22 Mar 😬Is your child with Special Needs over 2 years old and still not yet walking 😳Does your child use bum shuffling as their main means of mobility

Bottom shuffling is a mobility strategy that precedes independent walking in some infants. Babies who bottom shuffling move forward in a sitting position by using the buttocks, legs, or arms. The prevalence of shuffling babies has been reported to be 3–9% in various countries. Bottom shuffling is one of the common movement patterns that Children with Hemiplegia Cerebral Palsy, Ataxic Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome or Hypotonia tend to use Bottom Shuffling as a means of mobility. Bottom Shuffling can lead to delays in achieving gross motor skills of crawling on hands and knees as well as independent walking. 

There are many reasons why a child learns to bottom shuffle including low muscle tone, increased muscle tone in one side of the body and muscle weakness on one side of the body. Regardless of the underlying cause of a child’s bottom shuffling, here are 3 strategies that you can use at home to discourage bottom shuffling and to encourage crawling or promote weight bearing through the feet to learn to stand.

1. Place your child to sit on a chair so that their feet is down on the ground, ankles, knees and hips at 90 degrees. this will encourage your child to place pressure through their feet instead of sitting on the floor and rubbing their feet together.

2. Limit the space that your child is allowed to bottom shuffle around in your home by fencing off spaces using child safety gates or play pens. This is limit the practice of bottom shuffling.

3. Help your child learn to crawl on their tummy or on their hands and knees. To do so, you may require support from an Expert Paediatric Physiotherapist.

If your child is bottom shuffling and over 18 months old, reach out to My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists today.

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