I have been asked by several parents a similar kind of question:
“My child (2) is so clumsy, it falls a lot. Should it bring it to see an
osteopath?”
concerned, loving parents
Dear Loving Parents,
No need to worry. Your child is just right and it is having great progress during these times. It learns to walk and to explore its
environment. Step by step it is becoming more and more independent, if you may put it this way.
Seeming clumsy and falling often is normal at that age. They
perfectly show us how to learn: by trial and error. They want to walk. Yet the
coordination of eyes, body and limbs must be learned. The muscles are about to
develop. The head is huge compared to the rest of the body which creates
another challenge.
Landing on the bump or tripping over things happens during
practice. They do not yet lift their feet as properly as we adults do (should
do). They do not have the coordination of hips and shoulders internalized yet.
They are still learning. The most important thing at that stage of development
is to secure the surroundings. Hard and sharp surfaces should be wrapped so
make them soft. You do not want your child to injure itself while exploring.
When your child really hits its head, falls hard on the
bump, or falls from a height then it would be appropriate to see an osteopath
– but not after you have presented it to the pediatrician. Little injuries on
the muscles and bones can be corrected with osteopathy, usually it takes one or
two sessions.
If your child is unusually clumsy and seems to have
coordination troubles you should have it seen by a pediatrician. But since you
are following the regular checkups, they are controlling the normal child
development, each time.
And another thing. The body is such a wondrous machine:
small humans have cartilaginous bones. Meaning the actual bones are about to
develop over the years. Plus children usually don’t fall deep
because they are short. You see, the nature has developed quite clever
mechanisms to make sure that the little human stirs its body with low risk
through the world.
All the best for you and your child!