The Right Shoes For Baby

I love fashion. I love shoes. Now show me some baby shoes, and I completely fall apart. But, when it comes to dressing my son's feet, I have to think about more than fashion.

During the early days of my son's life, I never put shoes on him. Baby's feet are just beginning to grow and shoes can restrict movement. Shoes are to protect the feet from the ground, so if you're child isn't touching the ground, it makes sense that he doesn't need shoes. Instead, we kept his little toes warm with socks and only when they felt cold to the touch.

Proper development of feet is just as important as any other aspect of a child's development. After a child is born, not all of the bones in his foot are fully developed. So, the same way that we protect the soft spot on the top of the head, we need to protect each little foot. In fact, the bones of the foot continue to develop for the first five years, so the issue of choosing shoes for developmental reasons rather than fashion remains important for a very long time.

Studies continue to show that the best thing for a child's foot development is being barefoot. Shoes inhibit how the foot moves, thus changing how the child moves. It's very much like a developmental domino effect. When a child is barefoot, his sense of touch and connection with what he walks on issues feedback that tells his body how to respond. This is how humans learn to walk, run, and move with proper coordination. While the shoe protects the foot from what's on the ground, it ultimately affects the information sent to the brain and can change a child's stride, gait, speed, and foot-fall. All of that affects his gross motor (large-muscle) coordination. So, it would make sense that while we want to protect the foot from damage, we want to protect the rest of the process as well.

Until the first steps are taken, children don't need traditional footwear. If their feet are cold, socks are all that's necessary. Loose socks are best, as any pressure on the toes is bad (this is important to remember about footie pajamas as well). When a child begins to crawl, barefoot is still the best route. My son used his toes to figure out how to crawl so it was essential that his foot not slip (the problem with socks). Unfortunately, as winter has set in, his feet get cold, so I decided to move him to soft soled shoes.

Soft soled shoes are essentially slippers for baby. Companies like Robeez (by Stride Rite) and Soft Star Shoes makes soft soled shoes that create the same environment as barefoot walking but keep the feet warm. For a little guy like mine who is pulling to stand, they work better than socks because they prevent slip. Unlike hard soled shoes, they allow the foot to move naturally.

Still, children whose feet are allowed to go barefoot and move naturally have lower incidences of many medical problems like flat feet. Even though soft soled shoes work at this stage, barefoot is always best. Really, at any stage. It's important to give children's feet that time to be free and natural during the day.

When walking starts, a thicker sole for on pavement is the next best step. In the house, barefoot or soft soled shoes are best. When looking at a thicker sole, it should be very flexible. The shoe should pretty much bend heel touching toe and bend at the center (not where the ball of the foot is). Arch support at this stage is bad, as are pointed toe or tapered toe shoes (broad toe is best). These guidelines hold true until a child is five years of age. But, at any age, being barefoot is still the best way to go.

As adults, we tend to get hung up on fashion or warmth when it comes to shoes. Or we think that shoes bring comfort. But, our feet and coordination have developed. For the developing child, the feedback and freedom of barefoot feet allow for the best development, and all those other factors are secondary. When it comes to choosing shoes, we should always be thinking about the shoe that supports the child's natural step rather than one that restricts or changes it.