What to do if your child is unsteady on his/her feet

We all know that generally speaking, it takes about three or four years old for a child to be able to walk steadily in the true sense. Of course, different children have different physical fitness and athletic ability, so some children may have relatively stronger balance abilities. However, practicing more balanced exercises and improving nutrition (especially meat nutrition, which helps muscle strength) can still speed up this process. For children who are just learning to walk, when they walk on tiptoe, the center of gravity of the whole body falls on a small area of ​​the two toes, making them more likely to fall. Children who often fall develop a fear of walking and will cling to their parents to be carried or supported while walking all day long.

Suggestion: Although infants learn to walk after one year old, it still takes a considerable amount of practice to achieve a level of balance.

If you fall unintentionally, it may cause sprains of joints, muscles, ligaments, or even fractures. It is worth noting that some children often stand on tiptoe when they first start walking.

Before the age of 2, children have thicker fat on the soles of their feet and the arch of their feet has not yet formed. As we age, when we walk alone, the fat on the soles of our feet is redistributed, and through muscle training the inner edge of the foot is lifted, and the center of gravity of the whole body is placed on the outside of the foot, gradually forming an arch. When people walk, the arch of the foot acts as a spring, balancing the muscles and preventing muscles and ligaments from being damaged due to excessive fatigue. If you often walk on tiptoe, it will affect the formation of normal arch of the foot, the development of leg muscles, and it is easy to cause plantar bone deformity.

If children walk on tiptoe when learning to walk, the center of gravity of the whole body will fall on a small area of ​​the two toes, making them more likely to fall. Walking on tiptoe frequently will affect the formation of the normal arch of the foot, the development of the leg muscles, and may easily cause plantar bone deformities.

In addition, children's lack of sleep will affect their motor nervous system, making them more likely to get injured due to slow movements or reactions. Children's proneness to falling is also related to the lack of trace element calcium.

It is recommended to go to the hospital for a systematic examination to see if there is cerebral palsy or other neurological functional diseases, so as to determine the cause and provide symptomatic treatment. Experts point out that the common reasons for children's unsteady walking are:

Generally, babies can start learning to walk at 9 months old. At this time, the child's head is relatively large, the body is relatively long, the limbs are relatively short, the center of gravity of the body is unstable, and the child's nervous system is not fully developed, the leg muscles lack strength, and the ability of the motor nerves to control the muscles is also relatively weak. Therefore, when children are just learning to walk, they certainly cannot adjust their posture and maintain body balance in time when the center of gravity changes like adults. Instead, they often move their body forward by shifting their center of gravity and require assistance from other parts of the body.

As neuromuscular function gradually improves and practice increases, the child's gait will gradually become more stable. The reason why many children nowadays have weak legs and feet is that their parents' love does not allow them to have more opportunities to practice. It is actually very simple to treat such a condition. Just let the child walk more and increase the child's opportunities to exercise. Adults should watch over the child more and prevent the child from falling. If a child really falls down and cries, adults should not immediately pet him, but encourage him to stand up by himself.

The above is an expert’s introduction to the reasons why children walk unsteadily. I hope you can understand more by reading this article. At the same time, parents should not be careless about their children's walking problems. If the child still walks unsteadily after one and a half years old and sways from side to side when walking, they should take the child to the hospital as soon as possible to check whether the child has some hidden disease, such as cerebral palsy, congenital hip dislocation, etc.