4 yr old tripping

[jacksmomtobe]

I was helping out at my son's school the other day and the Teacher mentioned that my son tends to trip a lot...at least more than the other kids. She wasn't overly concerned and didn't mention it at the last Parent Conference but suggested working on making him more aware of his feet. We've recently stopped letting him wear his crocs (slightly big on him) at school or anywhere running. I would say that I noticed he tended to get ahead of himself sometimes when running and trip. DH is in total denial taking the information not as something to work on but as the teacher is saying his child is uncoordinated. I was wondering if anyone else had a child who tended to trip and what they did to work on the issue.

thanks for any feedback!

[Wife_and_mommy]

My nephew had this issue around age 2. The doc told his parents to put more flexible shoes on him and it did the trick. :)

For flexible shoes, I'd suggest Preschoolians and Merrells. I do find less expensive options at Target and Payless--it's just more of a challenge. For reference, you should be able to fold the shoe in half with one hand.

Hopefully it's something as simple as the shoes he's wearing. Hth. :)

[Rainbows&Roses]

My daughter trips all the time in crocs. I won't let her run in them anymore as every single skinned knee resulted from her walking/running in them. She still does wear them, but not in situations where she will be running or I will want her to be walking fast.

[mamabelle]

Flexible shoes is a good place to start. Also, is it possible he has fluid in his ears and have you had his eyes checked. I know it sounds extreme but it is common for kids with fluid in their ears to fall down a lot because of balance issues with the ears. Also, my daughter was diagnosed as extremely farsighted at 4.5 yo. We thought she was clumsy or uncoordinated but once she got the glasses it improved a lot.

Good luck.

[ThreeofUs]

I agree with Mamabelle - if you're worried, talk to your ped about the falling and get him checked out.

It could also just be he's going through a growth spurt. My DS tends to fall quite a bit when he's in or just had a major growing period.