Crutches and children - standing and walking

Your child has to be able to balance a little to stand with crutches. Tell your child to hold the head high and look forward, keeping the shoulders back and the stomach and buttocks tucked in. Have your child stand on their good leg. Keep the crutches slightly forward and apart.

This means that your child cannot put any weight on the hurt foot or leg. The arms, hands, crutches, and good foot are used to move about. Tell your child to:

• Stand on the good foot. Hold the crutches against the side of the body. Squeeze them using the arms and side of body.
• Move the crutches about one step in front, with the crutches out a little wider than their feet. Move the hurt leg forward with the crutches.
• Push down on the crutches with their hands on the handgrips. Squeeze the crutches between the arms and sides.
• Put their weight on the handgrips and move forward.
• Do not lean on the crutches on the armpits. Putting weight on the armpits can hurt, and your child can get a rash and damage nerves and blood vessels under their arm.
• Hop forward on the good foot just a little in front of the crutches. This is one step. This should be the distance of a normal step.
• Start the next step by moving the crutches about one step in front with the injured leg.
• Look ahead when walking, not at the feet. You can lose balance when looking down.

This means that your child can touch the ground with their bad foot to help with balance. Tell your child to:

• Stand on the good foot.
• Move the crutches about one step in front.
• Put the bad leg forward with the crutch tips. The toes can touch the ground, or a little weight can be put on the foot for balance.
• Put most of the weight on the handgrips. Squeeze the crutches between the arm and the side of the chest.
• Take a step with the good leg.
• Start the next step by moving the crutches about one step in front with the injured leg.
• Look ahead when walking, not at the feet.

American Academy of Othopaedic Surgeons website. How to use crutches, canes, and walkers. orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/recovery/how-to-use-crutches-canes-and-walkers. Updated December 2020. Accessed January 18, 2023.

Edelstein J. Canes, crutches, and walkers. In: Webster JB, Murphy DP, eds. Atlas of Orthoses and Assistive Devices. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2019 chap 36.

Osorio M, Tsao E, Apkon SD. In: Kliegman RM, St. Geme JW, Blum NJ, Shah SS, Tasker RC, Wilson KM, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 21st ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 733.

Updated by: C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, San Francisco, CA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.