On bowleggedness (because it's come up)

[conuly]

Let me first go on the record as saying that no, I do not think Evangeline is seriously disabledly bowlegged. I'll tentatively agree that she may be more bowlegged than many children her age, but I do not think she's out of the normal range for a group of people (toddlers) that tends towards bowleggedness already. And anyway, neither her parents nor her doctor nor my mother see a problem with this, and I assume the doctor, at least, has seen enough kids to know if there's a problem. Could be wrong there, could be wrong.

But for the curious, here's a list of possible causes for serious (not toddlerhood-induced) bowleggedness:

Genetics - some families tend towards bowed legs. This is mostly harmless and nothing to be done about it.

Rickets. Evangeline gets adaquate calcium and vitamin D. Additionally, she doesn't have any other symptoms.

Blount's disease. I do not believe that the baby suffers from this, but if she did, there presumably would have been nothing we could all have done to prevent it.

Fluoride intoxication (no link). Well, I guess that's possible, but it seems unlikely to me. None of the other symptoms, as near as I can tell from these unreadable sites.

Now you probably know more than you did. I know *I* certainly do!

I suspect that the only reason anybody has brought it up to me at all is because of the fact that Evangeline is up on my back/front/hip a lot. Except that, as I keep pointing out to people, people all over the world, throughout history, carry their babies like this. If being worn were a legitimate cause of bowleggedness, you'd see a heck of a lot more of it.

So, to sum up - I refuse to mention it to her parents until that second birthday. If the kidlet turns two, and she's still got this bowleggedness going on, I'll ask them to ask the doctor about it. Until then, I don't want to hear a word. From anybody.

(But before and after pictures of kids who were bowlegged between their first and second birthdays but aren't now? I'd love that. Just so I can go SEE! SEE! at folks.)

Comments

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

Did not Ana go through this very same bowlegged stage?

[conuly]

Well, I sure as heck don't remember. It's your own kid, shouldn't you remember?

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

One other thing I've seen that blamed on, is frequent use of a walker. Apparently it's easier to use the outside of the feet to move with, instead of walking flatfooted. It's self-correcting when the child is walking unassisted, and usually completely gone pretty early (I want to say usually by age three, but I'm going on information that I only heard from a pediatrician, not something I have read elsewhere as well).

[conuly]

Which doesn't apply.

Pretty much every kid is bowlegged before the age of two or three, but people in real life are astonishingly reluctant to understand that.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure whether it applied or not.

I want to know how someone expects a child to NOT be bowlegged before that age, given the position a child in utero must assume to FIT.

[conuly]

*eyeroll*

Tell me about it! But people are convinced it's because the baby goes up instead of in a stroller. Or something. And that even though she walks better than many of her same-age peers, it's horribly detrimental to her.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

My friend's son was fairly bow legged as a young toddler, and it resolved itself by age 3 I tink.

[conuly]

Thanks.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

Did not Ana go through this very same bowlegged stage?

[conuly]

Well, I sure as heck don't remember. It's your own kid, shouldn't you remember?

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

One other thing I've seen that blamed on, is frequent use of a walker. Apparently it's easier to use the outside of the feet to move with, instead of walking flatfooted. It's self-correcting when the child is walking unassisted, and usually completely gone pretty early (I want to say usually by age three, but I'm going on information that I only heard from a pediatrician, not something I have read elsewhere as well).

[conuly]

Which doesn't apply.

Pretty much every kid is bowlegged before the age of two or three, but people in real life are astonishingly reluctant to understand that.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure whether it applied or not.

I want to know how someone expects a child to NOT be bowlegged before that age, given the position a child in utero must assume to FIT.

[conuly]

*eyeroll*

Tell me about it! But people are convinced it's because the baby goes up instead of in a stroller. Or something. And that even though she walks better than many of her same-age peers, it's horribly detrimental to her.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

My friend's son was fairly bow legged as a young toddler, and it resolved itself by age 3 I tink.

[conuly]

Thanks.