15 Month Old Who Keeps Falling

Hello M.,

When I taught early childhood ed. I had a little one in my class who started to fall a lot and showed no other symptoms, was still very happy and playful but the parents took them to the Doctors just to be on the safe side and the little one ended up having a double ear infection. Once the ear infection cleared up they stopped all the falling. My child was tripping and falling a lot at one point and I took them to our Chiropracter to get adjusted ( I trust my chiropacter and only him I can not vouch for any other) and they were fine after that. It could be just a toddler toddling, she may be trying to do more things and want to move around a little more and falls a lot in the process. I would let Mom know to keep an eye on her maybe there is a pattern, like does she fall more when she is tired?, or take her to the Doctors- nothing wrong with being extra safe. Hope this helps a little

as long as no ear infection i think its normal. My son started walking around 13 or 14 mo and fell on his face, literally for about 4 months. I kept him barefoot or in crib shoes most the time as it seemed to help his footing.

Hi there-

This could be something as simple as she is growing very fast to a possible ear infection to something more serious. My guess though would be an ear infection. My kids never showed signs of an ear infection but their balance would be off. If you are concerned, you should have Mom take her to the Doctor to double check.

Enjoy your "baby". :)

Kids this age fall a LOT. My son constantly had a bang or a bruise on his head until just a few months ago. He gets more clutzy when he's tired. I think it's normal, though it is sort of horrifying how often it happens :)

Just do your best to eliminate any easy causes - make sure her socks have sticky things on the bottom so she doesn't slip, or that she's wearing shoes. Keep clutter to a minimum so that when she falls she doesn't bang onto something, or trip over something (this will happen no matter what you do, but you can try and minimize it). Remind her to slow down if she's running.

My daughter at that age kept falling a lot also. She just needed to get her walking down pact. She is now 2 years and she is doing fine. I read the other responses. If she is not ill then maybe she just need to get used to her balance and get used to walking. Good luck!

My son still falls a lot too!! He is now 21 months and can fall 3 times just getting out to the car. I think it is totally normal but if concerned bring it up to your son/daughter so they can chat with the ped. Unless you see other neurological type things going on, she is most likely just a clumsy toddler!!

My son also falls a lot (now 23 months) and it seems to go in spurts. When he was around your granddaughter's age our ped told me to make sure that he was barefoot as much as safely possible. He has gotten better over time, but is still somewhat clumsy at times.

My second son was the same way. Still is! I guess some kids are clumsier than others. Since the time my son started walking, he'd fall all the time. It didn't matter if he had shoes or not. We'd joke that he use to trip over air! He was constantly falling but he's just fine. I think it's perfectly normal. You just have to be aware of her surroundings so that she doesn't hurt herself. Today, my second son is 11 years old and he is still the most accident prone of my six boys! Hope this helps!

Can you tell if she is walking properly? Look at her feet, their placement. My son fell a lot as well, and he walked on the inside of his foot, along with dragging his toes and tripped that way. We go to a great orthopaedic dr who has him in braces. He started out with nighttime braces and ones for his shoes. We went the summer without to see if it was better, but he was still tripping over his own feet. So he's back in much smaller braces for the shoes.

Check with her pediatrician, they'll be able to rule out any of the things mentioned here and give a referral if needed.

15 months is a very ~unsteady~ time. Random falls that are occuring when the child isn't running or jumping or spinning herself dizzy should be reported to her pediatrician.

My son falls quite a bit, but he'd only been walking about 2.5 months now. I find he falls the least if he's in soft-soled leather shoes like Robeez (I buy the cheap Target brand). He doesn't trip on his socks and doesn't have the hinderance of stiffer shoes. He definitely falls the most as he tries to turn around or is on the hardwood or tile floors.
If she is showing now sign of being sick or having an ear ache, it probably isn't that, but my cousin's son showed no sign and had a double ear infection, so you can't always tell...good luck!

You've gotten a lot of good input already with barefoot or socks with treads and checking for ear infection, but just wanted to add that our second son fell a LOT and had constant bruises on his head for a few months around 15 months old. We joked that he fell more than he walked. Yet, at around 18 months he got very coordinated and could THROW a basketball into a kid's basketball hoop and make it (basketball has been his passion so he also practiced a lot) and jump and run without falling, etc. He was more clumsy than our first in the beginning and then got to be more coordinated than him soon after, so for what it's worth...:)

it could be an ear infection, because that is what my daughter does

Does she rub her eyes a lot and seem to be dizzy? Write down any other symptoms that you see and present them to a dr.
If that is the only one, give her a little more time to adjust to her new skill: walking!
My son fell a ton at that age and was always bumping his head. It was so hard to watch him, so I know how you feel. Mow that he's two, he's still a little clumsy, but that's just him! Good luck!