Does Anyone Else Have Experience with This?

My son has the same problem. In fact, we saw a PT when he was 4-6 months old for numerous problems because my pedi was concerned. The PT said that he was fine...just a little slower than average. At 13.5months, he still isn't walking, but he's on target for everything else. My pedi hasnt' said anything else about his development so I'm not concerned. No one ever told us to put his shoes on backwards:)

I would call Dell Children's Hospital and get an appointment with a pediatric orthopedic MD. They may put her in a brace and show you exercises/stretches you can do. Good Luck.

I think I would focus on straightening her feet out even if it delayed walking. I'd start putting the shoes on the other feet right away. Her walking can catch up. My husband has unusually flat feet as well as my son. It can lead to hip problems later in life. As young as she is you can get it corrected quickly and cheaply as opposed to if you wait. My son and husband were both larger babies and I attribute it to their positioning in the womb.

Good luck!

Hi Traci,

My eldest child was born with his feet curved in. What the pedi ortho did was put him in casts for a few months, then special shoes that I placed on the opposite feet. I can't remember his exact age, or how long he wore these, cuz he's 28 now. :-) But his feet turned out straight as an arrow afterwards. Have your pedi refer ya'll to a pedi ortho. In the meantime, purchase some hard bottom sturdy shoes and put them on the opposite feet.

T.

My neighbor's son had the same problem. The doctor had them purchase some special shoes which he had to wear all the time (even when sleeping). His feet straightened out in just a few months and he is a healthy 2 1/2 year old running around now. The shoes that they purchased did look like the were on the wrong feet, so it's possible that the suggestion that your doctor has made to you is a more cost effective way to achieve the same result.

I'd say ask your doctor some more questions about it if you're hesitant, but it might just work!

Good Luck,
K.

Call your Pedi and INSIST on seeing the Pediatrician, NOT the nurse practitioner. You need to get a referral to a Pediatric Orthopedic Physician for an evaluation. Your daughter's well being depends on it. For future reference, if you ever suspect an issue regarding your daughters health, you are entitled, by law, to see your Pediatrician. It is your obligation to seek the best care available for your children and although a nurse practitioner has his/her place in the medical field, ultimate diagnosis should not be entrusted to him/her.

Your child needs to see an orthopedic specialist who specializes in CHILDREN. Texas Scottish Rites Hospital for children has a clinic and hospital in Dallas and Houston. They offer their services free of charge. Please get in touch with them as soon as possible. They have been a god send to my family. By the way, I had the same problem when I was little. And the same type of brace is still used today. It is a bar attached to both shoes. So surgery may not be needed. But please check with a CHILD orthopedic doctor. Not someone who deals with accidents and sports related injuries. Believe me, they will not have the expertise you need.

If your pedi dosen't usually see your child during appointments you might want to get a more attentive one. My sisters pedi did not pay attention to a simple hips slipping out of thier sockets condition. She has had several surgeryies & is in constant pain now at 20. It could have been eaisly fixed in childhood, but it wasn't because of a careless doctor not doing follow up tests.
Make sure you have a good pedi who has time to pay attention to your childs needs. That is what you pay them for. Seach out physical therapists that specialize in kids. There has got to be a better way to straighten out the foot than that shoe switching idea.

My son is six years old now but when he was young like yours I notice his legs were curved. THe pedi didn't think it was a big deal but I kept pressing that something was wrong. I then took him for several visits to an orthopedist at Children's hospital and had x-rays done. He was completely normal for structure. THe doctor explained to me he was a large baby in the womb and he had no place to stretch. He told me as he grows that his leg would unwind and straighten. His leg is not curved to the extreme as it once was. He's bowlegged and the leg that was the worse his foot is not straight but piegon toe. Both feet are flat too it runs on my husband's side of the family. No one notices in less I point out which I'm greatful because people use to stop me and would tell me to put a brace on it which they don't do that anymore. Good luck!

it has been a lot of years, but when my daughter was born with a foot turning in, her pediatrician sent us to an orthopedic man & he put a cast on her foot to turn it out, they took that one off & turned her foot a little more with another cast & it was okay then, she was a few months younger than your little one, don't know anything about the wrong shoe on the foot, except one of my friends tried that, didn't work & to this day, his foot is not really right. I would see an orthopedic dr. good luck.

Hi, My daughter had something like this when she was a baby. I kept telling my pedi that her one leg/foot turned and bowed in. He said it would correct itself. That was at 7 months. I brought it up again in subsequent check ups and at 10 months (she was already standing and walking around holding on to things) it wasn’t correcting and he suggested an orthopedic doctor. The orthopedic doc had wedges put into my daughter's very expensive shoes. We caught this early when the bones were still forming and it cleared up in a few months. My mother in law thought I was insane to spend all that money on shoes when the baby’s feet were growing so fast and the shoes were not on her feet 24 hours a day. Later when my daughter was grown she thanked me for putting the correction wedged shoes on her at an early age. She told me she was having a hip problem and the doctor she is seeing now said that the shoes had helped her and saved her from having an even worse hip problem later in life. So my suggestion is that IF you think your daughter needs to be seen by a specialist – then by all means do it now. And they know so much more about these problems now and have different treatments. I’m not sorry for any money I had to spend to correct her problem – I wish that there was more they could have done for her hip back when she was a baby.

Get thee to a podiatrist, soonest. She may only need corrective shoes, but your pediatrician (or the nurse practicioner) is not experienced enough to deal with this issue.

Traci,
I would schedule a consultation with Pediatric Orthopedic specialist. Your regular pedi can give you a referral.
Depending on what city you live in, I can ask my husband (an adult orthopedic surgeon) if he know anybody but your child's doctor should be able to give you several names.

If your Ped. doesn't know enough to put this child in corrective shoes, then change Peds., or better yet, go to see an Orthodpeist. There are bars that cam be attached to her shoes while she sleeps that will keep her feet straight,(I have experience with this). Then get her into corrective shoes.They may not be the cute little shoes you want her to wear, but it's more important to get her feet straight.

I am 70 years old and when I was growing up I was so pidgen-toed that I kept my ankles bruised and bleeding from walking with my toes/feet turned in. Back then, they told my parents that I would grow out of it. I still am a little pidgen-toed especailly when I am tired. I have grandchildren that we did the shoes on the wrong feet and it did help them. You might try that until you can get an appointment with a specialist. My Mother use to say she can kick her ankles and trip on flat, clean ground. I can laugh about her comments now that I am older, but back then, of course, they did hurt but I did learn to watch how I walked.

Marie

I had this issue as a kid, my mom put me in ballet as soon as I was walking. Problem solved.

I would definitely talk to your pediatrician and maybe get a referral to a specialist. My son was born the same way, but the Nurse Practitioner, a wonderful older lady with years of experience, told us that every time we changed a diaper, to gently massage his feet outwards. It did the trick so by one year, they were pretty straight. She did not think they would just turn on their own, but needed some help.

Hi Tracy...

I know what you are going through... have you ever asked your pedi or have they mentioned anything by the name of club feet. My son, now 12 months, has club feet, but it was diagnosed when he was born. By the way you describe it, that is what it sounds like. His feet were turned in and they are getting better. He is currently in leg braces and does therapy for it to help straighten them up. I think you should ask or even do some research on it. Hope all goes well.

I have a 2 year old son, that had the same problem. He was very bo-legged & severely pigeon toed. We took him to see a pediatric orthopedist in the Houston Medical Center. His name is Dr. Frank Gerow with the Bone & joint Clinic of Houston. He told us not to worry about the feet turning inward. If he doesn't out grow the pigeon toes by the time he's 2, he will correct it on his own as he gets older. We were told that putting shoes on the wrong feet & braces to straighten the feet out, don't really work & just make the baby uncomfortable. I really hope this helps.

HI traci,
Yes, I have experienced that issue with one of my children. My daughter was born with one foot almost clubed- and this was 50 years ago- at that time the Dr. gave me some thearapy exercises to do on her foot daily- and I never let her sleep without her shoes on-it was miserable for her but that is what they thold me to do- frm age 6 mo she had prescription made shoes-and she had to have them remade every two months or so- depending on her growth- she had to wear the high-top shoes until she was about 7 or 8 when I finally took her out of them because she was embarrased to wear them.
Here is what I would suggest- see an orthopedic dr about her feet- if her ankles are not alighned her knees will not be straight and when she is older she will have knee and possible lower back issues
sometimes they say "nature will take care of it" but often as not- she will be pigeoned toed for life-
Even with all I did for my daughter, today she still has issues with her feet and knees and leggs- so I would not delay in getting a second or third opinion on how to correct this.
Blessings

My daughter who is now 29 was born with her feet turned in. The pediatrician told me it was just the way she kept them while in the womb. (I wouldn't think it was a problem of not enough room as she was just 5lb 13oz. :-) Anyway, she told me to gently turn her feet out every time I nursed her, which I did and the problem was corrected with no issues later.

This happened with my oldest son, but we didnt notice it until he started walking. Whenever he was walking too quickly down the hall and tried to turn to the left, he would trip himself. That was how we noticed it. Our pedi told us that it wasnt that bad and to put his shoes on the opposite feet, like yours did. I didnt do it often, because he was barefoot most of the time (he took his shoes off if I put them on), and he turned out ok. I was just relieved because in that day and time they put these cruel braces on kids at night (a straight bar attached to the bottom of a pair of shoes that were turned out). I could not imagine a child sleeping in shoes all night, much less trying to turn over with that bar on.

MAKE an appointment to see the DR. now., he needs to be in on this information and to see it.

My niece was born w/ one of her feet curving in. at first they just told them to watch it, but it started tobecome worse, so they fitted her for a brace/boot when she was about 15 mo old and walking well that had to be worn all the time. thru a couple of adjustments, now at age 4 you can not tell the difference. but i would speak with the doctor, not the nurse practicioner, and if you can't speak with the dr, its time to find a new one!!

D.
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My niece was put into braces at night when asleep. Please take your child to a pediatric podiatrist or a pediatric orthopedic doctor and hear waht they say.

I would call the pedi and ask for a refferral to an occupational therapist. It may be that some muscles need to be worked loose. The tight muscles causing her foot to turn in may be delaying her walking. I personally wouldn't put it off any longer. And putting her shoes on the wrong feet probably won't help her much. I find it interesting that they didn't say anything earlier. Good luck.

I would suggest you call your pedi and talk to the dr. This could be a symptom of something a little more serious. If they are still not concerned try putting shoes on the wrong feet at night. Both of my girls tended to toe in and we didn't worry too much about it. As they got older ballet was suggested as a good option. We also got them rollerskates. You can't skate pigeon-toed. They both walk fine now. One of my sons also toed in. When he was 18 months old he tripped and fell going down the stairs. He had a small crack in the lower leg bone just at this knee. When the DR put a full leg cast on him he told me that he had turned Mike's foot out just a little. When the cast came off 5 weeks later his foot was straight and he never had another problem.

I agree with Elizabeth E's advice about ballet - my ped. had my mom put me in ballet as soon as she could, to help to straighten and strengthen my ankles. I was born severely pigeon-toed. I did trip over my feet a bit as a child, even as a pre-schooler, but growing and learning to pay attention to my walking helped. (Advice: trim your child's toenails religiously once she starts walking, at least until she's straightened out a bit. It will save on band-aids.) If I am really very tired, my toes sometimes will point in a little even now, but it has never been a real problem for me, and most people just sort of shrug and move on if they notice I'm walking pigeon-toed; I have never noticed a social stigma to be worried about. I would check with your ped. again just to make sure nothing is structurally wrong, though.