My 12yo daughter walks around on her toes. . .

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Should I be concerned about it?

 

It is a fairly recent habit. She's always had habits that I found annoying (like drumming her fingers), or gross (like sucking on her hair). Generally, I complain about the habit-of-the-month and she stops, but soon picks up a different habit.

 

Currently, it's walking on her toes, or (if standing in place), doing this right-toe/down/left-toe/down dance (like a little girl who needs to go to the bathroom). I've seen little girls walk around on their toes, but this girl is 5'4'' tall, and wears size 8 1/2 shoes! If I press on her shoulder (gently, of course), or tap her foot (inconspicuously, of course), she'll say, "Sorry," and she'll stop. But, later in the day, she'll be up on her toes again.

 

Is this weird, or have I just not noticed other girls doing it? I'd love for her to develop a good habit, like practicing her turn-out for ballet, or sitting up straight. :)

 

Should I just chill? Or, should I ask the doctor when I take her in for her camp physical in a couple weeks?

[newlifemom]

, should I ask the doctor when I take her in for her camp physical in a couple weeks?

 

 

No, b/c then it won't be a physical anymore and it will mess up your ins. :glare:

 

Sorry, 'nother subject altogether. I honestly don't know but if you have any advice about getting kids to stop picking their nails, I would love to hear it.:bigear:

[TeacherZee]

Personally I would nip it in the bud if I were you. It could shorten the tendons in her foot. This is why some women have to wear heels and it might make it difficult for her to walk in the future.

Edited March 4, 2009 by TeacherZee
Clearly posting while there is to much blood in my caffeine flow is a bad idea. I miss out words

[Dooley]

We had a friend whose dd did this, it (for her) was an podiatry issue and one that needed special shoes and correction. It is not "natural" to walk on the toes, unless something in the foot is demanding it, so to speak. Let us know what happens!

[MamaT]

A little girl down the street from us had this habit and it messed up her tendons to the point she had to have surgery.

 

If it is just a habit, I would try to nip it in the bud now.

[JVA]

I'd have the dr check her feet. The Achilles tendon could be short making it painful to plant her foot flat. My son has had surgery to lengthen the tendons- but his was due to club feet - and corrected. The dr. may suggest wearing braces (custom fit on her feet - they're called 'Ankle-foot-orthotics or AFO's ) at night to lengthen the tendons. There are also some exercises a PT would teach her. It's a common cure. And it works!

[Psm73]

My 8 yo dd does this (and has been doing this for a couple of years). I checked with her doc who said it wasn't a big deal but she should try to stop so it doesn't become a habit.

 

I'd guess it depends on how much they are doing it. My dd does it quite a bit in the house (esp. when she is supposed to be doing chores). She is a dancer so I think in some weird way she thinks she's being elegant. :) She is only 8 and when I ask her to stop, she immediately stops. I do catch her doing it on and off throughout the day but it certainly isn't something she is doing 100% of the time.

[Jean in Wisc]

She had some rare problem, and she ended up at Shriners Hospital for surgery--parent claim she would have ended up not being able to walk if they had not done something about it.

 

Sooooo,the moral of the story is go and have it checked out...and make sure your doctor is willing to listen to you. My friends went to several doctors before someone was willing to really figure out what was going on.

 

And then be glad if you find out it is just a tic.

 

Jean

[mrsdash]

My 7 yr. old does this. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY! We all tell her to stop when we notice it and she does but it looks like she's walking with high heels. We just decided it was an odd habit and we're trying to make sure she breaks it. She also takes her feet out of the back of her shoe and walks with the back of it smooshed down until she ruins her shoes....drives me nuts.

[WTMindy]

No, b/c then it won't be a physical anymore and it will mess up your ins. :glare:

 

Sorry, 'nother subject altogether. I honestly don't know but if you have any advice about getting kids to stop picking their nails, I would love to hear it.:bigear:

 

I'm confused by this post. My kids' doc always asks if I have other concerns and we talk about them and it doesn't mess anything up.

[Tressa]

This is an area near and dear to my heart here. I am a toe walker. My oldest was a toe-walker but out grew it. My daughter toe walks and my youngest toe walks. My toe walking has not caused me too many problems. I have a some intermittant foot pain that may be related, but I have never had any problems with my tendons. My husband will remind me to put my feet down sometimes.

 

My son out grew it, and he never had any problems with his tendons. Same goes for my daughter. She still toe walks. It has made her pretty inflexible, but that only mattered while whe was in ballet. It did make her very strong, though.

 

Now, my youngest. That is a different story. His tendons are short. He wears AFO's and they have helped some. He will most likely require surgery when he is in his pre-teens. It isn't the end of the world. It is actually kind of common. His PTA is even a toe-walker! They just need to know why your daughter would be walking on her toes. Since she is 12 and just starting to walk on her toes, it is probably nothing medical. Some kids just walk on their toes. Sometimes people will want to say that there is mild autism because of the toe-walking, but this isn't the case either.

 

The fancy name for it is idiopathic toe walking. Basically, they walk on their toes for no apparent reason. That would fit my entire family. Can your daughter pull her feet back toward her nose? What is the range? She should be able to pull her feet back past the neutral position (90 degree angle to the floor). If she can do that, I wouldn't worry about and I would just remind her to walk heel-toe. (If I had a dime for every time I said that at my house, I would be able to pay for Ivy league school for all my children.) You may have to very vigilant.

 

If she can only get her feet to neutral or less than neutral, I would take her to the doctor. There are wedges that she can stand on and exercises that she can do to lengthen her heel cord without surgical intervention. Even just standing on the edge of a stair and letting her weight stretch her heel cord is a good thing.

 

This is getting long, but I have been dealing with toe walking my whole life and the past three years have been one long, learning lesson after another with my youngest. I hope this helps.

Edited March 4, 2009 by Tressa

[Suzanne in ABQ]

"Idiopathic". I love that term! I could apply that to SO MANY things my kids do, like writing on the carpet with a pencil, or on the wall with a crayon, poking holes in the couch, a whole slew of things they do for no apparent reason. :)

 

Thank you for the information. She *can* flex her foot past 90 degrees, and she *can* walk normally, she just subconsciously pops up on her toes sometimes. I'll ask to doctor if I should be concerned, and I'll get her to stretch more (she does during dance classes, but not in between). I'm not too worried about permanent damage, since she just started doing it. It probably is just a tic, as Jean pointed out, and will probably be replaced with another one.

 

Walking on her toes does make her taller than me, so that's sort of irritating (I'm not ready to have a child taller than me! LOL!)

 

Thanks everyone!

[Jugglin'5]

I'm another one with a family of toe walkers. The oldest two have outgrown it, the younger daughter is in the process of outgrowing it, and that leaves the 5 yr old, who is still at the height of his toe walking powers. :D They have all tended to do it more when they are barefooted. Interestingly, the four of the five children who do/have done this are all very fast. The one who didn't is more of a long distance runner type and not as heavily muscled. We have always encouraged a lot of stretching, being aware that it could become a problem.

[Angel]

Should I be concerned about it?

 

She's always had habits that I found annoying (like drumming her fingers), or gross (like sucking on her hair). Generally, I complain about the habit-of-the-month and she stops, but soon picks up a different habit.

 

 

This part of your post would lead me to believe it has nothing to do with her feet. My dd has Asperger's. To her, these are stimming activities. Not noticable to her unless I point it out. She then tries to stop but will pick it back up unconsiously later. These activities occur when she is nervous, anxious, excited, or having trouble with sensory issues or sensory overload. My dd will also switch "habits." She has had numerous ones over the years. The ones I have tried to stop have sometimes been replaced by worse ones.

 

If this is a pattern that you do see frequently, then I wold mention it to your doctor. It doesn't mean she has Asperger's, but she could have some sensory issues (walking on toes really qualifies here, but usually happens when they are younger). It doesn't hurt to ask. If it's nothing, great! If it is something, then the earlier you know about it, the better for her.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

This part of your post would lead me to believe it has nothing to do with her feet. My dd has Asperger's. To her, these are stimming activities. Not noticable to her unless I point it out. She then tries to stop but will pick it back up unconsiously later. These activities occur when she is nervous, anxious, excited, or having trouble with sensory issues or sensory overload. My dd will also switch "habits." She has had numerous ones over the years. The ones I have tried to stop have sometimes been replaced by worse ones.

 

If this is a pattern that you do see frequently, then I wold mention it to your doctor. It doesn't mean she has Asperger's, but she could have some sensory issues (walking on toes really qualifies here, but usually happens when they are younger). It doesn't hurt to ask. If it's nothing, great! If it is something, then the earlier you know about it, the better for her.

 

Thanks for think of the Angel. She doesn't display any other symptoms of Aspergers (that I know of), except that she was easily over-stimulated as a baby. She seems to have outgrown all of that, except these little habits. She does them mostly when she's bored, like standing in line at a store, or waiting around for me to finish something, or hanging around the kitchen with nothing to do. I'll ask the doctor, though. Thanks.

[Staci in MO]

If so, maybe you could have her wear shoes around the house until she sheds the habit.

[newlifemom]

I'm confused by this post. My kids' doc always asks if I have other concerns and we talk about them and it doesn't mess anything up.

 

 

All I know is this last time I took the kids to their physicals I asked about a mole on dd's tush, and with other dd a question about her thumb.(it didn't straighten). Because my ins. doesn't require a co-pay for well-checks/physicals I didn't pay. 2 weeks later I get a bill for the co-pay plus an extra fee for not paying to co-pay at the time of visit. When I asked them they told me that the visits were not physicals b/c I asked questions about concerns I had. (I am not normally a crass person, but WTH?) They told me that is how they had to bill to ins. co. and it would be considered fraud if they didn't. I honestly do not know how to respond to that.

 

FWIW, a couple of years ago at a different dr. I saw them bill a physical out as a dr's visit, called them on it and they told me because I discussed something in the visit the 'could' do it and my ins would pay more.

 

I hate insurance and medical billing:glare:.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Nope. She does it in shoes, or barefoot. She does it in the store. She does it at home. She does it here and there. She does it everywhere. :o)

 

But, not all the time. Just several times a day, when she's bored (I think). I'll pay more attention to *when* she does it.