Why do young children walk on tiptoes?

After the baby is born, as the baby's age increases, there will be different changes in each stage. Most babies need to learn to walk when they are about 1 year old. At this time, parents should guide the baby well. Some babies walk on tiptoes when they walk. New parents are often very worried when they see this situation. So why do babies walk on tiptoes?

Why does my baby walk on tiptoes?

This phenomenon usually occurs when the baby is in the stage of jumping in a supported standing position and when the baby begins to stand continuously at around 10 months, but it will disappear as the baby grows and develops. If this phenomenon occurs in the early stages of a baby's learning to walk, there is generally no need to worry too much.

However, if the child often stands on tiptoes after learning to stand alone or when squatting, and frequently walks on tiptoes, it is recommended to go to the hospital for a check-up. Pathological scoliosis may often be caused by a certain degree of brain damage or abnormal brain development, and may be accompanied by delayed motor development, poor visual and auditory response, long-term scoliosis and other abnormal postures.

Generally speaking, most children who stand on tiptoe will get rid of this habit before the age of two. If there is no improvement after the age of three to five, it is more likely to be pathological factors.

How to distinguish between normal and abnormal?

Normal situation

Parents can determine whether it is an abnormal phenomenon by observing the frequency of their baby walking on tiptoes. If your baby sometimes walks on tiptoes and sometimes returns to normal, there is no need to worry. Generally speaking, a baby's motor coordination ability matures after the age of four, so there is no need to worry too much if he or she walks unsteadily before that. The following two conditions are very common, but both are normal and parents do not need to worry too much.

Condition 1: You stand on tiptoes when walking, but your feet are flat when standing still, or you can squat very well.

Situation 2: Sometimes walking on tiptoe, sometimes walking normally.

Abnormal circumstances

The biggest worry is congenital problems with the hamstrings or abnormalities in the feet. However, if this is the case, other abnormalities may appear before the child can walk, and it is unlikely that the child will stand on tiptoe only when learning to walk. If this type of pathological cause is the cause, abnormal signs may appear before the child learns to walk, during foot activities or when you are helping him put on shoes.

When treating tiptoeing, it is more appropriate to deal with the disease problem first and then do rehabilitation. Especially some degenerative diseases will become more and more serious and must be treated separately. Otherwise, rehabilitation will only treat the symptoms and not the root cause.

Notes for parents

There is no need to buy functional shoes or walking tools for babies who are learning to walk. Young children who have just learned to walk may suffer minor injuries such as bruises or contusions due to falls (such as local swelling and pain, local redness and swelling, inability to walk, etc.), and babies usually cannot express themselves clearly, so parents must carefully observe their baby's every move.