Saturday, 11 April 2009
Toddler frequently falling when walking and running
I have a 3 1/2 year old grandson who falls a lot when walking and running and he also has trouble stepping up on small steps without falling. His younger brother who is 2 can run circles around him and has no problem stepping up on steps by himself at all. He has seen a chiropractor 3 or 4 times and it helps some, but it doesn't last. The chiropractor said his hip was out of place. I am concerned about this and wondered of we should take him to an orthopedic specialist and have this checked out. When he walks, it seems that his right hip is stiff and turns in a little as he steps. He also walks flat footed. I would appreciate your advice. I tried sending this through your web page, but my internet connection wouln't let it go. Thanks for your help.
I think he definitely ought to see an orthopedic surgeon who will probably want an ultrasound and/or X-ray of the hips. If nothing structural is found then a physiotherapist should be involved (the orthopod can arrange a referral) to check out the muscles in his legs.(what age was he when he started to walk independently?).
Please get back to me to tell me what is found and I can give you more information about the condition and I would be very interested to hear about the findings.
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Tummy pain in an 8 -month-old
I am the mother of an eight mont old premature baby boy. He is so pleasant anf friendly. I’m just a bit worried that he’s not crawling and refuses to go on the floor but beside the crawling I have a question to ask.
On Sunday day morning he woke up with a fever of 38.64 degrees. He was crying and nothing helped sooth him. He refused to have his bottle and fell asleep on my breast. He cried every time he pasted a wind down there. It was loud, continuous and very smelly. He woke up again at 3am and then at 4.50am crying and also refused to drink from my breast.
I took him to a homeopath which couldn’t rely tell me what the problem was. He gave me something for the fever which helped bring the fever down to 38 degrees. The next evening he continued crying through the night and refused to drink the bottle and breast.
Last night he woke up every half an hour, nagging and pulling his legs up to his stomach.
Today we went to another GP for a second opinion. He advised that us that our baby has a viral infection. I couldn’t wait to leave the consulting rooms as my boy didn’t stop crying. It was as if someone was murdering him. Once we got the script for the pharmacy we were on our way.
I completely forgot to ask him, what actually causes the viral infection.
Please would you be able to give me advise.
To answer your last question first, we all pick up many viral infections in our life, the commonest one is a cold (coryza). We nearly always catch these from some other human. It is often not realised that if someone sneezes or coughs onto a surface which your baby touches or you carry on your hands to the baby's face, then the baby becomes infected with a virus. I suspect your doctor saw a sore throat when s/he examined your baby.
It is possible that this virus will cause gastroenteritis and he will develop vomiting and diarrhoea. Your baby obviously has tummy pain from your description and I wonder whether he has chronic constipation. Both these conditions could explain the pain and foul wind.
Please write again and tell me what the bowel actions are like. Also has he ever had blood on his bowel action.
There is one serious condition that requires surgery called intussusception and I would go back to your doctor and enquire about this possibility if the pain has not settled by the time you get this e-mail. This is a rare condition but very important.
Finally I would not be concerned about a premature not crawling by 8 months.
David
On Sunday day morning he woke up with a fever of 38.64 degrees. He was crying and nothing helped sooth him. He refused to have his bottle and fell asleep on my breast. He cried every time he pasted a wind down there. It was loud, continuous and very smelly. He woke up again at 3am and then at 4.50am crying and also refused to drink from my breast.
I took him to a homeopath which couldn’t rely tell me what the problem was. He gave me something for the fever which helped bring the fever down to 38 degrees. The next evening he continued crying through the night and refused to drink the bottle and breast.
Last night he woke up every half an hour, nagging and pulling his legs up to his stomach.
Today we went to another GP for a second opinion. He advised that us that our baby has a viral infection. I couldn’t wait to leave the consulting rooms as my boy didn’t stop crying. It was as if someone was murdering him. Once we got the script for the pharmacy we were on our way.
I completely forgot to ask him, what actually causes the viral infection.
Please would you be able to give me advise.
To answer your last question first, we all pick up many viral infections in our life, the commonest one is a cold (coryza). We nearly always catch these from some other human. It is often not realised that if someone sneezes or coughs onto a surface which your baby touches or you carry on your hands to the baby's face, then the baby becomes infected with a virus. I suspect your doctor saw a sore throat when s/he examined your baby.
It is possible that this virus will cause gastroenteritis and he will develop vomiting and diarrhoea. Your baby obviously has tummy pain from your description and I wonder whether he has chronic constipation. Both these conditions could explain the pain and foul wind.
Please write again and tell me what the bowel actions are like. Also has he ever had blood on his bowel action.
There is one serious condition that requires surgery called intussusception and I would go back to your doctor and enquire about this possibility if the pain has not settled by the time you get this e-mail. This is a rare condition but very important.
Finally I would not be concerned about a premature not crawling by 8 months.
David
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Baby speech not developing
Hello,
> We have a couple of concerns about our daughter who is 15 weeks old.
> She seems to be
> developing normally in most areas but there are a couple of things
> that we are seeing recently that
> don't seem quite right. Just as background... I had a normal
> pregnancy and delivery. She makes
> eye contact and smiles at us. She can reach for a toy but is not
> interested in rolling over at this
> point.
>
> The first issue is that she seems to be vocalizing less than she was
> a month ago. She used to
> repeat vowel sounds that we made and would say "ah-goo" when we said
> it, as well. She still
> makes noises, but they aren't the consonant sounds that we expect
> and the "ah-goos" are
> completely gone.
>
> Secondly, she has begun sucking on her fingers like there is no
> tomorrow! In fact, she sucks on
> them so much that she will lie in her very dark room looking at
> nothing (we don't have a mobile or
> any toys in her crib) for a long time (perhaps an hour?) so long as
> she is sucking on her fingers.
> For instance, last night I woke up at 2:30am because that's usually
> a time that she wakes at night
> to nurse. I just went in to turn down the heat in her room and
> realized that she was awake and
> lying there sucking on her fingers. I'm not really concerned about
> her weight gain right now; she
> eats plenty during the day. Our concern stems from the fact that we
> thought that babies her age
> were supposed to be soaking in the world around them while our
> little girl seems content to lie in
> darkness with her fingers in her mouth.
>
> We don't know if these issues warrant a trip to the pediatrician.
> She is our first child an we don't
> want to be overreacting, but at the same time we want to be the best
> advocates for her that we
> can be.
>
> Any advice that you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
>
I share your concern about your daughter's regression in speech and the possible disinterest in the world around her,
I think you should see your pediatrician and that s/he should arrange a formal hearing test.
From the way that you asked your question, it appears you are concerned about developmental retardation and/or autism. While these are possible, hearing loss is much more likely but you should raise these concerns with your pediatrician as well.
I hope I am wrong about all these things but, if they are present it is important to find out as early as possible so treatment can be put in place as soon as possible.
Please let me know what happens and don't hesitate to ask more questions.
Yours sincerely
> We have a couple of concerns about our daughter who is 15 weeks old.
> She seems to be
> developing normally in most areas but there are a couple of things
> that we are seeing recently that
> don't seem quite right. Just as background... I had a normal
> pregnancy and delivery. She makes
> eye contact and smiles at us. She can reach for a toy but is not
> interested in rolling over at this
> point.
>
> The first issue is that she seems to be vocalizing less than she was
> a month ago. She used to
> repeat vowel sounds that we made and would say "ah-goo" when we said
> it, as well. She still
> makes noises, but they aren't the consonant sounds that we expect
> and the "ah-goos" are
> completely gone.
>
> Secondly, she has begun sucking on her fingers like there is no
> tomorrow! In fact, she sucks on
> them so much that she will lie in her very dark room looking at
> nothing (we don't have a mobile or
> any toys in her crib) for a long time (perhaps an hour?) so long as
> she is sucking on her fingers.
> For instance, last night I woke up at 2:30am because that's usually
> a time that she wakes at night
> to nurse. I just went in to turn down the heat in her room and
> realized that she was awake and
> lying there sucking on her fingers. I'm not really concerned about
> her weight gain right now; she
> eats plenty during the day. Our concern stems from the fact that we
> thought that babies her age
> were supposed to be soaking in the world around them while our
> little girl seems content to lie in
> darkness with her fingers in her mouth.
>
> We don't know if these issues warrant a trip to the pediatrician.
> She is our first child an we don't
> want to be overreacting, but at the same time we want to be the best
> advocates for her that we
> can be.
>
> Any advice that you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
>
I share your concern about your daughter's regression in speech and the possible disinterest in the world around her,
I think you should see your pediatrician and that s/he should arrange a formal hearing test.
From the way that you asked your question, it appears you are concerned about developmental retardation and/or autism. While these are possible, hearing loss is much more likely but you should raise these concerns with your pediatrician as well.
I hope I am wrong about all these things but, if they are present it is important to find out as early as possible so treatment can be put in place as soon as possible.
Please let me know what happens and don't hesitate to ask more questions.
Yours sincerely
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Toddler diarrhoea
Nice to hear from you again, I am a bit of a heretic about 'flu immunization. The best study about the long term benefit of 'flu immunization in children was done in Britain many years ago in a boy's boarding school. Half of the boys were immunized each year and the other half received no immunization for 'flu. In the first year the non-immunized boys caught the 'flu much more frequently than those who had the immunization. However, after 3 the number of episodes of 'flu were equal over the 3 year period despite 1 group having annual shots. I think we can conclude that catching the'flu gives a better immunity than the immunization.
That said I think if I had neutropaenia, I would have them immunized - not logical but I would feel terrible if they developed an ovewhelming secondary (to 'flu) bacterial infection which they could not fight very well.
If your 18 month old seems well and is gaining weight, I doubt that he has lactose intolerance - they are usually miserable with lactose intolerance. Your local doc can do a simple test on a fresh stool sample to exclude lactose intolerance. As regards the fruit, there is another sugar intolerance called fructose intolerance. Fructose abounds in fruit. It has the same stool pattern as lactose intolerance and as you describe it.
To exclude this condition there is a fancy test but you can know by excluding all fruit (don't forget the juice!) for 3 weeks and then put him back on fruit and keep a diary of his bowel actions throughout. If he is fructose intolerant he will improve markedly in the fruit-free period only to revert when fruit is reintroduced.
If he has neither lactose or fructose intolerance another 3 weeks off all milk products and no Soy! may be needed but we can discuss that when the time comes.
All the best.
David
>
> Dear David,
>
> Mum passed on your details to me because I was asking
> her a couple of questions. One is about the flu immunizations. Here
> in the USAit seems to be standard for all children and many adults
> to
> have a flu shot every year.Our children have had the other
> immunizations but I suppose since I never felt as though I needed a
> flu shot I wonder about them.They had it last year because we were
> moving to Colorado Springsand I just thought it might be helpful.
> Our children are now 3 and 18 months. Our 3 year old has chronic
> benign neutrapenia (I spoke to you about her previously)
) but apart from one cold and one 24 hour vomiting
> bug has been well throughout the year.
>
> I was also wondering if our 18 month old is lactose
> intolerant….although I’m not so sure now. He is healthy, putting
> on
> weight, and eats almost anything. The only thing is that he
> frequently wakes up with an overflowing pooey nappy in the morning
> and sometimes this happens during the day too. He would regularly
> have 3-4 pooey nappies per day. I have experimented with soy milk
> and sometimes it seems to make a difference and sometimes it
> doesn’t. We do eat quite a lot of fruit and vegetables and whole
> grain foods. I’ve cut back on him eating pears and mandarins but
> still think it’s important for him to have some fruit. What do you
> think?
>
> Thanks for your help
That said I think if I had neutropaenia, I would have them immunized - not logical but I would feel terrible if they developed an ovewhelming secondary (to 'flu) bacterial infection which they could not fight very well.
If your 18 month old seems well and is gaining weight, I doubt that he has lactose intolerance - they are usually miserable with lactose intolerance. Your local doc can do a simple test on a fresh stool sample to exclude lactose intolerance. As regards the fruit, there is another sugar intolerance called fructose intolerance. Fructose abounds in fruit. It has the same stool pattern as lactose intolerance and as you describe it.
To exclude this condition there is a fancy test but you can know by excluding all fruit (don't forget the juice!) for 3 weeks and then put him back on fruit and keep a diary of his bowel actions throughout. If he is fructose intolerant he will improve markedly in the fruit-free period only to revert when fruit is reintroduced.
If he has neither lactose or fructose intolerance another 3 weeks off all milk products and no Soy! may be needed but we can discuss that when the time comes.
All the best.
David
>
> Dear David,
>
> Mum passed on your details to me because I was asking
> her a couple of questions. One is about the flu immunizations. Here
> in the USAit seems to be standard for all children and many adults
> to
> have a flu shot every year.Our children have had the other
> immunizations but I suppose since I never felt as though I needed a
> flu shot I wonder about them.They had it last year because we were
> moving to Colorado Springsand I just thought it might be helpful.
> Our children are now 3 and 18 months. Our 3 year old has chronic
> benign neutrapenia (I spoke to you about her previously)
) but apart from one cold and one 24 hour vomiting
> bug has been well throughout the year.
>
> I was also wondering if our 18 month old is lactose
> intolerant….although I’m not so sure now. He is healthy, putting
> on
> weight, and eats almost anything. The only thing is that he
> frequently wakes up with an overflowing pooey nappy in the morning
> and sometimes this happens during the day too. He would regularly
> have 3-4 pooey nappies per day. I have experimented with soy milk
> and sometimes it seems to make a difference and sometimes it
> doesn’t. We do eat quite a lot of fruit and vegetables and whole
> grain foods. I’ve cut back on him eating pears and mandarins but
> still think it’s important for him to have some fruit. What do you
> think?
>
> Thanks for your help
Friday, 2 January 2009
Red spotty rash in well 8 month-old
My 8 month old son having red spot rashes in face and arms and few
> in
> legs alone.
> No fever and the baby is active all the day.
> What could be this rashes as this is bothering m a lot?
As he is well, I would not be too concerned. There are a multitude of
possible causes but by far the most common are insect bites. As I don't know from where you are writing, it is hard to guess which is the most likely.
I would spray the mattress with a non-toxic (ie safe for humans) insect spray. If mosquitoes are likely then spraying the corners of the room where they meet the ceiling may help.
If the problem continues you should see your local doctor.
Please tell me what happens.
> in
> legs alone.
> No fever and the baby is active all the day.
> What could be this rashes as this is bothering m a lot?
As he is well, I would not be too concerned. There are a multitude of
possible causes but by far the most common are insect bites. As I don't know from where you are writing, it is hard to guess which is the most likely.
I would spray the mattress with a non-toxic (ie safe for humans) insect spray. If mosquitoes are likely then spraying the corners of the room where they meet the ceiling may help.
If the problem continues you should see your local doctor.
Please tell me what happens.
Friday, 19 December 2008
reddish, non-tender lesion on foot
I am not sure what this redness is due to but as it does not hurt and there is no pain, I am not too concerned. If it starts to hurt or she seems unwell generally, you best have your local doctor look at it.
By far the majority of foot problems at this age are due to ill- fitting footwear. I wonder if her foot is sliding back and forth within the shoe giving the reddish appearance but that is only a guess.
David
>
> I have twin daughters and recently in the last week I've noticed one
> of the girls (23 months old) has been presenting with a reddish,
> irregular shaped, bruiselike, non-raised lesion on the bottom of the
> inside of her heel/back of arch....is it possible she is stepping on
> toys wrong lately?I've also notice she likes to stomp her feet on
> the floor, but never seems like it is painful. I can rub the area
> without any discomfort to her, but I've noticed she's been studying
> this area of her feet as well. The other twin has nothing on the
> bottom of her feet. Their feet measure the same size and are both
> wearing the same design of sketcher size 6 1/2 shoes when we go out
> for 2-3 hours a day. Otherwise the girls run around with just socks
> or no socks inside the house.
>
> I am alittle unnerved by the red bruise, but was wondering if this
> is
> normal?
>
> concerned mom,
>
By far the majority of foot problems at this age are due to ill- fitting footwear. I wonder if her foot is sliding back and forth within the shoe giving the reddish appearance but that is only a guess.
David
>
> I have twin daughters and recently in the last week I've noticed one
> of the girls (23 months old) has been presenting with a reddish,
> irregular shaped, bruiselike, non-raised lesion on the bottom of the
> inside of her heel/back of arch....is it possible she is stepping on
> toys wrong lately?I've also notice she likes to stomp her feet on
> the floor, but never seems like it is painful. I can rub the area
> without any discomfort to her, but I've noticed she's been studying
> this area of her feet as well. The other twin has nothing on the
> bottom of her feet. Their feet measure the same size and are both
> wearing the same design of sketcher size 6 1/2 shoes when we go out
> for 2-3 hours a day. Otherwise the girls run around with just socks
> or no socks inside the house.
>
> I am alittle unnerved by the red bruise, but was wondering if this
> is
> normal?
>
> concerned mom,
>
Monday, 15 December 2008
28-month-old falling a lot and walking into objects
Dear sir.
I read your answer to a grandmother who had a grand son or grand daughter at the age of 34 months that was falling a lot. I have been trying to find something about this issue online and that's how I ended up on your web page.
I am a guardian of a toddler who is 29 months and he has the same problem. He falls and stumbles over the smallest things and a lot of times he will walk into things like a table or the doorway etc. We have baby gates in the house to protect him from falling in any stairs and the house is really kid safe. He walks normal, seems to have a normal hearing and he is talking well for his age.
He has a sister that is 4 years old and she is very athletic and she never had any problems falling or walking into things like he does. The two kids spend one week with their mom and one week with their dad and are also in preschool five days a week when they are with dad. The toddlers preschool teacher asked me if we had noticed that he is always bonking into things and falls a lot. He also comes home from his mom with bruises so we know this happens here, at his mom's and in preschool.
He is also showing early "warning signs" of learning disability. He is left handed, his fine motor skills are not quite there , and he can't put a 4 piece puzzle together even if the picture of the shape is on the puzzle board. We know that he cant be diagnosed until he hits second grade, but we have been made aware of early warning signs. His dad has learning disability so we don't think it is unlikely that one or both of his kids could end up with some sort of a learning disability as well. The toddlers dad and I are doing things to try to prevent this from ever happening and we are doing it in form of fun play. The toddler loves to try to thread beads on a string, he has a box with different shaped blocks that has to go in one certain hole, we have easy wooden puzzles and building blocks to boost his imagination. And he plays the games only as long as he has fun doing it. I don't know if this can be a part of him always falling or walking into things as far as his motor skills goes.
we would be very happy if you have any ideas of what we could or should do if anything to help the "little guy" from hurting himself so much.
If you could please send me a mail back we would be very thankful.
On reading of your grandson's problems, the first thing I thought of was "Has his vision been checked?" This was because he is walking into things but as you noted he may have a muscle problem predominantly affecting his legs.
An optometrist or an ophthalmologist can check his vision while his muscles can be assessed by a physiotherapist who can also show you exercises to help any problem detected. If necessary your local doctor can refer your grandson to the above specialists - ones with expertise in assessing children would be best.
Please let me know how things turn out.
David
I read your answer to a grandmother who had a grand son or grand daughter at the age of 34 months that was falling a lot. I have been trying to find something about this issue online and that's how I ended up on your web page.
I am a guardian of a toddler who is 29 months and he has the same problem. He falls and stumbles over the smallest things and a lot of times he will walk into things like a table or the doorway etc. We have baby gates in the house to protect him from falling in any stairs and the house is really kid safe. He walks normal, seems to have a normal hearing and he is talking well for his age.
He has a sister that is 4 years old and she is very athletic and she never had any problems falling or walking into things like he does. The two kids spend one week with their mom and one week with their dad and are also in preschool five days a week when they are with dad. The toddlers preschool teacher asked me if we had noticed that he is always bonking into things and falls a lot. He also comes home from his mom with bruises so we know this happens here, at his mom's and in preschool.
He is also showing early "warning signs" of learning disability. He is left handed, his fine motor skills are not quite there , and he can't put a 4 piece puzzle together even if the picture of the shape is on the puzzle board. We know that he cant be diagnosed until he hits second grade, but we have been made aware of early warning signs. His dad has learning disability so we don't think it is unlikely that one or both of his kids could end up with some sort of a learning disability as well. The toddlers dad and I are doing things to try to prevent this from ever happening and we are doing it in form of fun play. The toddler loves to try to thread beads on a string, he has a box with different shaped blocks that has to go in one certain hole, we have easy wooden puzzles and building blocks to boost his imagination. And he plays the games only as long as he has fun doing it. I don't know if this can be a part of him always falling or walking into things as far as his motor skills goes.
we would be very happy if you have any ideas of what we could or should do if anything to help the "little guy" from hurting himself so much.
If you could please send me a mail back we would be very thankful.
On reading of your grandson's problems, the first thing I thought of was "Has his vision been checked?" This was because he is walking into things but as you noted he may have a muscle problem predominantly affecting his legs.
An optometrist or an ophthalmologist can check his vision while his muscles can be assessed by a physiotherapist who can also show you exercises to help any problem detected. If necessary your local doctor can refer your grandson to the above specialists - ones with expertise in assessing children would be best.
Please let me know how things turn out.
David
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