Thursday, February 26, 2009

Feet

I talked to Goldie's PT about her walk. I thought I noticed her walking more on the insides of her feet. She said she had noticed her "turning in" a little bit. I told her I'm open to suggestions. So next time we see her we are going to talk about getting Goldie something more supportive than the shoes she has now. I still have her in soft soled shoes. But I always let my kids go barefoot, so I'm not sure what we'll end up with. I still feel like there are so many little things (and big) to learn about with DS.

I know this is silly, but it bothers me. It's just another reminder that things are different. And then a family member stopped by with some "stuff" yesterday. One thing was a pair of socks for Goldie. They were marked ages 3-5 years on the bottom. I commented that Goldie has always had big feet. So, this family member starts telling me no, she doesn't. Then compares them to my niece's and goes on about how my niece is running and Goldie isn't. WTH? My niece is 2 months older than Goldie and has always worn shoes about 2 sizes smaller. And oh yeah, she doesn't have Down syndrome! Now, her cousin's feet may have caught up, but for a kids with DS, Goldie still has some good sized feet. Maybe I should invite this person next time we go to Target and let her chase Goldie around the store. he he he.


Edit: Here they are while she sleeps sideways in the recliner.



8 comments:

Lisa said...

I get bothered, too, over little reminders that things are different with Finn :( I feel like I'm really okay with the fact that he has Ds, but I think there is still a part of me that feels like if I just do everything with him like I did with my other babies, then he won't be different. Silly.

SunflowerStories said...

I, for one, am disappointed that there is not a photo of these big feet! :P Sean has always had very timy feet that are so slow to grow. He also walks on the insides and has no arch to speak of. We did use Sure Step afo's for a year or so until he outgrew them and now use special shoe inserts that were custom made.

I do see improvement when he wears them, but we are also a barefoot family so it's hard to keep shoes on him unless we are outside of the house.

Oh, and yes, Goldie needs camo rain boots- pink camo of course!

COOLWHIP said...

Your lucky you can keep shoes on her feet. Eva won't wear them. As soon as I'm not looking, the shoes are off.

Cheryl said...

I'm with SunflowerMom we need to see the feet:)
I hate when people compare children.I tell my kids," God made us all different,life would be boring if we were all the same."

Jennifer said...

We let the kids go barefoot most of the time. Our PT thinks Aidan's feet muscles get a better workout that way. He wears shoes at school and when we go places, but we just have an insert in the shoes.

Aidan's feet are so small! I would love to see these big feet!

Monica said...

darn!! I love a cute foot picture :) Adam too loves to be bare foot!! When he was about 6 or 7 we had to get shoe inserts. He would actually wake up crying because of foot cramps. Thank God, he was able to tell us what the problem was!!! He has no arch and also kinda walks on the inside. He still gets foot cramps once in a while, not like he use to, I'm sure if he'd wear his shoes more they would be even less...

Bethany said...

I would start off just trying her with a pair of hot dogs. If it is just a little bit of her resting her feet on the inner sole, hot dogs may do the trick rather than a full on ankle brace (AFO, sure step, etc). ;)

JaybirdNWA said...

Unfortunately, this is a common posture for children with Ds. But in my opinion, it is more of a hip problem than a foot problem. John used to lay with both feet turned out all the time. His tone has decreased enough that he doesn't lay that way as much as he did (and when he does and I see it, I correct the way he lays. Good ankle support is good, but I would look at what is going on with her hips.