Why is your toddler walking on their toes?

Why is your toddler walking on their toes? For one of a handful of reasons, and the episode walks through all of them: tight calf muscles, spasticity in a child with a neurological condition, general weakness, the feel of the ground under their feet, being wound up and needing movement, or simply that it is fun.

Before that, shoes. The advice most of us absorbed is that a new walker needs a firm supportive shoe with good arch support, and that can be counterproductive: a child has to learn to hold their own foot in position, and too much support stops them building the strength to do it. When a child is first walking, shoes are for protection from the ground. When you are buying, flexible is the word, not soft.

Flat feet get their turn too. Nearly all little children look flat footed, because the arch has not developed yet. Arch development happens as they start to walk, so it will not be there straight away.

Then exploring tip-toe walking which can be an issue but sometimes is part of ordinary development. A child who comes up occasionally and otherwise walks with their heels down is not a problem. A child who is up most of the time, never puts their heels down, looks like they are bouncing slightly, and has been doing it for a while, is worth a look. And the honest note at the end: toe walking is complicated, there is no quick fix, and physiotherapy helps substantially with the underlying cause but it takes time for a child to learn new ways of moving.

Topics covered: toddler shoes, first walking shoes, barefoot children, flexible shoes for kids, flat feet in children, arch development, toe walking, tip toe walking, calf tightness, spasticity, sensory processing, hyperflexibility, when to see a paediatric physiotherapist, gross motor development, early intervention, Campbelltown, Macarthur, NSW.

More from Aderet Therapy

• [aderettherapy.com.au](https://aderettherapy.com.au)

Support lines

• Pregnancy, Birth and Baby: [1800 882 436](tel:1800882436)

Sources behind this episode

Written by the paediatric physiotherapy team at Aderet Therapy, Campbelltown. NIH journal article on the effect of shoe flexibility on plantar loading in children learning to walk.

In this episode

• 00:00 - Intro
• 00:42 - Song: Little Movers
• 03:30 - Shoes
• 06:46 - Song: Room To Grow
• 09:28 - Toe Walking
• 14:33 - Song: New Ways Of Moving
• 17:33 - When to seek help

About the show

Aderet Therapy Weekly is a short weekly podcast for parents of babies and young children, from the paediatric physiotherapy team at Aderet Therapy in Campbelltown, in the Macarthur region of south west Sydney, NSW. Every episode takes one thing parents worry about, explains what is actually known about it, and says plainly what is not known. No judgement, no jargon, no scare tactics.

Aderet Therapy: paediatric physiotherapy, early intervention key worker support, communication physiotherapy and AAC, aquatic physiotherapy, equipment prescription, school holiday programs, and the free Little Movers League community sessions.

Contact

• Website: [aderettherapy.com.au](https://aderettherapy.com.au)
• Phone: [02 4949 7276](tel:+61249497276)
• Address: Suite 10, 261 Queen Street, Campbelltown NSW 2560

Disclaimer

Everything in this episode is general information only. Every child is unique, and nothing here replaces a conversation with your GP, your child and family health nurse, or your physiotherapist.