Our journey into Physical Therapy to address toe-walking.
Has your little one, or a child you know ever had to go to physical therapy? I would love to share some of our journey into physical therapy to address Taylor’s toe-walking with you to encourage you to 1) ask your Ped questions if you have concerns, 2) get rid of mom guilt, and 3) live your best life by sharing what watching Taylor go through this process is teaching me about how to do so!!
Background
Despite asking her Pediatricians (we’ve moved/changed insurance so she has seen several) over the years about her toe-walking, which started as soon as she could stand with assistance….. no one ever did the assessment she had last month at her physical. Her new Pediatrician discovered that T’s Achilles tendon is incredibly shortened. Even with assistance she couldn’t flex her foot to 90 degrees…Whether she was born that way, lack of adequate tummy time, sensory seeking tendencies, or a result of any combination of things, this is an issue that now needs to be addressed.
THAT is why she has told me it “hurts” to walk flat-footed.
THAT is why she can’t jump, squat, run or move as fluidly as expected for a 3-year-old.
Mom Guilt….
Initially, I started kicking myself, and #momguilt kicked in, for not being more pro-active. I mean, I‘ve gotten comments about it DAILY for 2+ years, so why wasn’t I asking more questions and pressing the issue??
Then I thought, 1) how blessed we are that this is the only health issue we’ve ever really faced with Taylor, when so many families have far bigger issues they’re bravely dealing with with their little ones, and 2) screw mom guilt! I asked the only questions I knew to and moved forward based on the answers I was given (“it’s sensory” “she’ll grow out of it”).
We are all just doing the best we can as moms. We do it all out of love and best intentions and, once we know better we do better.
We’ve moved forward one day at a time, thankful that we now have a course of action to help her to move freely + comfortably from here on out. For now we are doing ankle/calf stretches twice daily, “duck walks” down the hall, yoga (downward dog), spending time standing on a sit disc to get input into her heels as she colors at the kitchen table, etc. while we wait for her to get fitted for carbon fiber footplates that will make it difficult for her to get into toe-walking position.
Changing a 2+ year gait pattern doesn’t happen overnight.
One day at a time. One flat-footed step at a time.
What watching a 3-year-old in Physical Therapy teaches me about dealing with failure + perseverance.
I was blown away watching Taylor during her most recent check-in appointment. I hope my takeaways will encourage you to feel good about taking risks and reframe the way you look at failure. I shared some about this Live on Facebook as well, if you’d like to watch/listen:
T was presented with no less than 5 tasks that she physically could not do well within a 30 minute period. I watched her literally fail forward in some cases, but without worry or looking around at what any of us in the room were thinking until she was able to do it to the best of her current ability.
The point wasn’t for her to practice until perfect during that time. It was to practice long enough to make a slight improvement. How often do I approach things I know I won’t be perfect at with reluctance and apprehension, or just avoid them altogether?
She was resilient, unafraid of what others think, open to coaching/encouragement, and she persevered to accomplish what she was capable of for that day.
She wasn’t worried, as I/we so often can be about being perfect or “as good at this as” this person or that person at a given task.
She just did her personal best and made a little more progress.
We have to start thinking of or trials & failures as opportunities to stretch, grow and become better. We have to stop comparing ourselves to others at a different stage/with different backgrounds/different limitations. We have to give ourselves grace as we re-train old, engrained patterns. Nothing changes or grows overnight, and we won’t grow unless we are willing to fail forward and keep trying.
The literal definition of Tip Toe is, “to walk with your heels raised off the ground,” but it can also mean, “carefully avoid discussing, dealing with or doing something.”
Do you ever find yourself tip-toeing through your life avoiding that growth because you are scared to fail? I know I have in the past. Can we survive tip-toeing through life? Could Taylor survive tip-toeing for the rest of hers?
Sure. Of course. But we’ll never do all that we’re capable of that way. T would never run like the wind as she’ll someday be able to if she (and we as her parents) continue to persevere with physical therapy.
Keep going. Keep growing. One day at a time.
If you have had experience with physical therapy for toe-walking (or know a mama who has!), I would love to connect. Just comment on this post, send me an email at ashley@taylor-mademama.com or message me on Facebook.
PS. If you aren’t already a part, and would like to be a part of my private Facebook community centered around living our overall best lives as women – physically, mentally and financially click through THIS LINK and join us!!
