My LDS Preschool | Mama Worries and Solutions

Sometimes we go through difficult situations as a parent that we can share in an effort to help others in some small way.

We may feel alone and unsure of what steps to take until someone mentions a gold nugget of advice that clicks with us and we now know what path to move forward on.

I’m happy to share an experience with you.

My youngest daughter, Felicity Jane, was born with metatarsus adductus. Her pediatrician refers to it as intoeing or inward walking. Another label is forefoot adduction. I didn’t notice it until she started walking as a new one-year-old. The front half of each foot turned inward in shape. With each step she took, her lower legs and knees seemed to turn inward to accommodate the turning in of her sweet, chubby, little feet.

I observed for about 6 months, concerned but hopeful it would correct itself. However, there weren’t any noticeable changes of improvement. As her legs grew longer it even seemed to be more prominent of an inward walk. I brought it to the attention of her pediatrician, a respected professional that I adore to this day, at her 18-month check-up. Her pediatrician said it should correct itself by age 7.

I wasn’t satisfied with that answer, so I made an appointment to meet with a pediatric orthopedist to see what his professional opinion was. He measured my daughter’s feet and confirmed she has moderate to severe metatarsus adductus and stated, as my pediatrician had, that it usually fixes itself by age 7, and then he said, “If it doesn’t, it typically stays that way.” If??? That was a pretty big if!

If a mama’s heart could worry!!

I imagined my gorgeous daughter wearing heels to a dance one day and tripping over her feet as she walked. I worried classmates would tease her when she entered school. Already when she ran she would often trip over her feet and fall down. I was anxious to help her if help was possible.

Nothing I had heard so far was acceptable.

I didn’t feel comfortable with waiting until my daughter was 7 to intervene. And I most certainly was not okay with the possibility of doing nothing and risking it wouldn’t self-correct and stay that way for her whole life. I felt sure that there had to be a way to help my precious girl.

Do you ever feel God’s hand guiding your path or the path of your child?

A dear friend and neighbor of mine is a highly trained and capable physical therapist. She lives just up the street from us. She had noticed Felicity’s sweet feet and unique walk. She shared stretches, massages, and balance walking activities I could do with Felicity to help her even out her walking. She had a brilliant idea to put Felicity’s shoes on opposite feet which was helpful as well. She clued me in that Felicity often sat in a “w sit” position on her knees with her legs spread out to each side which encouraged the inward walking form.

As I talked with her, she shared with me something that I didn’t realize was beneficial for Felicity’s metatarsus adductus, something my pediatrician and pediatric orthopedist hadn’t mentioned.

Physical therapy may be able to fix it.

Suddenly there was hope. Not waiting it out for years. There was potential for improvement right away!

Since I had already observed and tried occasional home therapies for about a year and a half without improvement, I made an appointment at a physical therapy center to have her evaluated. At the end of the evaluation, the therapist said it should definitely be something they could help with.

What relief for my little girl and for this worried mama!

We began appointments twice a week and then once a week and then tapered off to a couple of times a month until the therapist said there was no longer a need to continue therapy. Felicity strengthened her core and she is now able to walk perfectly. I am confident if we hadn’t begun physical therapy that Felicity’s feet would be in the same inward walking pattern they were in before therapy began. With less than 20 sessions of physical therapy, our little girl can run and walk and move without interference. I am so proud of how hard she worked! We may need to observe her walking as she grows and revisit physical therapy later, but now we know a solution!

I am grateful Heavenly Father placed a friend in our path to clue us into the benefits of physical therapy, for a physical therapist who connected with Felicty and made therapy seem like a special time for games and positive reinforcement, and for the desire to best help our little girl succeed in life in every possible way that we as parents can help.

I’m thinking of you warrior moms and all the ways you fight to support your children! You are incredible for not giving up! You are making a difference! By listening to our hearts and working as a team with respected professionals, we can advocate for our little ones. Remember that nobody is going to care as much as you do and you may need to be persistent in finding the best path for your child to succeed.