My child is a toe walker….how I handled it as a pediatric physical therapist and mom
I’m the mom of a two year old. When my son started toe walking, it was one of those moments when being a pediatric physical therapist was a handy skill set to have. This is also something that I help families navigate all of the time as a physical therapist (PT). So I thought it would be a potentially helpful topic to discuss here. This is how I addressed my son’s toe walking as a pediatric physical therapist and mom…
My son started walking independently when he was 14 months old. However, shortly after that, he started toe walking. I’m going to start by saying that I did NOT panic (even though everyone around me seemed to be worried about it). However, I did act immediately. I’ve seen many toe walkers as a pediatric PT, and a common theme I’ve seen is that the longer you wait to address it, the harder it is to address. My son was toe walking about 10% of the time. I continued to pay attention to the frequency of his toe walking, knowing that if it increased at any point, that I needed to do more to address it. I had him start wearing shoes with hard soles. Whenever he would wear these shoes, he wouldn’t toe walk. So he wore them whenever we left the house, and on the first floor of our house. I still wanted to give him some time outside of shoes, so whenever he was upstairs (that’s where his bedroom and play area are) I’d take his shoes off. It was also a clear plan that was easy for everyone to follow. Every day, I gave him opportunities to walk on uneven ground and challenge his balance. Typically, when you challenge a toe walker’s balance, they bring their heels to the ground to widen their base of support to maintain their standing balance. So I had my son walk on his nugget couch, walk on his play mats, walk outside on grass, walk up and down ramps, kick and throw balls, etc. But I didn’t carve out extra time to do this. I incorporated it into our daily routine. So if the opportunity presented itself, I took it.
Whenever someone pointed out his toe walking to me, I just simply said, “I know, I’m working on it,” and changed the subject. I did not let anyone else’s worries cause me to worry more.
Slowly but surely, his toe walking went away. He is now almost two years old and does not toe walk.
So that’s how I handled it, but I do want to emphasize that every child is different. Fortunately, what I did was all my son needed. But sometimes kids need more than this. Some kids toe walk more frequently early on, and they require a lot more intervention to reduce the toe walking. Sometimes kids have other diagnoses or difficulties which add other challenges to managing toe walking. Every child is different.
One thing that is consistent among all kids….intervening early matters. One of the reasons why this is all my son needed is because I acted early. When it comes to toe walking, I don’t think anyone should use a “wait and see” approach. Early toe walking is much easier to correct than toe walking that has been going on for years. So if your child starts to toe walk, get evaluated by a physical therapist right away. And if your child has been toe walking for a while, it’s not too late to intervene. PT can still help.
Wondering if your child needs a physical therapy evaluation for toe walking? Book a FREE discovery call today!