe will start with my HV and see what she says. DD can def put her feet flat though so I don't think it's a physiological problem. It seems to be excitement/nerves, character related. Makes me feel such a nag though!

My dd does this sometimes (15)

Do you have admit other developmental concerns about her? How are her speech and language, social skills and play skills?

I do this- ds does too. Doc checked but said its just the way some of us are. We have short tendons too.

I always walked on my tip toes as a child and still do now if I'm bare foot. I've never had a problem other than having tight calf muscles which made learning to horse ride difficult. My mum said I always did it as a child. I don't think you should worry just think of it as one of your daughters quirks.

My DD was like this when younger and I worried a lot about it (DS has ASD) but she grew out of it by the time she was three and doesn't do it at all now.

If it worries you then do talk to your HV about it, but you may find that she stops doing it herself soon.

Lougle - speech and language extremely good. Very social child.

She does sit with her legs folded under her though. And she does have weird foodie habits too - which I've just read can be a sign of SPD?

I had this as a child! It wasn't picked up until I was about eight - I wore leg braces for about 18 months and had physio exercises. I'm 26 now and honestly I still have a tendency to stand and walk on tiptoe, especially first thing in the morning or after being still for long periods. I also have terrible balance, which might be related. And I never wear high heels - just can't walk in them and remain upright!

Things I've read seem to suggest it has some kind of link to cerebral palsy, but for me there is no other evidence of that - I had no other developmental delays or speech issues, for example. I think it's just one of those things really.

I have always walked on tip toe. I never used a walker but I did dance until I was in my late teens. However I have friends who dance professionally who do not walk like this.

I do it without thinking and it hasn't caused me problems in that I wear flats and heels and never have any shortened ligament problems. Riding has never been a problem either.

My dd now 5yo has always done this. As a result we've just completed a course of serial casting to correct the damage done by walking on tip toes (too tight tendons/muscles). I really don't want to scare you, all the healthcare professionals we saw said it is totally normal in young children, but if they haven't grown out of it by around 3yo then further action may be needed.

Dd had her casts removed on Monday and since then, there's been little to no toe walking which I'm chuffed to bits with. If your dd is anything like mine then saying 'dd, feet!' every 2 mins won't make the slightest bit of difference!! I don't think she even realised she was doing it, she is (hopefully was) an idiopathic toe walker, a learned habit with no physiological reason behind it. We went from GP, to podiatrist, to physiotherapy and are now waiting to see orthotics.

I reckon they might tell you to keep an eye on her for the next 6 months or so, try not to worry but do get her checked if she doesn't grow out of it. I felt horrendously guilty as I just didn't realise what damage it had done to my dd and that I should have had her seen to earlier.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions, I feel like a bit of an expert the amount of trips I've made to the local hospital over the last 8 weeks!

Toe walking can be a symptom of SPD, but weird food habits are par for the course at this age.

My dd now 13, walked on tip toe up until she was 12. Her ballet teacher was concerned as she could not do some of the exercises needed for exams. We were not really concerned (she was never going to be a ballerina!) but took her to dr who referred her.

She was seen by a child orthopaedic specialist who talked about ops to extend her tendons...it all sounded very painful, but suggested physio first. We never got the physio referral and I never chased it up.

Dd started secondary school, her ruc sack was so heavy (about 10lb) and she had a mile walk, it would be impossible to walk on tip toe with that weight. So for 18 months dd has been tip toe free. It never affected her walking and sorted it self out.

My sister did this when she was little. No obvious reason why and she grew out of it. Used to drive my mum mental. Dsis isn't a dancer either.

Can I just emphasise the reason a lot of these children become dancers is that the exercises can help to correct it.

It is not desirable in dance. & can prevent them from doing certain things that are required in dance.

The correct term is "Idiopathic toewalking". Lots of toddlers walk on their toes and they go on to walk normally later. In some children it is a different developmental path to proper walking rather than a medical problem. (In the same way that some children bum shuffle instead of crawling.)

Usually the NHS takes a watchful waiting approach as no one wants to subject a small child to unpleasent interventions like serial casting, botox or surgery to correct a comestic problem. There is a risk with surgery of actually damaging a child's walking if it goes wrong.

My son first saw the community paediatrian and child physio at 20 months. He could only manage two steps and could not put his heels down. Ds was the most extreme Idiopathic toewalker that our community paediatrian had ever met at 20 months. He was sucesfully treated with stretching exercises and orthorics over a period of 18 months.

At nearly 12 years old ds still has incredbily tight tendons. For example he cannot touch his toes and struggles to bend down and do his shoe laces. However he does lead a happy and active life.

God Reallytired that sounds painful for him - and you. Glad he is ok now.
Last thing I want of course is to subject DD to a lot of horrible treatment but equally don't want to be dismissive and just assume it'll pass.
Think will contact HV Monday and see what she suggests as first call.

I walked round on tip toes all of the time at that age. My mum told me that the gp had recommended it after he noticed I had flat feet. I remember her now - "Tip toes Random! Tip toeeees!" It might have been a load of rubbish, but I ended up with wonderful high arches, so who knows?

sapphire, a little girl I used to babysit when I was a teenager chose to walk on tip toes for years, and she is absolutely fine now. Her mum just left her to it and she grew out of it, she was 4 +. So don't feel guilty, it seems like you/your dd were unlucky.