Is this a normal level of toddler clumsiness?

[UpToMyElbowsInDiapers]

DD is 22 months. I’m used to her running into things, dropping things, etc. However, in the past few days she’s been tripping over her own feet a lot, face-planting at least once a day. Two nights ago she practically ate a stair while walking up to bed and ended up with bleeding gums and a split lip. This morning she fell on her face in the parking lot while walking into nursery, and got a nose bleed. We aren’t rushing her or anything. If anything we’re Encouraging her to take her time.

Is this just a phase or is it a concerning level of clumsiness? She had a routine check-up with the GP last week and everything was fine, but I didn’t think to mention this. Poor girl is starting to look like a rugby player...

Does she have any issue with her ears? That could be affecting her balance. Even a build up of wax could potentially make her then appear more clumsy.

Gross motor skills depend on a lot of things but balance issues could indicate dyspraxia. Mention it to her hv. Does she have any issue using her pincer grasp? Was she a late walker?

From a different POV, does she need her feet measured for shoes?

Sorry I’ve just seen that you said in the last few days. It could be a cold or other virus affecting her balance through her ears as pp mentioned.

She HAS had a nasty cold for a while. I wonder if it has something to do with that. Fair point.

She doesn’t have any issues with pincer grip, no, and she was a very competent walker by 14 months which I think is fairly standard, right? I assume her ears are clear and there isn’t a dramatic buildup of wax, since the doctor looked at them as part of her routine check-up last week and was satisfied. I’ll keep an eye on DD’s balance for the next couple of days and speak to someone if it gets any worse, especially if/when her cold improves.

We are under consultant care as my 2 year old (2 years and 4 months) is a preemie. He does have clumsy phases which I raised with the doctor as he has a significant brain bleed at birth which hasn’t left with him any obvious disabilities as far as we can see. But when he got clumsy the first time I brought it up and I was told to wait and see if it was a growth spurt. And sometimes when they grow, they get unstable and it settles down and that’s pretty much what happened.

I think I’d mention it to nursery the next time I was in, and ask for their opinion.

They’ll see toddlers all the time so should be able to tell you whether they think she’s unusually clumsy.

NURSERY! Yes. Good idea, NewSchool, thank you. I think I’ll ask them how they think she is in the clumsiness scale relative to the other kids in her class. I’m somewhat embarrassed I didn’t think of that.

What has their sleep been like? I find that my DS gets really clumsy when he is tired, tripping over his feet, bumping into things. It's really noticeable compared to when he's had a good rest.

Could she have had a growth spurt? My 2 always lose their feet when they suddenly grow, it's like they can't control their legs anymore and they fall over all the time until they get used to it 😂

My DS was super clumsy between 2-4. The constant tripping over has just recently seemed to lessen. He has extremely flat feet which became increasingly obvious after he was 3.

I'd say she's growing. My DS falls over and eats for England when growing. He can also sleep more, but often wake up more in the night / be less settled.