Am I A Nut Or What?

[ICNJess]

My daughter has been walking for almost 3 months (she's a week or two shy of being 14 months now) and her clumsiness is almost extreme...I think. Maybe I am being just overly-worried (have been known to do that) but to me, my mom sense is telling me something isn't right. I have this nagging feeling that something is off with her. I don't know what it is...am I being paranoid?

She falls ALL DAY LONG. She is just so wobbly. A lot of the times she is tilting her head back and looking up. Sometiems she trips over nothing at all. But this kid is constantly falling. I know, that's why they call them toddlers, but yesterday for example...twice she went head first into my coffee table and (as I just typed this she fell twice more) she has these gashes on her nose and eyebrow. She doesn't seem nearly as bothered as I am at these falls. She cried after the coffee table incidents yesterday, but for the most part when she falls she gets irritated but gets back up.

So am I being paranoid? My mom thinks I am. "Every mother worries," she tells me. Well...maybe so. She just seems to be falling an awful lot. I at least am going to run it by the pediatrician at her 15 month check-up.

I guess I'm just looking for answers or reassurance.

[lnseagraves]

Hey,

I dont have kids of my own, but I did work in a day care when I was in college for 2 years. I had care of the 1 year olds, so I had plenty of 14 monthers when I was there. None of them toppled as much as you said your daughter is doing. It may be she's just clumsy (some of us are) but it may be something else. I would mention it to her doctor. When I was a baby, I was born block-footed (when your feet are really curled inwards). My mom worried about it but both of my grandmothers said "All babies have feet that turn inwards, she'll grow out of it" Well my mom wasn't satisified and she DID bring it to my doctors attention and I DID have block-foot and if they hadn't caught it when I was an infant, I would literally have been a cripple and in a wheelchair my entire life. Now I'm basically normal.... SO I'd say go with you insticts. Your her mom, youre worried and you'll have TERRIBLE guilt if there is something wrong and you didn't mention it.

One note, have the doctor check her eyes. Eyesight can affect balance in young children. She could have a lazy eye (I also have this) and people with lazy eyes have no depth perception which means she can't tell where the tables are and will then bump into them... There are other eye problems.

Oh, and ears can affect balance in young children. One of "my kids" at the day care had ear trouble and that caused delays in his learning to walk, and then balance at first....

[stac7_8]

Well first off let me start by saying that ur lil girl is so cute. I have a total of 4 kids. 1 step son and 3 of my own. The one thing that I have learned from being a mom is to ALWAYS TRUST YOUR GUT. Mom knows best.

The only thing that I would wonder is if she has an inner ear infection. That could make her off a bit and she would be dizzy from it.

For the most part, you are right kids are going to fall down.

But from one mom to another, please always trust your gut. If you have insurance it won't hurt it to use it u know.

Well I hope all turns out well for ur daughter, keep us posted

[ICNDonna]

I think you're wise to bring it to the attention of your doctor. My youngest had the same kind of problem --- our pediatrician sent him to an orthopedist and he wore corrective shoes for a year, which resolved the problem. His toes pointed in towards each other --- not seriously, but enough to effect his balance.

And I agree that she's totally gorgeous! I wish I could drop by just to hold her.

Warm hugs,
Donna

[dancemomof2]

I would sure bring it to the Dr attention, it may be nothing. My Bayleigh is 14 and still can't walk without falling over her feet, she is just a clutzy person, but I would hate for it to be an inner ear problem or something that can be corrected early.

[GriffsMommy]

I don't think your nuts. I think that all mother's worry. I worry about my son all the time and he's almost 3. It seems like such a long time ago that he first started to walk. I guess they do fall but if you think something is wrong then get it checked out. Your dr would rather talk to you about it and find out it's nothing than not talk about it and it turns out it was something. My son was a VERY late talker. Everybody said this and that about he will do it when he wants, blah blah blah but I have a degree in Early Childhood Education and it really bothered me that he should have been talking and he wasn't. So I called Early Intervention in my county and they came and evaluated him and agreed that he was REALLY behind in his speech and started him on speech therapy right away. He is fine now, he actually went from being behind for his age group to being ahead of other kids his age now. I can not get him to shut up. It seems that he was just taking his sweet old time since he had three much older siblings who would get things for him w/o him asking. I feel much better that I got it checked out though. Keep us posted! I have to agree w/ everyone else she is REALLY CUTE!!!!

[tigger_gal]

of course your nuts
Jake was like that too, he likes to run with his eyes closed.. looking the other way, up... you name it.. I think talking to the doc like Leslie said would be good just to calm your nerves a bit.

my pc crashed... just got back on line.. still loading everything, so I'll to get yahoo eventually.

oh an by the way.. none of us here has yet accomplished getting over the baby gate, with the exception of Jake..

[vm]

Jess - I agree, you should run it by your pediatrician. I work for early intervention in our state as a child development specialist. This is a program for kids from birth to the age of three who have delays in development. Sometimes we get referrals for kids who are a bit clumsy (or a lot ) and we go out and do an evaluation to see what might be causing it. A physical therapist can show the family simple things they can do to help their child's coordination improve.

It's free in our state (most likely in yours, too) and parents can make the referral or the doctor can.

[ICNJess]

Thanks everyone. I will run it by the pediatrician, for at the very least, peace of mind. I'm probably over-thinking and over-worrying, but at least I'll get SOME kind of answer.

[ABliske]

Well, you've made a good decision. I'm no expert and I don't have any children, but I do know that my nieces fall a lot. Not really as much as you were saying, but when I was watching my niece (2 or so) she started running and skidd - ending up with a big bump on her forhead. Her feet just couldn't keep up with the pace. They always have bumps and bruises. Now that i think about it I went to the ER with another niece because she hit her head on a door frame and it swelled up huge. My sister and I didn't know that it's natural for that to happen,
I'd do something about that coffee table. Me and one of my siblings both got stitches from running into the same coffee table when we were kids. I still have a teeny little scar on my forehead.

[Berkshire Road]

We had to put a bumber around the coffee table (it was so ugly), and then finally put the table away in the garage when our daughter was a toddler. Even when she was two, she was constantly slamming into that table. She had a very minor problem with her feet, which she outgrew on her own, and a problem with her eye muscles -- she has trouble shifting her focus from one distance to another. She needed therapy for that.

So those things may have contributed, but I don't think they were the main reasons for all the bumps. She used to look around, up, behind her, anywhere but the direction she was walking in; she just wasn't paying attention. She's 12 years old now and, if you look at the picture of her diving, below, as you can see she is very well coordinated when she wants to be. But she still bumps into things because she gets distracted by her own thoughts. She is just kind of spacey. She recently walked straight into a locker at school, LOL. She wasn't hurt, but the nurse called me to see if we'd had her vision checked (uh, yeah, that's why she had all those years of vision therapy and why she is wearing contact lenses...).

Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about her, there may or may not be something minor that needs attention, but it will be correctable. But I agree with all the other moms, you should absolutely trust your instincts, no matter what anyone else says. You know your kid best.

Let us know what the doctor says, I'm sure we're all anxious to find out the answer! She is so cute! Treasure these times; they don't last long.

[mary124]

I go with your gut! I know my feet were turned in- couldn't walk till I was 5 years old! (doctors told my parents I'll never walk- luckily, my parents didn't take that as an answer because like I said when I was 5 I took my first step and haven't stop since!! Also it could be an inter-ear problem. My youngest son had all sorts of ear infections and couldn't talk or walk till he had tubes put in and took his first step/said his first words when he was around 20 months old (now he won't shut up!! and he is almost 19 years old!)

[patricia1]

I would for sure bring this up...Does she get ear infection's alot or any?? Reason I ask is because my daughter (she is 13) now has alot of problems with her ears. She has had tubes 5 times and when she was little she was the clusmiest things on earth. Her ears messed with her stability. I remember once she was running down the hall turned to go into her room, then slam hit the wall.