almost 4 years old occasional toe walking

My daughter is almost 4. She is smart and has great social skills. She goes to nursery school and gets great reviews. She does everything that normal 4 year old girls do: runs, jumps, climbs, plays, tells secrets, pretends to be a princess etc... She sees our family doctor regularly for checkups and is very healthy. Recently, her father (who she has weekly visitation with) started becoming obsessed with her occasional habit of walking on her tippy toes. When he mentioned it to me I watched her closely for a day and noticed that she walked normally most of the time, but then once in a while she would tippy toe around. I've seen her on the playground running normally, and also running tip toed. Her father has begun really obsessing about this that she's going to have a problem later in life, he's even punishing her for doing it at his house. I was under the impression that as long as she could walk normally and could flex her foot back and forth then there was no problem. She thinks she is a ballerina and a pretty pretty princess, just like every little girl. Now I'm also afraid that she is doing this more because her father is pointing it out, where i have never mentioned it before. is it true that if something were wrong, she wouldn't be able to go back and forth between walking flat footed and walking tip toed? is her father right that if she doesn't "kick" this habit she will have problems later in life? i think she is fine, but of course, now i'm second guessing myself. thanks for your help!

[star queen]

Congratulations, you have a normal 4 year old girl.  Girls do the tippy-toe thing because it is fun. Most girls go through this stage and grow up to walk normally, unless they actually take ballet lessons then they get used to doing the "duck walk" that all ballerinas do.  Walking on the toes strengthens the calf muscles and (my opinion) prepares girls to walk in high heeled shoes. I think Dad may be confusing her new found habit with signs of mild brain damage. Children who are born early, or born really fast lose oxygen and can be delivered with permenant mild to severe brain damage.   One of the signs of this is walking on the tips of the toes rather than the normal flat footed way of "normal" people.  This is evident at a very early age and does not "develop" later.  My suggestion is to take her to the doctor, get her checked out and get him/her to write a note to Dad that this behavior is normal and not to worry.  Maybe then he will understand that this is only the beginning of many phases of life with little girls.  good luck