All About Shoes!
Once your munchkin is standing and walking you may be on the lookout to purchase shoes. Here are my recommendations from a pediatric physical therapist’s perspective. If your child is under 2 years old, shoes should be used to protect from temperature and potential sharp objects your baby could step on while walking outside. Shoes are not needed for cushion, foot support, or arch support (unless your child has a structural foot issue). Munchkins do not need support on their feet until they begin doing impact activities such as running and jumping and even then it is debatable whether or not support is needed. Those impact movement milestones do not develop until at least 2 years old. There are 2 main reasons why I recommend barefoot walking as much as possible throughout the first year:
1. Foot strength: While your munchkin is busy walking barefoot, he is gaining strength in the little tiny muscles of his feet. Did you know that humans have over 100 muscles in each foot? These muscles have specific roles to stabilize the bones and joints and also provide movement of the ankle and toes. Because these muscles have important roles, they need to be very strong to hold up our body weight when in a standing position. The best way to strengthen the majority of these muscles is to walk on different textured surfaces without any support (shoe) so that the muscles are being asked to do their job rather than relying on a passive support under the foot.
2. Sensory input: Another important benefit to walking barefoot is the added sensory input. The feet have sensory receptors that take in every touch, pressure, texture, temperature, and movement. These receptors send information to the brain and as a result, movement is initiated and refined. The more sensory input our munchkins get to their feet, the better their balance and coordination will be!
When looking for a shoe for your munchkin under 2 years old, the more flexible the shoe, the better. I tend to like baby moccasins, or a lighter shoe with a flexible sole. To test to see if the sole of the shoe is flexible enough, try bending it in half and see if you can get the toe box close to the heel.
Personally, I try to allow my munchkin to walk barefoot as much as possible at home and put shoes on her when we are outside in public areas. When she is in shoes, I try to go for a flexible shoe. If we have hand-me-downs (thanks to her cousin) that have a rigid sole, I do not worry about it because I know she is getting so much more barefoot time at home. It’s all about balance and understanding that the majority of the time she is getting the benefits of barefoot walking. If your child is in daycare and shoes are required, then I would prioritize a flexible sole since he will be wearing shoes for a good portion of the day throughout the week.
-Keep your munchkin moving!
