Just to be clear - this is not "toe-walking" because all she can manage to do at this point is stand and cruise. She does not have the balance for anything else. My daughter is a twin and was six weeks premature. The medical professionals do not seem overly concerned but I know that nobody will take as much interest in my child's health/development as I do.
SheShe
My 12mo old daughter is still walking on her toes. I bought her some stride rite shoes to help correct that and it seems to be working because she is flattening out her feet a lot more now. Most babies start out this way so i wouldn't be overly concerned about it. as long as she is pulling up and making strides or taking steps (even on her toes) she seems fine to me. She will eventually flatten out her feet.
chick
wat!! she's 18 months and doesnt walk yet?? OMG! she might need some therapy or something. Although it may be normal if she walks on her toes, my older sister learned how to walk like that first....so it may be normal, and she'll grow out of it.
momoftwo
Ask for a neurologist appointment and ask to see an orthopedic specialist. They can do a few tests to check her out to be sure.
Christina
Call her pediatrician and ask them to refer you to Early Intervention for an evaluation. It could turn out to be nothing but you are right to be concerned considering she was premature. Not walking by 18 months is a reason to do an evaluation.
#2 due in early Spring!
I would take her to another doctor until someone listens, 18 months old is a little old for them to just be ignoring it. Standing on the toes is also a sign of autism. I would definitly try and get some answers.
Carrie A
Though I hope it's just a faze that she grows out of, I once taught a child who walked on their tip toes and she was in middle school. She had some kind of problem with her achilles tendon that would not allow her to touch her heel to the floor comfortably, so she learned to walk on her toes. Hopefuly this is not the case, but keep it in mind.
Ann K
My Grandson who is almost 22 months is the same way. At first his doctors was brushing it off. Then finally the prime care doc agreed more tests needed to be ran and send him to a different specialist. The doctors then are thinking it is Cerebral Palsy. He just went to a neurologist yesterday at Guysinger Hosptial in PA, specializing in children. I heard from my daughter in-law's mother, they said either the CP, or it is possible he might of had a stroke at birth. So now he has to go back for CAT scan of his brain. Guysinger has the Ronald McDonald house for parents of children staying in the hosptial. The house has rooms available for the parents to stay close to their children while in the hospital.
My heart goes out to the little guy! His 3 year old sister gets around fine and can ask for attention. Then his brother is only 7 months gets his attention being the baby. So he sometimes gets last for attention. He so seems to want to walk and get around, but cannot.
So yes, Cerebral Palsy might be what your 18 month old has, or something else. Find a good children's hospital to get her checked, and get second and third opinions if necessary! Good Luck to you and your daughter!
Good Luck!
beetlemilk
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term for anyone with dystonia or uneven muscle tone. This would mean that one half of her body would be higher or lower tone than the other half. When she claps her hands together does she move both hands or does she stabilize one hand and only move the other one? Does she seem tight or high tone (hypertonia)?
Even in mild cases cerebral palsy is pretty obvious. Both my husband and I are nurses and we do have a son that was dx with cerebral palsey at 2 months old verified by an MRI which was repeated at 6 months. It was determined that he had a stroke before, during, or shortly after birth.
He did get PT starting at 4 months, walked at 14months on his toes alot, and was discharged from PT before age 2. He did the hand clapping thing where he only moved one arm until 12 months old but that was after 8 months of therapy.
We got him off his toes by stretching him, having him wear shoes, and ankle weights. He used half pound weights on each ankle several times a day for 20 minutes. He just turned 3 and has some delays but isn't currently getting any PT, and his hand dominance is the hand on the weak side which occasionally gives out on him. It isn't noticeable though, even the PT at his school was shocked when I told her to evaluate him please because he has cerebral palsy. She couldn't believe it and said she would within 2 weeks.
If you haven't been to a pediatric neurologist, suggest seeing one.
I recommend calling early intervention, its free, and you need no referral. All 3 of my sons qualified.
You want to be sure her achilles tendon doesn't shorten, so be sure to stretch her feet a few times a day by pulling up on her toes.
I do think that the reason her team isn't concerned is because the typical age of walking is 10-18 months and then her adjusted age adds another six weeks onto that so I would think that the team believes she will walk before 20 months old, or they will refer her then. Sometimes though calling EI now it may be 2 months before therapy starts so the earlier the better.
A word of advice about diagnoses. Kids are very pliable, and things change and sometimes docs are wrong. I have been the recipient of some severe dx for my sons, fortunately the grim picture that had been painted for them doesn't seem to be the case. I still keep going and take whatever I can learn from it that I can and get all the services I can
Simona
First off, the "chick" that answered OMG below - you DO know that normal range to walk per the AAP is 9 to 18 months, right sweety?
Second: I know how you feel. Our daughter is 15 months old as of this week, and she still doesn't cruise or walk like other kids. She's been in Early Intervention since she was 6 months old - she was set back due to really bad reflux that made it such that we couldn't give her tummy time until after 3 months. Her doctor gave her a prescription for physical therapy because she seemed low on trunk strength and had higher tone in one leg than another - she also seemed to lean a little one way. She is able to use both hands equally, so CP was not a major concern. She does do the tip-toe stance - she was quite insecure with her balance when learning to pull up, and would immediately rise to tip-toes. Her therapist had us do stretches with her 3 times a day (she has been going for a month and a half now 1x per week). She has improved quite a bit - the way we saw her progress was to see that she has been standing with flat feet on her on her own (that means that we are not holding her feet flat, like we used to have to do everytime) for more and more time once she pulls her-self up. We still don't know what the cause is - just in case we are going to see a neurologist early next month.
Early Intervention was key to getting our rear ends moving to get her extra help just in case. We know she can use it, and it can only help, it's just scary to think what you may be missing. It's also sometimes a reliefe, because they have school districts that have tons of experience, and will giev your child the detailed attention they deserve to really evaluate them. Hearing from them that our daughter was slightly behind, but not that bad was comforting to hear. I got to ask someone all the really tough questions we didn't get to ask her doctor (is she autistic, how far behind does she seem, is this CP, etc?)
Most of the time CP is defined by issues related to one side of the body or another, do you see any asymmetry issues (uses one hand but not much the other)? If not, I can see why the doctors are in the wait-and-see category. It's hard to diagnose with just an issue with walking, but you should ask your doctor for some help to ease your mind and to get help as a precaution. Don't atke NO for an answer, because the help you get now can be the best thing you ever do for them while they are still plaible.
Little J makes big strides with the help of private-duty nurse
Image by Christiana Care
Orignal From: My 18 month old constantly stands on her toes - its preventing her from walking - could this be Cerebral Palsy?
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