Tip toe walking - talk me down

[Fashion83]

Hi there

Our son is 3 and we have noticed from 2 he walks with a limp. Health visitor wasn’t concerned atoll. Roll on 9 months and we noticed it worse. Saw our GP who referred him to orthopaedics in April. Our first appointment is next week due to long wait lists. We’ve noticed he’s not a big time tip toe walker on the left foot only. I’m now utterly utterly prettied he has a serious condition and we will lose him. He walked at 16 months. no developmental delays. Very, very clever little
boy. Ahead of milestones otherwise. No spectrum concerns. Has anyone experienced anything similar with not so scary outcomes?

many thanks.

Tiptoe walking is pretty common. It's a huge lead to "this must be a significant medical disorder" and another huge one to "a life threatening problem". Especially with no other symptoms. Hope you get the reassurance you need when you see professionals.

Hi what do you mean you will lose him,because of tiptoe walking?

Yes— someone I saw shared a condition on FB and tiptoe walking was a symptom. Life expectancy was 20-25 and they passed earlier. I haven’t slept for days 💔

Did they say what they thought was causing the limp? As in, any other symptoms, any history of hip dysplasia in family? Has or worsened? When did it start? Throughout the day, how much does he 'tip-toe'?

Children are so precious, we can't help jumping to the worse case scenario, I'm sure if the GP had concerns, you would have been fast track referred.

No family history. GP thought something wasn’t right with his left ankle as it is really, really stiff. He walks on his left tip toe 24:7 now but it’s worsened over the last year! Thank you for replying.

My niece was a tiptoe walker. Nothing wrong with her. She's grown out of it.

Thank you for this.

I see! That makes sense. I must apologise too, I re read your message where you state when it started.

I can understand why they have referred to Ortho rather than physio, and the limping and progression of tip-toe makes sense now you mention the ankle. I wonder if he went over it weird as a two year old, and it has healed wrong so caused discomfort, so he is tip-toeing as a protective reflex. Wait and see what Ortho say, I'm sure they'll look at all differential diagnosis, reassure you and make a plan for him

My friend's daughter was a tiptoe walker. It was caused by short tendons - Achilles or something in her feet, I can't remember which. She ended up up have an operation to fix it in her mid teens and is absolutely fine now

In the nicest possible way, stop catastrophising. I have a 10 year old DS who tiptoe walks, completely normal in all other respects. Referred to physio at 7ish who prescribed exercises (mostly useless) and said that we should consider serial casting if it didn’t get better by about this age.

We told his school and his previous teachers have been absolute ninjas in telling him to walk on his flat feet, which has made the biggest difference, combined with good stiff Start-Rite shoes, He’s a speedy wee bugger as apparently walking on tiptoes gives them a good sprinting start 😁

My DS walked completely normally until about 3, at which point the physio reckoned the muscles and tendons grew out of whack with the bones, so it was easier and more comfortable to walk on his tiptoes.

Thank you so much ❤️ He’s limped slightly with it since he walked, I’m just aware he now tip toe walks. Cancer ruled out - that was the first thing the GP mentioned but no night sweats, no other signs whatsoever. I’m just petrified it’s a scary muscle disorder, albeit rare. Thank you again.

My son had this age 2 and it was arthritis. Got steroid injection and been no problems done. He's now 6. Does he complain of any pain. Or feel very warm in his joints on the leg

Loads of kids do this and I know 3 adults who still do and nothing wrong with them at all. Not sleeping for days indicates serious anxiety OP.

I've seen videos where Princess Charlotte walks n her tip toes as a baby/ toddler. She's seems perfectly healthy now

thank you @shockeditellyou - did your little one limp with it and was it noticeable at 3 every sort of kicked their leg out while running?

I so appreciate your helpful reply. Many thanks.

Lots of dc do this. It doesn't mean anything is wrong.
Try not to worry x

Lots of dc do this. It doesn't mean anything is wrong.
Try not to worry x

How flexible are his quads? Gymnastics might help

Thank you @NGCO . Did you notice a limpy sort of bounce with it too? Sorry it’s really hard to explain! Many thanks.

@Ozanj - we just started! He jumps, runs and climbs stairs unaided.

Thank you everyone. Without tagging you all I am so appreciative of your support here.

Yeh slightly, he couldn't straighten it completely either. Is ur wee one complaining of any pain?

@NGCO - no pain atoll. His ankles and really stiff.

My BIL still tiptoe walks at 35..

My DS tiptoe walked until after he started school, is now 10 and has stopped, though we used to remind him ALOT

DD is starting to tiptoe walk but I'm not worried. Seems to run in DH's family.

I will say that I read (when DS was doing it) that walking that way can cause the tendon to shorten. So I used to do leg stretching exercises on him when doing a nappy change etc (eg. Leg stretched out then gently push toes back towards knee to stretch the calf). No idea if it helped of course, but no harm in it and it made me feel better

It’s so easy to let your mind run away, isn’t it? Do bear in mind that it’s taken years to see my DS get better at walking on flat feet, but as they grow older you realise that they’re completely normal but just happen to walk on tiptoes.

I’m not sure we would ever take the casting or operation options as they are certainly not without risk, for something that doesn’t bother my DS. He’s not the best at standing still, because he stands on his tiptoes and you can’t stand still on your tiptoes for any length of time, but he is getting better. Can your DC stand on flat feet with his feet together? My DS can’t yet do this and stand up straight.