Pigeon Toed. Should I Be Concerned?

My oldest was this way for a while, but if he still has it at all I don't notice...my pediatrician said it would correct itself, but if we were concerned I could try putting the shoes on the opposite feet...the left shoe on the right foot, etc. Never tried it, but not to say it wouldn't have worked.

-M

I am pigeon toed and have been all my life. It's bad enough that people notice. And running is apparently rather comical. But, I live a full and productive life, and played sports, and work an active job. Pigeon toed doesn't have to be the end of the world.
My son is also pigeon toed, but primarily with one foot. I spoke with his pediatrician about it. He watched him walk and agreed that he is definitely "in-toeing" with the one foot, but he said most pediatric orthopaedic doctors will not attempt to forcibly fix in-toeing anymore. The braces that they used to put on kids have been found to be ineffective in the long term, and kind of traumatic for the kids (teasing and such) in the short run.
There are exercises that can be done to strengthen the muscles in the hips and knees. Try putting her in ballet. Ballet forces you to turn your feet out and strenthen the hip muscles that help pull your feet out. Depending on how badly she is in-toeing this might help. (My mother tried with me, but my bones are so far out of alignment that it was a hopeless cause. I cannot turn my feet out even if you try to force them.)
And try to not worry about this so much. In the grand scheme of things, pigeon toed is really not that big a deal. There are many far far worse things that could be wrong with your daughter. You are blessed to have a healthy happy 2 1/2 year old. Don't ever forget that. :)

My daughter was pigeon toed when she was small. At age 3 I took her to the doctor, he gave me two choices: 1) put braces on her legs for a year or more. 2) have her walk like a duck with her feet out and often and also several times a day have her sit on the floor with her knees crossed, they use to call it indian style and also to press slightly on her knees toward the floor, like doing the butterfly. I opted for #2 and we kept at it all the time and made games of it. She walked when she was 11 months and at the time I wondered if that was too young, but now I know it wasn't. It straighten her problem and has walked straight all her life. As she grew into later childhood she would slip now and then only when she was extremely tired and I would simply tell her to walk straight and she would. This is my (our) experience. I don't acutally know what's best for you. Can you take her to the doctor?

Don't worry especially if it's only a slight turn-in. My 3 yr old son has been pigeon-toed since he was an infant. I speak to his pediatrician about it at every check-up and he reassures me that nearly all pigeon-toed children will outgrow it by 5-6 yrs of age and it's rare that a child would require orthopedic shoes, braces, or surgery. My son actually has what's called 'femoral anteversion' in which the femur can be twisted toward the groin more so than in most people and that is what causes his particular type of in-toeing. This page has some good info and a picture to help understand the different types of in-toeing. http://www.hughston.com/hha/a_12_3_2.htm
I hope this helps! :)

Our 3 year old is too and we took him to a foot doctor and he showed us exercises to help strengthen the hip muscles and to stretch out the side/hip joint tendons and ligaments. They helped some but the docs won't even consider putting braces on their legs at night until they are older. The bones are not fully formed yet and any corrective procedure will only be undone by growth at this age. It won't hurt for you to do the exercises every time he is laying down and relaxed, we did J's when changing his diaper and when he was getting dressed. They also did them at Mothers-Day-Out.

my inlaw was as a child and she wore corrective shoes and excersizes and she is fine now. It's better to catch it young, so ask your pedi about it.

My son has one foot that turns in slightly. I take him to a chiro and she adjusts him and gives me exercises to do with him.

Hello!

Have you spoken with your doc about? They usually recommend certain stretches and / or exercised geared toward your kiddo.

good luck!

It's prefectly normal for a 2.5 yr old especially if it's slightly.
Your dr can look at her legs to make sure it's not her leg thats turned in and not just stretchy joints.
My 8.5 yr old has never had " slightly " intoeing She has sever intoeing and is also flat footed.
She's prob fine but have your ped check her out if you are worried about it.
Many studies have been done on the subject and kids that wore braces or corrective shoes did not have a faster " healing" time than those that were left w/o these things. Most Drs now will not recommend corrective action unless it's really bad.

Please take your child to a chiropractor and find out if there is some other problem behind this. I was pigeon toed all through my childhood, at one point I wore leg braces to turn my feet out but it didn't help. Other doctors (including Shriners Hospital) told my mom I would grow out of it, but I never did. By the time I was 11 one of my shoulders was noticeably higher than the other, again we were told it was no big deal and would probably grow out of it. In my teens I had severe back pain and was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 17 but it was too late to do anything about it. I was told I needed surgery and get a metal rod attached to my spine to straighten me out before it got so bad that my ribs stared to compress my lungs. FINALLY I went to a chiropractor, who did one simple x-ray and discovered that the root of all the problems was that my hips were rotated, which had probably happened when I was born. This problem was solved within a few months (pain-free!) and the curve has not progressed at all since I started going. If someone had figured out the problem with my hips when I was a toddler, none of the other symptoms would have happened. Get your child checked, everything is easier to fix at a younger age. Plus you'll feel better once you know!

Talk to your doctor first, but my cousin was also pigeon toed. The doctor suggested getting a pair of toddler high top shoes and fastening the heels together and having him sleep at night and nap with those shoes on. I remember my aunt who was a single mom bringing a pair of leather high top shoes to my dad to punch 2 holes in the back of the heel to run a shoe string though. My aunt did this and he is no longer pigeon toed. He was tripping over his own feet continuously before this because he was severely pigeon toed.