Toe Walking - Saint Paul,MN

I was a toe walker. My heels still don't bend as well as most people's, but I can really point my toes, which was an asset in dance class.

It's probably nothing to worry about. My son toe-walked which ended up being a symptom of disfunction of sensory integration, which was diagnosed at age 3 1/2. If your daughter starts showing other symptoms of sensory integration disorder (major sensitivities to sound, lights, reacting strongly to certain clothes or textures of foods, needing to constantly move or spin, etc.) you might want her to get checked out by a pediatric OT.

I used to walk on my tip toes when I was little just because I liked the feel of it, but it lead to sooo many falls and sprained ankles and bad sprains that required casts. I actually had to go to physical therapy because walking like that caused my muscles to shorten [or maybe my muscles were already short and that's why it felt good to walk like that?] and I had to do stretches to get them back to normal. Of course I was a kid and didn't want to do the stretches, so it took a long time. I still have weak ankles even now. Since it has been 5 months already and she is stumbling, I would talk to the doctor. It could just be a phase, but if it continues it will cause issues later.

I was told that this could happen if they are in the jumper a lot. In other words, more than 1 hr a day. You should mention it to your Doc and see what she says.

Check with a few pediatricians. Both of my cousins did this when they were little, and they both had some sort of hearing issues it derived from. Both had tubes put in their ears, and everything cleared up. Not sure what the correlation is, but I would definately check on it.

Apparently I did that as a toddler as well. According to my parents the doctor told them to find firm soled shoes for me to wear instead of soft ones like sneakers that would allow me to stand on my toes. So I was stuck in saddle shoes for about a year! I don't do it now and don't have any lasting effects from it. I don't know if the advice for the saddle shoes was sound or not because hey, it was 20+ years ago! Might be something you could try for when you're out and about though.. at least until the snow hits!

My daughter likes to walk on her toes cause she likes that we think it's cute. She is a year old and does it all the time. there are times that she walks normal. But when my niece did that they got her to stop by having shoes on her at all times. The ones with heavy heels so it pulls her heel down so she walks normal. But she could be doing it to get a reaction out of you. most babies do this just to get attention cause then they know "hey they are watching me do this". Have you ever laughed and thought it was cute? My mom said I did it to and then she put me in dance and I was very good at it. More in Ballet.

Not to be scary but sometimes toe walking is a result of a spinal injury or condition. I would take your little one into the doctor. I had a friend who's daughter did this and she has a spinal condition but cant remember what it is called.

Jen I had this problem with my oldest child. we took her in to be checked out and they put her in foot casts. They said if it did not get better then they would have to cut inot her ankle and loosen the muscle thing in the back of her heal. Well it has not gotten better she still walks on her toes but we do not have the finances to have the surgery done. Hope this helps.

The neighbors next door to us have a 10 yr old boy, he can't put his feet down at all when he walks. It seems like it would be ver uncomfortable and take a lot more effort to get around. He's done this for sure all the years they have moved in, so about 3 1/2 yrs now. We just noticed that he had back surgery but not sure if that's related to the feet to help him walk normal. Take her in to get evaluated, they may just refer you to a specialist at Children's.

You need to take her in to be evaluated to make sure her legs are growing properly and her central nervous system is in tact. You may need to take her to a pediatriac neurologist.

Hopefully it's nothing, but I would let the doctors decide that.

I am a pediatric physical therapist. It sounds like "idiopathic toe-walking"--basically she's walking on her toes for no apparent reason/cause, particularly if she started off walking flat-footed (well, heel-toe). Keep an eye on her static standing to make sure she maintains flexibility in the heel cord to keep the heel down when she's standing still. She should eventually outgrow it. Feel free to send me another message if you have more questions.

My nephew did this due to cerebral palsy and just recently needed surgery to fix it. He was 9 years old and it never got better. He stumbled and fell alot.

I would bring it to your pediatrician's attention especially if it's causing falls or stumbling.

I don't have experience in toe-walkers so I can't help as far as causes. But, I just saw in the One Step Ahead catalogue that they make these shoes with little squeakers in the heal, that are supposed to encourage toe-walkers to use their heels in the right way.
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...