What should I do if my two-year-and-three-month-old baby is not developing well?

The baby's physical development is very critical. We must pay attention to the supplementation of various vitamins and proteins. The nutrition must keep up to grow taller and stronger. Moreover, if the child does not keep up with the nutrition at this stage of development, it is easy to cause various diseases. Today I will tell parents what to do if the child is poorly developed, and how to make the baby grow up more healthily and happily.

Most bone abnormalities in infants and young children are benign bone problems and will heal naturally after birth without the need for special treatment. However, parents should not take it lightly, because once the golden period of treatment is missed, surgery can only be used to help correct it. Let’s learn about 9 common bone development problems in baby’s feet.

Why do my baby's feet look weird when they are born? Why does the baby limp when he walks during the toddler period? Why are one of my baby’s feet bigger than the other? ...Let's learn about the common problems of babies' feet during infancy.

The feet are formed in the 8th week of pregnancy

In theory, the buds of the feet usually appear 4 weeks after fertilization, and the rudiments of the soles of the feet are formed 8 weeks later. A one-year-old baby's feet are about half the size of their adult counterparts. The growth rate of babies' feet between 1 and 18 months old is the fastest in their life.

Girls' feet are fully formed when they are 12 to 14 years old, while boys' feet are not fully formed until they are 14 to 16 years old. Therefore, if infants and young children are found to have abnormal bone problems in their feet, treatment before the age of one can achieve good results and rarely cause sequelae.

9 major foot bone problems in infants and young children

Part 1 Mild

1. Foot eversion

Among the skeletal development problems in infants and young children, hallux valgus is quite common. According to statistics, 1 to 2 out of every thousand infants and young children are born with hallux valgus. The most obvious feature of hallux valgus is that the sole of the newborn's foot is abnormally close to the calf. This is because the foot is squeezed for a long time when the fetus is in the mother's womb, causing dorsiflexion and hallux valgus of the calcaneus. This is usually a foot posture problem rather than a bone alignment problem and will heal naturally after birth when the squeezing sensation disappears. Generally, the condition will improve naturally within 2 to 3 months after birth. If there is no obvious improvement, the patient should be sought for medical treatment as soon as possible.

Tips: If parents find that their baby has a problem with eversion of the foot, they can help the baby's feet return to normal as soon as possible through stretching and massage under the guidance of a doctor. After massage, 90% of babies can recover naturally.

2. Flexion of the toes

Most cases of abnormal bending of toes after birth (mostly occurs on the 3rd or 4th toe of newborns, with bending and inward rotation) will not affect the feet and will naturally improve during growth. If one toe crosses over another toe (usually happens on the fifth toe), it will easily affect the baby's wearing of shoes. You must pay attention to whether it will cause friction and discomfort when the baby wears shoes. Additionally, mild cases of crooked toes will not worsen or interfere with your daily life.

Tips: In order to avoid the problem of toes being rubbed when wearing shoes in the future, doctors recommend that mothers use a soft small rope to fix the bent toes next to the adjacent toes for correction. In addition, mothers can also help their baby's toes return to normal as soon as possible through massage.

3. Pronation of the big toe

This is a dynamic abnormality, mainly due to the overactivity and tightness of the muscles and ligaments of infants and young children, causing the big toe to deviate from the other four toes. If the mother gives proper massage regularly, the baby will heal naturally as he grows. However, it is worth noting that even after correction, there is still a high chance that the patient will have hallux valgus when they grow up, which may cause discomfort when wearing shoes, but it will not affect walking.

4. Metatarsal internal rotation

This is a common skeletal abnormality caused by compression of the fetus's foot in the womb, resulting in an inward rotation of the forefoot. Generally speaking, this is a mild and benign bone abnormality that can recover naturally without deliberate treatment. However, 2% of this type of disease is accompanied by acetabular dysplasia, which should not be taken lightly.

Tips: During infancy, mothers can help loosen the tendons through massage. The biggest difference from metatarsal inversion is that patients with internal rotation have milder symptoms, the metatarsal bones are more elastic, and the chances of spontaneous improvement are greater. However, those with more serious conditions still need surgery to correct them when they grow up.

A baby's childhood should be spent in health and happiness. We must enjoy this period of childhood well. Moms and dads must let their babies grow up healthily, give their babies a good start in life, and be responsible for their babies.