5 year old walking on tip toes

[Beksmum]

Can any one help me please as I'm desperate.

My ds walks on his tip toes, he has always done it and it is not a conscious thing as we are constantly telling him not to do it only to find him doing it again.

He generally walks normally if he has his shoes or trainers on, but obviously I don't want him to have them on all the time.

Then every 6-8 weeks he wakes up for abot 5 or so nights in a row complaining that his legs are sore, this is generally all down his calf muscles. I've mentioned it to my dr but she seems unconcerned

He has just started primary school in the last week and I am worried that the broken sleep is going to affect him as he always looks awfully pale if he doesn't get a very good nights sleep.

Any suggesitons on cures or reasons why he might do this would be very welcome, thanks in advance Beks

My twin sister did this. Her Tendons were too short and she had to have an opp and plaster casts. They cut and stretched her tendons and then sewed them back up. She doesn't do it at all now. She's 28. She was in the infants when it was done so similar age.

Also a child I look after did the same. He was much older when he went to docs about it and had special insoles made to go in his shoes and had to do exercises. He didn't really do them though and his parents didn't make him . He was about 15.

Thanks princessmel, think I might go back to the dr's again then as he has done this since he could walk! Eek at the idea of an op and plaster casts

I know but this was about 23 yrs ago so maybe they have diff treatment now.
She had lots of physio after too. I can actually remember it all really clearly. I used to take her walking frame and use it as a climbing frame for my dolls!!!

My DD started walking really early so at her 8 month check the HV saw her take a few steps and commented that she seemed to be walking on her toes and I was to keep an eye on that and take her back if she didn't grow out of it.
Not sure why that was, sorry, but perhaps it's best to see a GP to find out why?????

There's a recent thread on tip-toe walking.

My son is nearly 10 yrs old and has always tip-toed. Walks 'flat' with shoes on.
He has developed normally and is a fine sportsman! We have no worries about him.

See my comments on the other thread. My son is five and toe walks. He had physio, but still toe walks. I am just relieved he can walk!!! Toewalking is cosmetic. Some of the treatments are more horrific than the problem.

If you little boy is pain then it would be good idea to ask your GP to refer him to a community paediatrian. There might be something else causing pain. My son's toewalking becomes more extreme when he has a growthspurt, but with stretching exercises we have maintained the ablity for him to get his heels to the ground.

Don't worry about the tiptoe walking - I did it until I was about 9 or 10 and no short or long term problems with my legs.
I really wouldn't make a big thing out of his walking on tiptoe, if it hurts him to walk like that he won't do it. And with a 4/5 yr old you don't want to have to be constantly saying 'no' all day.

The leg pains may not be related to the tiptoe thing at all, both me and DB had what we called 'growing pains' in our legs from 4-12 yrs old on and off. He NEVER walked on tiptoe!

The best 'cure' I found for my restless/achy legs at that age was a hot water bottle and a leg massage before bed.

Can you do some work with him to find out if his legs 'can't' stretch flat easily? it might be that if he does have shortened tendons that the achy legs is from walking flat. Any simple stretching exercise will help that, ie lunges with heel flat on ground. Do them with him as its the best way to ensure he does them well and it helps you keep fit too.

Thank you for all your feed back, I'll show it to dh when he gets in tonight and will try the exercises and massage straight away.

Thanks again

Beks

Hiya, pre slavery (i.e motherhood) I was a physio and saw a fair few 'toe walkers' although most hadn't been doing it since birth (it usually happens after a growth spurt)...the long bones in the legs tend to grow more quickly than the mucsles can catch up...this sorts itself in time as the very action of walking stretches the muscles. We tend to advise rest from strenuous exrecise if it is causing pain, and use of hot or ice packs for pain relief, (heat tends to be much nicer especially for kids). All that said if your ds has been doing it since birth it might be worth a quick trip to the GP, he/she may just have a look and reassure you...most of these problems with legs and feet (ie flat feet, pigeon toes etc) really do resolve themselves with time.
He/she might also refer you to either a paediatric physio or a paediatrician/orthopaedic surgeon (don't panic...surgery is VERY unlikely). They will probably do some more stuff like look at your ds walking and have a good look at the alignment of the bones in his legs and feet..from there physio treatment or an appointment with a podiatrist (for insoles) might be suggested.
My only advice sitting at home here without being able to have a good look is have a look at his shoes. He probably walks 'flat' in shoes as they tend to have a small raised heel and therefore reduce the stretch on the calf muscles, you will notice the toe walking when he doesn't have shoes as obviously his feet/legs are more visible but the wedge of the shoe heel isn't there anymore so therefore his calf muscles are on maximum stretch. Delving into the caverns of my physio research memory I seem to recall that daily stretching exercises even if performed frequently and religiously don't tend to be terribly effective. There needs to be a slight stretch applied for long periods to encourage the muscle to lengthen. So (I'm finally getting round to it), try and find a pair of shoes with as small a heel as possible...ones where he can feel a little stretch but definately aren't uncomfortable...he just wont wear them (shoes and kids..always a difficult mix!) and he'll end up with horrid achy calves at night.
Hope some of my waffle helps.

Apologies for spelling muscles wrong...what a dork...motherhood has definately affected my ability to spell!

Flumpytina, thank you so much, this all makes sense and I'll take him back to the GP now and get her to have a proper look at him. It really doesn't bother him in the slightest, I just don't want to store up any problems for him later in life.

Thanks again Beks

Thanks for your post Flumpytina. I am sure that motherhood hasnt dented your brain in any way. How old is your little one?

My son doesnt have a child physio anymore although my son still attends the child development centre. Our old physio said hello to us as we were waiting in the child development centre for a hearing test. I miss our old physio. She is really nice, but we have no medical justification to have a child physio.

My son's fine motor skills are quite poor. He is a very messy eater, finds dressing really hard and is struggling with hand writing. Is this common with children who toe walk?

Hi, Frances5,
definately, DEFINATELY aaaaargh yes motherhood DEFINITELY has compromised my spelling ability! Don't you feel like such a prat when you post out an 'intelligent' post only to find you've spelt some really easy word wrong about 3 times?
Ahem, will try to respond without making a further fool of myself.
DD1 nearly 3, DD2 18 months. (IQ should be stabilising now should it not??)

Most of my physio career was spent treating musculoskeletal problems (bad backs, sport injuries etc), so I really only saw kids who the GP had referred because of growth spurt toe walking. I don't have very much experience at all working in a neuro/child development setting. Having said that I can't see, and have certainly never heard of a connection between poor fine motor tasks and toe walking..unless there is an underlying neurological condition such a cerebral palsy.

If your old physio is a nice one I'm sure she wouldn't mind you popping in and asking her next time you are at the child development centre.