Clumsy Toddler!

[smkiya]

My 16 month old has been walking into things, bumping his head and body, losing his balance... Is this normal? For some reason I don't remember my DD going through this stage...

 

[Myothername]

When DS was that age I finally gave up on getting a portrait done of him without a knot or bruise on his forehead. He is actually not clumsy at all now and grew out of it really quick. He is the best "faller". He could fall off a bike or out of a tree and never get hurt but when he was a toddler...bruises everywhere.

 

[HelenePA]

my just turned 2 yr old is a falling fool lately... twice at the grocery store today, twice on the way to the bus stop... I think they are too fast and too busy for their own good sometimes! Plus they are growing so fast I think their center of gravity changes too quick for them... He's had two semi black eyes in two months.. lord help me... Oh and he ate a penny yesterday... He keeps me on my toes!

 

[laughinplace199]

Could it be his shoes? My kids would fall a lot when their shoes got too small. Those little feet can grow so fast sometimes.

 

[golfgal]

Any chance he has allergies? It could be his ears are plugged up causing him to lose his balance.

 

[Chelley00]

Just an FYI, my DS had huge problems with balance. It was so bad he had to get stitches in his head....twice. We found out it was due to fluid in his ears. He had tubes put in, and never a problem after that.

 

[Magpie]

When did he start walking?

How long has he been wearing shoes? Does he have new shoes?

Was he walking better last month, and did this clumsiness just seem to start all of a sudden?

If he's only been walking for a few months, I wouldn't worry too much - especially if he's generally improving in his motor skills. If he JUST started getting clumsy over the past week or so, you might want to get him looked at by the doctor - he could have an ear infection, or something similar. And chronically plugged up ears should be treated right away, since they can keep little guys from learning to speak.

My daughter was a "clumsy" toddler, but that's because she was very active and fearless. She still falls down stairs because she's running, and not paying attention.

My son was also a very clumsy toddler, and he continued to be clumsy as he got older. He couldn't run at 3 and by age 5, whenever he tried to run he'd fall on his face. And the really strange part of it all was that when he felt himself falling, instead of trying to catch himself, he'd throw his arms open wide and land smack on his face! Later we discovered that my son had, in addition to fluid in his ears, a general motor disability.

I seriously doubt that's the issue with your child, but it is something to keep an eye on as he grows, to see if he's meeting his milestones for running and jumping and skipping.

 

[smkiya]

Thanks for all of the replies. He doesn't wear shoes in the house, so that excuse is out. He was pointing to his ear today so maybe I'll have them check that out, he's due to see the doctor anyway. He's been walking since 10 months old, and he runs, kicks balls, and jumps (with one leg ) well. Everytime I turn around he gets bigger, so maybe it is that he's adjusting his center of gravity and spatial reasoning.

 

[Magpie]

Thanks for all of the replies. He doesn't wear shoes in the house, so that excuse is out. He was pointing to his ear today so maybe I'll have them check that out, he's due to see the doctor anyway. He's been walking since 10 months old, and he runs, kicks balls, and jumps (with one leg ) well. Everytime I turn around he gets bigger, so maybe it is that he's adjusting his center of gravity and spatial reasoning.

Well, if he's been pointing to his ear, I'd definitely get it checked out!

When my daughter was 22 months old, she started telling us, "Bumpy ear!" I asked her which ear? Sometimes she'd point to one, and sometimes the other. I didn't know what she meant, but she had a little bit of a cold, so I thought she might be stuffed up. This went on for a little over a week, and I couldn't decide whether she was sick or not. Most of the time she was playing normally and she seemed fine. Maybe a little sniffly, but nothing much.

Then on Christmas Eve she started running a fever, and crying non-stop. She wouldn't quit even though she was exhausted, and I got worried enough to ask my husband to take her into Emergency. His brother decided to go with him, since I had to stay home with the baby. On the way there, my daughter suddenly got quiet. Like, all of a sudden - she just switched off. When my husband took her out of the car seat, she was awake but looking really kind of stunned - and one of her ears was bleeding.

Of course they rushed her into Emergency, but they were two scruffy, unshaven guys with a little girl. So they got shown into a little room where various nurses kept asking them when they'd dropped her on her head, while other nurses called around to other hospitals to try to figure out if she'd ever been admitted anywhere else (child abusers tend not to use the same hospital twice). Finally a doctor showed up, looked in my daughter's ear, and said, "My! That's quite the raging ear infection you've got there."

It seems her eardrum had burst on the drive to the hospital, and that's why she was bleeding. She'd stopped crying because of course the moment it popped she wasn't in any pain anymore.

He wrote a prescription for antibiotics, instructed them to buy Auralgan (a topical anesthetic for ears), and sent them home. My daughter's other eardrum burst on the way home, so my husband brought back a happy, exhausted kid, bleeding from both ears. I felt SO guilty for not understand what she meant when she'd told me she had a "bumpy ear"! And I always paid close attention to any possible signs of ear infection after that.

 

[JessicaR]

Mention it to the doctor. However at 16 months me and both two sisters said the same thing about ALL of our kids - 6 of them! Was nothing to worry about.

 

[marcyinPA]

If you rule out all medical problems, it's probably just the age. I teach 2 year olds, and they are always bumping, tripping and falling. Some are more prone to it than others. And then, there are some that I have to write notes, or else I'd forget about all the bumps by the time they got picked up!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Thanks for all of the replies. He doesn't wear shoes in the house, so that excuse is out. He was pointing to his ear today so maybe I'll have them check that out, he's due to see the doctor anyway. He's been walking since 10 months old, and he runs, kicks balls, and jumps (with one leg ) well. Everytime I turn around he gets bigger, so maybe it is that he's adjusting his center of gravity and spatial reasoning.

It is probably his ear then.

 

[cm8]

my 17 mo is just like that, she has me scared out of my mind some days