How Can I Get My 24 Month Old to STOP Toe Walking?

Hi Jill,
Toe walking is one of the first signals of sensory integration issues. I would highly recommend you have him evaluated by both an Occupational Therapist specializing in either the Alert Program or integrates floortime therapy.
There is an awesome group in Atlanta (www.floortimeatlanta.com) that I recommend. There is tons you can do to medically heal (not disguise the symptoms with medication) and at two, you would want to know now, not later.
There could be other things, this is just the area I know.
J.

HI Jill!!!Both of my boys ( ages 8 and 3) have been toe walkers. At first, it scared me because I thought something was wrong. My peditrician said not to worry...as long as they were walking flat footed sometimes. My oldest would even run on his toes!! Supposidly, according to the reasearch and searches that I did, walking on the toes is a sign of extraordianary balance and coordination. It is also a sign of athleticism. BOth of my boys are into sports. My oldest is the top player on his baseball team....
I don;t want to say not to be concerned, because every situation is different,but try not to stress to much!!

Toe-walking is common with Asperger's Syndrome too. Just a heads-up if your child has any other symptoms associated with that you might ask about that at your child's checkup. I have three nephews with Aspergers and all are toe-walkers (and all are smart, funny, have good friends and doing great at school).

I think your son is fine. My son does the same thing n he loves to be barefooted while at home and if we go out he walks normal but mostly at home its on his tiptoes and he is 28months old and still does it. I think its just a phase and he'll get over it.

My 4-year old still toe walks. I've talked with her doctor and there's no reason for it, other than it's a bad habit. We constantly tell her to "walk on her feet" or "flat feet". It gets old. The important thing the doctor said was for her to walk on her heels some each day to keep the tendons stretched...otherwise they will shorten and it will be uncomfortable to walk flat footed. Good luck!

Toe walking can also be a sign of Sensory Integration Dysfunction. A lot of toe-walkers have problems with vestibular processing (balance), seeking/avoiding movement, visual depth perception, and tactile sensitivity. An occuaptional therapist can help with that, so ask you pediatrician for a referral if you think that may be the problem. Good luck!

my youngest 2 kids did this. i taught them how to stomp their feet, since that requires putting your whole foot on the ground. we would march around the house pretending to be a marching band, kind of like a game. we called it "flat feet". it stuck. my 5 year old never walks on his toes anymore. with my 3 year old i just have to say, "use your flat feet" and she stops.

as for hard bottom shoes, i don't think they really help anything.

Definitely make sure that you talk to the pediatrician about it, as it may be more complicated than a desire to walk on his toes. You want to make sure you get any potential problems diagnosed early so that treatment is less complicated. My cousin went through the same thing. She was always a toe walker, and it turned out that her muscles had developed in a way that she could only walk on her toes due to the way that my aunt and uncle had positioned her walker (I figured out that my aunt and uncle had set her walker too high for her, where she had to use her toes instead of the flats of her feet, when they put my son in the walker and raised it to toe level one time). In fact, the muscles on the front of your legs that help your foot flex as you walk weren't even developed at all. They had two younger children who both started walking on their toes, as well, but they were able to break them of the toe walking by about 16 months of age. The oldest was about five before she finally had the problem diagnosed and corrected, which required surgery, casts on both legs, and physical therapy. If they'd started looking for a reason, rather than figuring it was a stage, much earlier then the treatment wouldn't have been anywhere near as invasive.

I hope that didn't scare you. It was meant more to show you that you really need to make sure the doctor checks it out. Don't let the doctor insist it is a phase, but instead check the necessary bases just in case. It's so much better to be safe than to be sorry.

Good luck!

Jill A
Please notice if there are any other different
things your child does. I am not trying to scare
you, just inform you. My grandson has some autistic
habits, stemming from vaccines he has had.

Please see a doctor and if he/she says it is no big deal, then ask for a referal. My very athletic 8 year old has lost flexibility because of continuous toe walking. It is easier to fix at a younger age than at an older age. (See comments already posted).

Good Luck!

If the toe walking is a new thing, its absolutely NORMAL! It has somethign to do with their brain develop[ment and their braining moving faster than their large mucles can keep up). I was a preschool teacher of two's and researched this issue when it started appening with one of my sweet students.

Have you considered having a physical therapy evaluation for your son? I took one of my twin daughters to a pediatric PT as she falls a lot. She actually walks very flat footed (and her and her daddy have very flat feet). The PT gave us some suggestions/exercises and asked us to come back in a month. I thought she was very thorough. All that to say, she said better for a child to walk flat footed than on their toes. She said that can be more detrimental over time. If you have decent insurance or can afford it, a PT eval would be a good thing to rule out any complications or to give you some ideas of some exercises to do with your son to get him back on track! Best of luck! F.

I was a toe walker. My parents put me through painful stretching exercises and special shoes. I was very young but I have memories of my father doing the stretches -- how much they hurt -- my crying. As an adult, I still walk on the balls of my feet when I'm not thinking about it. It, in NO way has any effect on my life. NONE.

However, when I noticed my daughter toe walking, I mentioned it to her pediatrician remembering my own childhood issues with the same thing. She asked, "Is she ABLE to walk flat-footed?" I told her, "yes when I remind her to." I was told she's either outgrow it or she wouldn't but that I should get too worked up about it. Grateful, I accepted her answer.

I wouldn't so my much worry about the toe walking, I know it bugs you but it's a phase when he gets around other kids and sees how they walk I am sure he'll modify it. If not consider it a unique trait of his. Or just something he enjoys doing.

As for the left foot toeing in, as he gets older he can get that to self correct, his muscles will get stronger and compensate for the direction the bones are going. I grew up with the same thing, my parents tried braces, took me to every bone doctor in town and the bottom line was we opted not to do anything about it. The only time it causes me trouble is when I am skiing and my legs are tired at the end of the day.

If you want to try something a better solution then a allopathic doctor that can only offer you braces and surgery would be to go to an Osteopath who will be able to adjust things back into place, if my child had this issue this is the first thing I would do.

I hope this helps.

H.

Hi Jill.
My daughter sees a PT for therapy due to being a preemie, but she does toe walk a little. Our PT suggested the squeaker shoes. The kids have to hit the shoes with their heals to make them squeak and they love to hear the noise. This has helped and it is an inexpensive way to start before you get into all the other issues that it could be. If you google squeaker shoes you can find several sites that sell them.
Hope this helps :)

Take him to a foot DR. My son's ankles turn inwards and he has flat feet because his akelies tendon (probably spelled wrong) is too tight. The DR said that toe walking is also a sign that it is too tight as well. We noticed the problem right around when he was 1yr old, and addressed at his 2yr check up because he hadn't out grown it. I have to do streaching exercises with his legs two times a day and he has also refered him to a ortho/prostetic DR for the hard plastic brase to help his ankles stay straight. He is now 3yr and has had the braces on now for almost 3 months. I haven't noticed a improvment yet but he goes for a follow up with both foot and ortho DRs next month.

Your son may hate wearing the hard bottom shoes, but right now that is the best thing you can do for him!!

Good luck!
S.

All the women in my family have short tendons in our heals, but I'm the only one who toe-walked. Was it a bad thing, other than looking funny? Definitely! When you toe-walk, you're using calf muscles almost exclusively. Over time I developed something called chronic compartment syndrome that left me walking with a cane and barely able to get around without a great deal of pain. What happens is the calf muscles get so big that the facia that holds them in place can no longer contain the muscle. Facia is not very flexible and can't expand if the muscle outgrows it. Athletes get compartment syndrome if they overtrain.

I eventually had to have surgery on both legs so they could open up the facia to give the muscles more room to expand. I can now walk without pain (Thank God!) and have a much easier life (although you can actually see bulges where the muscle pushes through the facia).

Try your best to get your child walking flatfooted. I wish someone would've when I was a child.

Hi, Have you talked to your pediatrician about it? There is a website pediatricadvice.net with some interesting possibilities but I would talk to my own pediatrician about it. There may be some exercises you could try.
Thanks Pam
p.s. about me, I am a recent graduate - occupational therapy assistant, not a mom but an aunt and the marching game mentioned by the other responder is great advice!