Information
Toe walking is common in healthy young children, and normally resolves spontaneously by 3 years of age.
This is typically a habitual or learned walking pattern that can be corrected with prompting.
Advise parents to play games with children encouraging weight transfer through heels – penguin walks, tight rope walks, calf stretches.
Refer to Paediatric orthopaedics:
- Asymmetrical tip-toe walking
- Delay or regression of milestones
- Persistence beyond the age of 3/4 years
- Suspicion of joint or neuromuscular disease (e.g., pain, swelling, stiffness, clumsiness, weakness)
- Suspicion of autism spectrum disorder
- Family history of muscle wasting disease
