tiptoes

My DD is 7 mo and is intersted in walking with help and tries to pull her self up on everything. She can only do it with help so far but it is getting close. WHen every she stands or walks it is on her toes. Not just her tiptoes, but clear on the tops of her toes as they are curled over. I can't imagine that is comfortable or that she should learn to walk like that. Any ideas?

Oh, she was never in the NICU, I have heard on here how those babies don't want to put their heel down bc of all the pricking.

 

My boys were in the NICU for 10 days, and one of them stands on his tiptoes. I would just check that you are able to stretch the feet into a regular standing position. Sometimes the Achilles tendon is tight which can account for the tiptoes. Otherwise just check with your pedi, mine said he would outgrow it, I don't think it is anything to worry about. It's great she is pulling to a stand, mine are still trying to figure out the crawling thing!

 

That is so weird that you are bringing this up. I was talking with a coworker the other day whose daugther just turned one and is learning to walk and she said her daughter walks the very same way you are describing! I haven't heard of it before then. I know her daugther was not a NICU baby, she was in fact a week overdue.

 

If she was just on her tiptoes I won't even worry knowing she would outgrow it. I have thought about having her wear shoes all the time and see if hat helped, but I can't see in the shoes to know what her toes are doing. YOu know the kind with the soft soles, I don't know if it would help.

 

I do not know if is something that is necessarily outgrown. My two cousins who are brother and sister walk on their tiptoes and have since they were born they both just started like that and no one corrected it because they thought it would be outgrown. But it obviously wansn't outgrown because they BOTH do it. My cousin is 17! and my liitle cousin is 9! It was always mind boggling to me to see that. My 17 year old cousin says it feels weird for her just to walk normal on her heels, and her brother can't either they are just so used to it its normal for them. My cousin even does it when she wears high heels! So I personally would ask your pedi again if they have any suggestions of how to nip in the bud early.

 

IMO, I would bring it up to the Ped. It is very common for babies that are learning to walk to walk on their tiptoes and gradually come down. But up on the toes is different. It could be just her way of starting to explore the idea of walking. All kids do it differently. I dont think shoes would help, in fact they really should be barefoot when learning to walk to get the hang of balance.

Also, a PP said about stretching. It could be that she has a tight achilles and some stretching exercises could really help her get her feet down. But with all that being said, my 3 yo DD still occasionally walks on her toes too, thats why this post caught my eye.

 

My DS is 21 mos and still tiptoes! He can walk flat footed and has no problems flattening his feet, etc. Just a habit of his. He doesn't do it all the time, just sometimes. I keep shoes on him most of the time and it helps keep him a little flatter. Good luck!