Buying Shoes for your Children

Our children’s feet grow incredibly fast and you’ll find that buying shoes can be an ever changing process as well as extremely expensive. Its real easy buying a pair of cute looking shoes that look great…but are they really good for your child’s feet? I know when I first started buying shoes for my kidlings I did so for looks more than anything else and I’d buy to suit the age group not the foot.  I did consider comfort but really relied on the fact that they’re baby shoes. I mean come on….they’re going to be comfy…

When I was about 3 I had to wear braces on my legs/feet as they turned in. I wore them for nearly a year to rectify this problem and my mother was extremely strict as to what she put on my feet. A lot of the information in this article is what my Mum passed down to me and also what I have researched on the internet. 

The first year of a child’s life is considered the most important in the development of feet and up to 30% of children will end up with foot disorders by the age of 6 (Podiatric Medical Association 2001). There are different shoes for different ages and knowing what is appropriate for each age group can help prevent problems later on in life.

Babies – crawling stage

This age group do not need shoes. Booties and socks are just fine as the focus is to keep their feet warm. There are pre-walking shoes available but it is important to make sure that they are flexible and unrestrictive. Pfallerj included this subject in one of his First time Parenting Tips, ‘Take Shoes off Your Infant’ 

Toddler

Shoes which allow the feet to breathe are recommended for this age group as are shoes which have smooth soles, light and lace-ups. Lace-ups tend to stay on the feet better and a smooth sole will help the toddler when walking, especially when they are just learning, as there is less friction between the shoe and the floor. Something that is the number one cause for toddlers falling when walking…

School age

When choosing shoes for this age group make sure that the foot can breathe and that there is enough room for growth, usually the rule of thumb applies here. If the width of your thumb can fit between the tip of the shoe to the tip of the toe, that’s adequate enough room. 

Facts 

Children’s feet have growth spurts and you may find you’ll have to buy shoes every few months or so for them. The growth rate of feet varies in each age group but on an average it is believed that a child will grow one half of a foot size: 

Fun but real FACTS

• Adults take an average of 18,000 steps or more a day.
• Throughout a lifetime, feet would walk approximately 70,000 miles which is equivalent to 4 times around the earth.
• Leonardo da Vinci considered the ‘foot’ a ‘masterpiece of engineering’
• Each foot has 26 bones, 19 muscles, over 100 ligaments and thousands of nerve endings.
• When running, each time your foot hits the floor it's the equivalent to twice your body weight.
• The foot has 250,000 sweat glands which releases about a 150 mills of perspiration every day.

When considering that around 70% of foot problems are caused by wearing the wrong shoes or badly fitted ones and can be linked to early childhood, you have to seriously consider what you are putting on your children’s feet. One of the most common problems children experience and is caused by wearing shoes that do not fit properly, is the ‘in-grown toe-nail’. Even as adults this is a common problem that could easily be prevented…taking a little extra time in picking out that new pair of shoes may help prevent an expensive after effect.