Published on 12, July, 2020
My 7 year old son, has recently started to stand on the side of his feet, when standing still. He walks normally but when still he turns his foot to the side and stands on the side of the foot. Not sure what to do as he balances and he is comfortable doing it (I am worried about his ankles). Does anyone else child do this? What is it called?
This sounds a lot like myself when I was younger. I was both a tip-toe and underpronated (thanks for the word DC!) walker, and it is still noticeable in the way that I walk and stand (and the wear of my shoe soles!) I always lean slightly forward when standing to put the weight on my toes, and wobble from side-to-side when I walk.
However, your son apparently walks normally most of the time, so I suspect that his balancing is probably just a form of stimming - that is, that it gives him a nice sensation that relieves stress, or that concentrating on controlling his balance distracts him from anxiety. When I am anxious, many of my stimming behaviours still relate to my feet in one way or another - I scrunch my toes, tap my feet in rhythms, pace in circles on tip-toes, or, sometimes will stand on the edges of my feet just like your son does.
If he is underpronating slightly when walking normally, you might get a clue by seeing whether he wears down the soles of his shoes on the outside of the toe area, and if so, maybe check with an occupational therapist or podiatrist whether any remedial action can or should be taken. However, there is probably little chance of permanent harm if it is an occasional stimming behaviour that he can physically control well. I'm getting on for 50 now, and I have always walked everywhere that I can, including much time wandering hills and mountains, but I have never yet turned my ankle or had any medical problems with my feet despite my strange "weeble walk".