There's no way to prevent your baby from getting bowed legs. But you may be able to prevent certain conditions that are known to cause bowed legs. To prevent rickets, make sure your child is getting enough vitamin D and calcium in their diet.
Bowlegs is considered a normal part of growth in babies and toddlers. In young children, bowlegs is not painful or uncomfortable and does not interfere with a child's ability to walk, run, or play. Children typically outgrow bowlegs some time after 18-24 months of age.
Walking often exaggerates this bowed appearance. In most cases, bowed legs will naturally begin to straighten as the child grows. If bowed legs have not resolved by the age of 3 years, there may be an underlying cause, such as Blount's disease or rickets. Adolescents occasionally have bowed legs.
Mild bowing in an infant or toddler under age 3 is typically normal and will get better over time. However, bowed legs that are severe, worsening or persisting beyond age 3 should be referred to a specialist.
Your child won't become bowlegged standing or bouncing on you; that's just an old wives' tale. Moreover, young babies are learning how to bear weight on their legs and find their center of gravity, so letting your child stand or bounce is both fun and developmentally stimulating for them.
Exercise, stretching, strengthening, physical therapy, and vitamins will make your muscles and bones stronger but will not change the shape of the bones. The only way to truly change the shape of the legs is to cut the bone and straighten it.
Bowlegs refers to a condition in which a person's legs appear bowed (bent outward) even when the ankles are together. It is normal in babies due to their position in the womb. But a child who still has bowlegs at about age three should be evaluated by orthopedic specialist.
If your child has bow legs or knock knees, their legs will usually line up properly on their own. Bow legs usually line up by 3 years of age, and knock knees usually line up by 8 years of age.
There's no way to prevent your baby from getting bowed legs. But you may be able to prevent certain conditions that are known to cause bowed legs. To prevent rickets, make sure your child is getting enough vitamin D and calcium in their diet.
Rarely, bow legs can be caused by a more serious medical condition, such as: rickets, a bone growth problem due to lack of vitamin D or calcium. It's more common in developing countries where children don't get enough foods fortified with vitamin D.
Adults and Bowlegs
In adults, bowlegs do not resolve spontaneously, but rather tend to worsen as arthritis leads to further malalignment. Bowlegs in adults is an independent risk factor for knee joint degeneration and pain.
It's absolutely normal for a baby's legs to appear bowed, so that if he were to stand up with his toes forward and his ankles touching, his knees wouldn't touch. Babies are born bowlegged because of their position in the womb.
Push, counter-push. This is a great way to strengthen your baby's legs and build resistance for standing and walking. Holding the soles of your baby's feet, gently push your baby's legs backwards and forwards, almost in a cycling motion.
Most families give a daily massage to their baby for the first year. Many families continue giving massages, though less frequently, until their child is five years or six years of age. There is no age limit to giving a massage or stopping them. You can continue giving massages to your baby for as long as you wish.
You can hold your newborn upright from birth as long as the neck and head are well-supported. In fact, sometimes it's preferable to hold your newborn upright rather than have her lying down. It's certainly not bad to sit baby upright.
Many babies are born bowlegged because their legs were folded tightly across their bellies in-utero (during pregnancy inside the mother). Bowed legs usually straighten once babies with this condition start to walk and their legs bear weight. By age 3, most kids grow out of the condition.
Because rickets softens the areas of growing tissue at the ends of a child's bones (growth plates), it can cause skeletal deformities such as: Bowed legs or knock knees. Thickened wrists and ankles.
Signs & Symptoms
Untreated vitamin D deficiency rickets results in the ends of the long bones becoming enlarged and the legs becoming bowed or knock-kneed.
Don't pick up a baby under their arms.
It makes a baby's arms unavailable for self-comfort or support, and it can interfere with their breathing because their ribs are held.
Can you hold a newborn on your period? Since mom herself will be back on her period soon, there's no valid, medically-proven reason that someone's menstrual cycle would cause any harm to a newborn.
For example, sitting early generally results in less tummy time for a baby. This means less movement and strengthening experiences and less opportunity to develop important reflexes that allow Alice to crawl, creep and to sit safely and maintain a strong upright posture, without falling and banging her head.
In the first year of your baby's life, you really only need to bathe them once or twice per week. Start with sponge baths until their umbilical stump falls off and then begin bathing them gently in the sink or tub. As they grow, babies may require more frequent baths as they get messier or start having fun in the tub.