Something wrong with my baby's foot? Is it getting worse?

[Teri7489]

At my sons 8 week check the doctor pointed out that his right foot was still quite turned in (probably from position in the womb) and to keep and eye on it. Its still the same at 13 weeks now so going to take him back to see the gp. I'm just wondering if anyone had the same, if so what was it? What fixes it?

Update: Have seen HV who has referred him to physio and have gp appointment on Wednesday to discuss referral to orthopaedic surgeons (as per HV advice) What's going to happen to my baby? Does it look like it's getting worse?

 

[_Meep_]

To be honest, my LO used to hold her right foot like this quite a lot, for months. But it wasn't a constant positional thing as such, more something she found comfortable, in that she COULD move her foot into other positions if she wanted to - but generally didn't much. Does your baby move his foot OUT of this position ever? Can you move it gently into the proper position?

If so, then it's probably fine. Their soft, flexible bones can be pretty crooked for a while, but do naturally straighten out as they get older and especially as they start to walk.

I say all this because I visited my health visitor when LO was about 4 or 5 months and she was talking about some of the things I might see happening over the coming months - she actually took LO's foot and turned it in and said 'You might see things like this happening' and of course I had already been worrying about it, and was like 'Omg yeah, she does this already!' My HV (who is amazing) then explained that the muscles in their arms and legs responsible for bending and flexing the limb can grow at different rates and be tighter on one side, causing bending, as well as the soft bones being curved due to time in the womb. She also said if it didn't sort itself out after three months or so of confident walking then they would usually refer the baby to check, though as I understand it, most cases of in-toeing are perfectly harmless and can persist for many years as a child grows.

Anyway, my LO crawled at 8.5 months. She crawled normally on her hands and knees, but her right foot was always curled under her bum and her left foot out straight behind her, which freaked me out so much.

Thankfully though, she walked at 12 months and has always walked with perfectly normal-looking feet, so it obviously wasn't anything to worry about! I was convinced she would turn her right foot in and we would be referred, but no - no sign of it at all!

Sorry for writing so much!

 

[_Meep_]

P.S. Here are some examples of what my daughter's right foot looked like a lot of the time (she's wearing the spotty tights), and she was almost six months at this point! I absolutely hated it and worried about it loads. She's so active and agile now though.

If your son DOES have something like mild positional talipes, I would imagine he might be referred for a course of physio to correct it, but I may be wrong.

 

[Teri7489]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. You have made me feel so much better. He can correct it if I put my hand on the sole of his foot, but if he's sitting it turns up the way and curls it right up when he's on his tummy. I've noticed that foot is very clicky too when I do baby massage with him. Not sure if that's significant or not. Will keep a good eye on. Thanks again for your advice. Xxx

 

[Teri7489]

The one of him sitting isn't as obvious as he has a suit on but ypu can see the left foot is flat as it should be bit his right is up the way x

 

[_Meep_]

Yeah, I see. It IS probably just due to a curve in his shinbone from being squished up in the womb. Babies can be in really random positions in there. Mine, for example, was 8 lb 15 oz, so pretty massive, yet I am not a big person at all and was absolutely enormous bump-wise by the time I went into labour. Most of my labour was posterior (back-to-back) too, which just goes to show in my opinion that she was cramped and in a crappy position in there.

After birth, her right side was all scrunched up with the arm bent and turned in and her head turned mostly to the left - she actually favoured her left hand for the longest time, which worried me so much too, but she did even out in the end. Looking back on it, I think she was just in a bad position in there due to being just too big for me. I think her right arm and leg were maybe squashed in with her left free to wave and explore. All theory of course, but it makes sense to me, and would explain why her left hand was stronger and her favourite pretty much from birth. She still uses it more now, but I think she is actually right-handed as she will usually choose the right hand for tasks that I, as a right-handed adult, would choose my own right for.

At the time though, of course, I worried she had something like cerebral palsy, which wasn't fun at all for anyone involved. She doesn't have it.

We took her to a cranial osteopath to be 'corrected' when she was very little and were able to learn a lot about her body and the many discomforts she was experiencing from her birth. It was fascinating and I would highly recommend it. Her neck was stiff and hurting, but three ludicrously gentle treatments sorted it out.

Anyway, sorry for going on again. This is all just so interesting to me. Your LO is stupidly cute by the way!

 

[Teri7489]

AW thank you

Seriously thank you! It's nice to read about first hand experience. He was a wee guy at 6lb born at 38 weeks so wasn't exactly smooshed, but maybe was in a silly position. It worries me he will be quick to walk like his sister. She like him was able to sit at 10 weeks. She crawled at 4 months and walked at 9 so I freaked out thinking he will end up with a bad leg. Xxx

 

[_Meep_]

The womb will have still have been tight around him despite being dinky, so if he was in a funny position, it could definitely be enough to cause a squished foot. Do you know where your placenta was? Mine was posterior and I have wondered if that had something to do with her hopeless birth position lol.

Wow, mine didn't sit up until she was 5 months and I thought THAT was early, but 10 weeks - lol?! Even if he does walk early (9 months is SO early, wish mine had done that and saved me an extra three months of agonising waiting to see if she would walk 'normally'), I am sure it will work the same way as with an older baby to straighten his leg and foot. To be honest, though, it will probably have sorted itself by then. Especially if you're all keeping an eye on it. They'll know if something needs treatment.

 

[Teri7489]

So do you think its worth seeing the gp or just wait a little longer to see? Don't want the doctor thinking I'm bring over the top.

Yep. Sat up, walked, talked and all sorts early. But can I get her bottle off her? Can I heck! Lol. Would rather she sat still for longer and have up the bottle lol. Xxx

 

[_Meep_]

In my opinion, nothing is over the top when it comes to your baby's wellbeing/your own wellbeing as his mum if you're concerned! But yeah, doctors can be very dismissive.

I'd probably go anyway and just ask to be told what's going on with his foot, what (if anything) you should do, and when to be concerned. They really should be able to answer those questions, and lay your mind at rest.

Haha, I'm sure your little girl won't still be having bottles when she's 18.

 

[Teri7489]

Perfect, will take him along this week. Thank you so much for your help. Really appreciate it xxx

 

[starangel27]

my baby girls is a lot like this but she was breech she is 3 and half weeks now and I keep mentioning it but doesn't seem to be a big thing with the HV they said it will change as she grows

 

[starnicole]

I have 6 month old twins and one of them had a foot like this. He was in the NICU for 3 weeks and the physio saw him really quickly. They gave us exercises to do on it. We were doing them 4 times a day. By the time he was around 3months it had almost returned to normal.

 

[Teri7489]

Have updated on front page. Any more advice? Xxx

 

[_Meep_]

Go to the appointment. I don't know what they will do/say - it might just be stretches or exercises, if, say, he has a tight muscle or a hypermobile joint ... or they might even suggest a cast or a splint to straighten it if it's a deformity of the bone. But I cannot be sure.

At the very least, you will find out what the problem is. It does look like he is bearing weight on the wrong bit of his foot, which is not what you want obviously.

Please keep us updated. Hope you are ok.

 

[_Meep_]

P.S. Clicky joints are common with hypermobility (my LO has several hypermobile joints which pop and click quite a lot) - not saying it is this, but it is certainly possible.

 

[Teri7489]

Thanks Meep. I'm hoping physio will be able to sort it out, just freaked me out when she said surgeons. Will see what the doctor has to say about it. I was hoping having him in the walker would encourage him to flatten his foot but he's just not at all. Poor wee man xx

 

[_Meep_]

It sucks! I haven't personally heard of a baby having surgery for something like this on a foot, as they are still growing so rapidly, but maybe they do it anyway?

I have heard of babies having keyhole surgery on their hands for a condition called congenital trigger thumb, which causes the thumb to be fixed, bent or turned in across the palm.

Do you think it could be talipes (club foot)? Usually for that, they either use a cast, called the Ponseti method, or have the baby wear a pair of boots with a bar fixed between them for a period of time, but I believe that would be for a bilateral case. I met a little one not so long ago in a restaurant wearing a boots and bar orthosis. He was very, very cute.

If it is this, it does take time, but the good news is that it can be completely corrected.

 

[Teri7489]

Yeah I've seen a few cases of surgery being done for club foot. Just not sure if that's what he's got. Do you think from the pictures that its getting worse? Xx

 

[_Meep_]

Well since he's weightbearing a bit it's certainly more obvious. Hard to say whether it is worse or not. Do you think it is?

While my kid was prone to turning her foot in when she was younger, she would weightbear on flat feet from three months. This is quite early, but my point is that she never stood on any other part of her foot, which makes me think maybe there is something that really is preventing your little man from moving it out of this position.

If you look on Google at pictures of talipes (not positional talipes, which can be self-correcting, though I expect it COULD just be this), some of the pictures do look quite similar.

I can't think what else it could be. :/