My Daughter's Feet Turn In

My older 2 children both started to toe-in when they were younger. Come to find out, they were "W" sitting (both legs out to their sides, facing towards the back) and once I had them stop sitting that way, the problem corrected itself. Here is a link with the advice from a dr about "W" sitting http://www.doctorndtv.com/faq/detailfaq.asp?id=7233

My son also had this at beginning of walking. Some important things to help as their bones are grwing at this time is get a good pair of tennis shoes-hi tops are best for support on the ankles. When walking with baby try to have the shoes on.

A.,
In our Family Practice office, we see parents who bring in their children with the same concern. This is actually more common than you think. It usually corrects itself over a short amount of time. But it certainly can't hurt to have a specialist take a look.

Hi!
Both of my son's were turned in and kind of upwards when he was born. They actually said it was a "form" of club feet. True club foot starts at the knees, his was contained at the ankles.
Anyway, his pediatrician sent him to an orthopedic doctor immediately after he was released from the hospital. The orthopedic prescribed stretching exercises. After a couple of months, his feet had really made no progress so we were referred to a pediatric orthopedic doctor at the Children's Hospital in Richmond,Va. His doctor was awesome and so was the hospital. At 6 months old, he had surgery to straighten his feet, they had to stretch the tendons and ligaments. He was then casted for 2 months. He is now 12 and his feet are straight, but he is flat footed.
And then, my nephew was born with the same thing 18 months ago. They actually casted him and used the braces at night. He is doing better, but I don't think it has been as effective as my son's surgery. Just thought I would share my experience with you, hope all goes well on the 19th. Please keep us updated!

When I worked at day care with 2 yr olds, one parent put the shoes one the opposite feet for one little boy. Today, he's in 9th or 10th grade and is fine.

My feet turned in significantly as a child. My parents opted not to do the braces because they thought that would be more traumatic than being pigeon toed. I do remember always wearing good shoes (stride right). I grew out of it once I gained more control over my legs. I remember conciously trying to walk with them pointed out when I was in 5th or 6th grade. After a while it became automatic. By junior high, you couldn't tell at all.

Good luck!

My son had the same problem. His right foot turned in and his legs were bowed. It was to the point that he kept tripping over his right foot. The Orthopedist said that he was too small for a brace. He didn't get one until he was 2 years old. My son never wore them because they were still too big for him and it seemed to hurt him. But the problem seemed to correct itself. He is now 3 and this legs and his right foot are fine. She will be fine. In some cases it does correct itself. Also if it doesn't run in your family, then I guess it should correct itself.

A.,
My girlfriend's little girl had the same problem when she was around the same age. She was walking with both her feet inward and very bow legged. She took her to an orthropedist and found out she is double jointed in both hips and she can practiclly turn her feet completely around. Kinda of freaky looking. LOL She is now about to turn 4 and in gymnastic and learning with 8 year olds. She is training to be a future gymnast. LOL

Chris

my daugther has the same problem. her doctor said sometimes it will correct it's self but other will had to wear braces on thier legs for about a year. my daughter will be three next july if it's not corrected on it's own she will get braces. but some kids only wear them at night when they are asleep.

My daughter's feet turn in as well. We were referred to an Orthopedic specialist at CHOP who wasnt helpful at all, Ive never had probelms with any other specialist at CHOP but orthopedics I will not go back to them. My daughter has been receiving Physical Therapy a little over a year and her PT had a orthotics company come out and look at her feet and she has something called forefoot adductus. She wears stride rites to keep her feet aligned instead of braces. If this doesnt help we were told possible surgery in the near future to help correct it. The reason her feet turn is, is from sitting in the 'W' position for the longest time.

same advice as the previous post, we were referred to a specialist as well for my girls but he said until the age of 8-10 things get corrected on their own and they don't do anything about it when they're young. as long as she's not tripping she should be fine. pediatricians usually have ton refer you to a specialist not because necessarily something can be done but because that's what they do. don't worry mommy :)
vlora

it sounds like she's just pegion toed. no biggie :) im pegion toed as well and my mom brought me one pair of special shoes and then never did it again. not becuase she didnt care, but becuase there was no real point. she'll be fine. :)

My 22 month old daughter's one foot does the same thing. We also asked the pediatrician and we were told the same thing--it will turn out on its own. Their bodies are still growing (rapidly) and I am sure it is a very common problem. Let me know what the orthapedist recommends...if anything at all.

My son's feet turned in too. It corrected itself before he hit 2 and a half. I was careful to make sure he either had good shoes on (Stride Rite) that fit well or was barefoot. My ped. said he usually doesn't refer kids until they are 3 unless it is a really serious amount of in toeing.

Both of my feet pointed perfectly to the right when I was a toddler and stood up, so I have been the foot braces at night route myself. They treat things a lot less agressively now because kids do tend to outgrow a good deal of the problems as their bodies grow.

Good luck!
H.

My Neice was diagnosed at around your child's age, with a condition, not clubbed feet, but a muscular problem in her hips. She has inward range of movement, but not outward. Her feet can be turned toward center, almost completely around, but her feet can't go very far outward. The pediatric orthopedist told my sister in law that there is no real way to treat it(except painfully) because muscles change constantly. She keeps her in lightweight shoes, so her feet aren't weighted, and they stretch her out daily, but inevitably, right at growth time, the inward turn is VERY pronounced, and she falls constantly. I'm not trying to discourage you, but her regular pediatrician said he wasn't hopeful of help before the referral to the specialist either. Just remember to be patient while getting your answers, and write down any and ALL questions you may have. The doctors are there to help. Good Luck!

My daughter's feet dont turn in but her left leg curves in. she is 4 now. and the doctor doesnt think anything is wrong becuase she walks fine. They refered us to a pedicatric orthopedist if we wanted to go but i havent had a chance to scedule it yet becuase we have had other appointments that were more important. Sometimes it takes longer for the legs and feet to turn straight sometimes it doesnt become fully straight. As long as she isnt having a problem walking, like tripping or anything they probably wont do any kind of treatment.

My son had the same problem. We were referred to a pediatric orthopedist and they told us that most kids grow out of it by age 5 and that they don't usually do anything for it (my husband and I both had this problem as children and had to wear braces and/or shoes with a bar while sleeping). My son turned 5 in July and his feet still turn in a bit, but he doesn't have any problems with walking or running. I only hope that it won't cause him to be teased when he gets older. Good luck!
S.

Hi, I am L. and I had the same problem. I actually was called pigeon toe girl my entire life. They made fun of me my entire life. i went to every kind of doctor and they wanted to break my legs from the hips on down to my feet in order to reset the issue. my mother decided not to put me through that kind of pain and to take 9 months away from a child would have been a lot to heal. Instead they had me wear corrective shoes (which were so ugly then, now they are much nicer) and i wore a brace across both feet at night. Neither did anything to correct the problem. I have photos of myself as a child that my feet actually turn in so badly my toes face each other my right foot faces all the way to the west and my left to the east. I learned to pay attention to it and make my feet turn outward but now that i am 38 i am having to have surgery on my heels because of this problem and how I walked. My ligaments are damaged very badly and the pain in my heels is awful. I don't know what your childs doctors have said to you about this, my childrens ped told me that in small 3rd world countries where they wear no shoes the children have almost no troubles with there feet, here in the U.S.A. where we have every kind of shoe in every size the feet trouble increases every year. He told me to leave my kids without shoes when ever possible which I have and they have no trouble. I do have to say that as i child I had no pain from this except for the emotional stuff from being made fun of that is. i hope this helps because this is all i really know.

I have pigeon toe too and my mom was told the same as Lauri's mom about the breaking my legs, and she also said no way! Mine's not so bad and I can deal with it.

For my daughter, I've always had her in soft shoes and will continue to do so as long as we can get them to fit her. So far, so good. I don't know if that makes the difference or not, but there are a lot of other reasons they're better, too.

My son is currently 5 and he has always intoed. You could tell at birth that he had been tucked into the womb with his feet crisscrossed underneath him and he could turn his ankles all the way in on both legs. At 15 months, my pediatrician gave me a referral to an pediatric orthopedist at Johns Hopkins and also suggested orthopedic shoes to correct his metatarsis abductis. When I took him to Johns Hopkins, the specialist told me to throw the shoes away and have him wear good quality gym shoes. The OP said he'd outgrow it by 3 1/2.
She also told me that orthopedists no longer recommend using bars or orthopedic shoes with braces for this common condition (club feet is something different).

At 3 1/2 he still intoed, so I took him to a different pediatric orthopedist for a second opinion, this time at Children's Hospital. She said that the initial diagnosis was correct and he'd outgrown the metatarsis abductis but now he had tibial torsion (no longer turning his feet in at the ankle, now his lower leg bones were slightly twisted inward). Apparently this is also very common and she said the bones would straighten as he grew and that he'd outgrow the tibial torsion at about 10 to 12 years. He will probably always intoe a little and I notice that it is more pronounced when he is physically tired but it doesn't seem to bother him. The orthopedist did say that most boys don't care but that girls can be a lot more self conscious about it, especially when they get to be old enough to want to wear high heeled shoes. One other thing, even though his feet turn in, he is a very fast runner. Apparently this is really common and studies have shown that people with intoeing tend to be better athletes!