How to Choose the Right Shoes for Your Baby?
Children need appropriate shoes from an early age. In fact, the right shoes can play a crucial role in the process of learning how to walk.
Children’s comfort is also very important. Some experts suggest that they should alternate between walking with and without shoes when they start taking their first steps.
Our children need proper shoes for their health. Footwear is crucial when it comes to shaping the way they walk. Adults, too, change the way they walk depending on their shoes.
When it comes to babies and young children, inappropriate footwear can harm their health. It all starts with the feet.
It’s important for children to have shoes that grow with them without causing any harm. If a situation arises that makes picking shoes difficult, you can always consult your pediatrician.
The right shoes prevent long-term drawbacks
A study conducted by the Miguel Hernandez University of Elche found that shoes with built-in wheels can cause health problems if they’re used too often. They encouraged parents and representatives to find suitable shoes for their children.
Here are the drawbacks of shoes with wheels:
- Growth issues. With these kinds of shoes, the height of the heel can reach up to 5cm. This causes the weight of their whole body to rest on the heel. All of this translates to a 40% increase in possible health problems.
- Too much pressure on the heel. This can cause the posterior muscles (soleus and hamstrings) to shorten. This in turn leads to flat feet.
- They weigh more than normal shoes. Podiatrists warn that these kinds of shoes can even cause hip problems since the child uses more effort to lift their feet.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when it comes to choosing the right shoes for your baby.
How to choose the first pair of shoes for your baby?
- The shoe should be straight. How can you figure this out? All you have to do is look at the sole – if you can’t distinguish the left shoe from the right, it means the shoe is straight. If it’s too inclined, it can cause deformations of the baby’s toes.
- The tip should be round and closed. The baby should be able to move their toes around.
- The shoes should be fastened in a way that doesn’t affect mobility. There are appropriate options that can be fastened on the instep or on the tongue.
- Shoes without seams are better. Make sure there are no seams that could harm the baby on the inside of the shoe.
- The buttress should have subjection. It should be a little higher than the heel in order to allow their ankles to bend without difficulties.
- The sole should have a multi-directional texture. This feature will prevent the baby from slipping. The sole should have a thickness of around 3–5 mm.
- Leather is the best material. Leather is flexible and allows their feet to breathe.
How to figure out the best shoe size for your baby?
There are several different techniques that can be used to find out the right shoe size for your baby. Here are some tips:
- The first thing to do is try the shoe on. It’s important that there is a space between their feet and the tip of their shoe of between 0.5–1.5 cm. Press the tip of the shoe to see if their toes are there. If so it means the shoes are too small.
- Try new shoes on at the end of the day. This is when your baby’s feet are the most swollen.
- Some parents use the trick of drawing their baby’s feet on a sheet or a piece of cardboard. Parents sometimes use the famous trick of drawing the baby’s feet on a piece of paper and buying a size that’s an inch larger. However, this technique is not recommended by some podiatrists.
- Don’t buy shoes that are too big. Sometimes parents believe that if they buy larger shoes, they’ll last longer. This may be true but it’s not good for the child. It increases the chances of accidents such as the shoe falling off. Parents should buy footwear that is the right size.
A child’s health should be of great concern to parents. As parents we must be careful and make sure that our child’s footwear doesn’t affect their health or cause them problems in the future.
As we’ve seen, it’s best to start off with the right shoes from an early age.