Foot Health Advice

Best for babies

Not sure what's best for your baby? Read what Emma Supple, leading children's podiatrist, has to say.

"Children all develop at their own pace, and this is very much the case when it comes to walking. Normal development and the age which the child starts to walk covers a wide spectrum, but remember, it is unwise to force a child to walk too soon. Generally, a baby starts to crawl on all fours at 6 months and commences walking between 9 to 19 months."

Crawling

Some babies choose to bum shuffle instead of crawl, and this can be a perfectly normal mode of getting around for them and no cause for concern. When a baby is still just sitting, crawling and toddling, some foot protection is required if the foot is exposed to the cold or outside. It is important to stress here that where possible, you should allow feet to be left barefoot, and to wriggle, move and grow as this is an essential part of normal foot development. Do be mindful that with babies, adult hair can sometimes get caught around little toes and cause ligature and circulatory problems.

First steps

For a child who has started walking, they need shoes to protect their feet and help them adapt from the position of crawling to taking those very first steps. A shoe needs to be fitted by an expert to allow for growth and movement, and styles with a strap or a buckle are ideal as they keep the shoe securely on the child's foot. Be careful - a child's foot is so flexible in the early stages it can easily be squeezed into an ill-fitting shoe. Remember that no complaint of pain from a child with actual foot problems is common and so regular, careful measuring of feet and a good choice of shoes is very important for healthy little feet.

Choosing shoes

At this stage it is not appropriate to have scaled down versions of adult shoes just for fashion statements. These first walking shoes are vitally important to your child's foot health. Whilst your child is learning to move about, they are developing musculature and strength in their back, legs and feet so it is a very important time to protect their feet. And remember to change sock sizes as they grow as ill-fitting, too tight socks can also cause problems with toes.

The foot of a child grows rapidly in the first year reaching almost one half of their adult size. As you only get one pair of feet to last a lifetime, it is easy to see why taking care over choosing baby's first shoes is so very important.