I’ve had many discussions of late about how to choose footwear for baby. It seems there is a lot of research out there that’s contradictory, so I wanted to do some research on my own. What’s more important for feet as they develop? Soft soles? Foot support? Ankle support? Here’s what I’ve found:

• Because children’s feet are devloping for many years, they need room to do so. Non-binding shoes (and some say socks) help feet develop normally. It seems that toes being able to move freely is a major area of concern.
• Barefoot is best – the most time out of socks and shoes is desirable. Let baby walk barefoot indoors.
• First shoes for walking should be made of flexible, lightweight and natural materials, such as leather, with flexible soles and non-skid bottoms.
• Shoes should be broad in toes, not tapered
• Get the widest possible shoes for baby, even if they don’t "seem" to fit right
• Shoes should be lightweight and bend easily on the sole and at the ankle
• Do get a professional fitting vs just buying cute ones (ok, guilty on this one)
  • Grab a bit of the material on top of the foot (if the upper is soft enough). If you can’t grasp any, the shoe might be too tight at the ball of the foot.
  • There should be just enough room to squeeze your pinky between the heel and the shoe, and the full width of your thumb should fit between the end of his toe and the tip of the shoe.
• Avoid shoes with ankle support, it’s not necessary. The stiff ankle prevents tip-toeing. Wear boots only if weather requires it.
• Avoid stiff material uppers – canvas, cloth or soft leather are best

I read a lot about not choosing fitted socks, which is honestly what we have now. They don’t keep the socks on any more successfully than non-fitted socks, so I’m on the fence about getting others. It seems that socks that are tight can compress the toes, which decreases their movement and therefore foot development. I don’t want to be overly paranoid, but it may be worth getting non-binding socks.

Of course, then I had to look up "how to know if baby has outgrown shoes," which I had no idea about. And saw this:

"Soft cartilage can easily be bent out of shape in shoes that don’t fit without you or your child noticing – the layer of puppy fat means your child will feel no pain while this is happening. And as a baby’s foot is so flexible, it can easily be squeezed into a badly fitting shoe, storing up trouble for the future."

Great, so now I have no idea if Aiden’s shoes are too small. ;) The best I could Google on that is that it should be "easy" to get the foot into the shoe. So probably his current shoes are too small.

I read a few weeks ago that children should be kept in shoes that meet these criteria as long as possible, preferably until age five. I can’t reproduce that research in my searching, but definitely I’ll try to keep these tips in mind for future shoe purchases.

Via babycentre, unshod.org, parents.com, about.com, babycentre.com, dr foot