My son's hip turns out slightly when he walks. Is this normal?

Question

My son is 13 months old and has been walking for about 3 weeks. I have noticed that his right hip turns out slightly when he takes steps. I have looked for a guidline of what is normal and what is not and haven't been able to find anything useful. I don't want to take him to the Dr if all baby's do something like this when they learn to walk. Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Take your son to the doctor. Neither one of my kids hips turned out. My daughter walked at 9 months and my son at 16 months, but the hip thing is not normal.

Answer 2

It's very likely normal. I think he's just learning how to move around on his legs and is "experimenting" with how things work, but I could be wrong. My daughter more or less walked sideways when she first started walking. Instead of turning to go around something, she'd sidestep it. The first site talks about walking and when toddlers usually start doing it. The second site are the 10 red flags to look for in your toddler. If you don't see anything on the red flag list that matches your son, he should be fine unless you notice anything physically wrong. He's still learning. It takes most kids 3 or 4 months to master walking. I'd give him more time to get it down right before I would worry.

Answer 3

He is just learning so it is normal for them to turn out their feet, hips, etc. Unless he seems to be in pain (Press lightly on his hip and see how he reacts) you don't need to make a special trip. Just mention it to his doctor on his next well-baby visit. I had concerns about my son's feet turing out, but it all worked out.

Answer 4

I would take him to the doctor. I have heard that if a baby is in something where his legs dangle (swing, exersaucer, etc...) for an extended period of time, that it is bad for hip development.