- It is too often
that I see babies wearing really, really cute,
adorable shoes that are actually impacting
the baby's ability to crawl,
pull themselves up into standing and walk.
It is really important as parents that we give our babies
their very first shoe at the ideal time
and also choose the perfect shoe for your little one
to ensure that it doesn't have a negative impact
on their ability to stand and walk.
So, in this video,
I'm going to cover
when babies should be given their very first shoe.
And what are the ideal features to look out for
when you're choosing a shoe for your baby.
But before we jump on in,
make sure you click on that free PDF document
in the description box below,
which covers the developmental milestones,
you can be expecting for your little one
in that first year of life.
This will give you an invaluable peace of mind,
as you'll know when to be expecting certain skills
and when to be concerned.
The truth is your baby will not need to wear shoes,
until they are a skilled walker.
So, when they are learning to crawl,
pull themselves up into standing, cruise along furniture
and even start to walk.
It is best that they wear no shoes at all.
And that is for two reasons.
The very first reason is their feet send some information
to the brain that lets them know what the feel
of the floor is underneath their feet,
as well as where their feet are in relation to their body.
And based on this information,
their body will make adjustments.
So, essentially it is helping
to further develop their standing and walking balance
as well as their coordination,
which is required for walking.
And second walking barefoot helps to build the muscles
and ligaments in the foot and strengthen that foot arch.
So, while your baby is learning to crawl,
pull themselves up into standing, cruise along furniture
or walk and they're in the house.
It is important to ensure
that they are not wearing any shoes.
However, when they start to do these outside,
that is when you will be looking at getting your baby
their very first pair of shoes,
because you want to protect their feet.
It's got nothing to do with their development.
What you are doing is protecting their feet,
against the temperature of the surface
that they might be walking along.
So, whether or not it's hot or cold
and also protecting their feet against potentially crawling
or walking over the top of sharper or pointy objects,
such as rocks or gravel or any kind of uneven surface.
So, when your baby's starting to move around outside
and you need to protect their feet,
what you wanna buy are soft soled shoes.
So, these are really lightweight shoes,
which is extremely important,
because we want our babies to be able to lift their feet,
off the ground when they're wearing the shoe.
And the sole itself is extremely flexible.
So, you should be able to bend the shoe in your hand.
And what you also want to ensure is the sole is level
and the sole is waterproof.
Now, I tend to find that the soles that are leather,
aren't really any good,
firstly, because they're extremely slippery.
And the other reasons are,
they generally aren't that waterproof.
So, over time the water will seep through
and they aren't that thick.
So, when your baby is walking over rougher surfaces,
they can feel it through their feet
and it will cause a bit of discomfort.
So, the rubber soft soled shoes are best,
because it is waterproof
and they not going to feel those sharper objects,
going onto their feet.
Now, the next thing you wanna look out for
is to ensure that they are wider at the toes,
because your baby is going to be flat-footed,
that's completely normal,
but it means that they are generally wider at the toes.
So, the shoes should be wide
to ensure that their toes don't get squished.
And you also want to ensure
that there's a solid heel counter,
which is the part at the back
to ensure that their feet don't slip around
and slip out of the shoe.
Now, if your baby is crawling around outside
or just pulling themselves up in the standing,
what you also wanna look for is a toe buffer.
So, it's a bit of protection at the front of the shoe
to ensure that, that gets scuffed up
when your baby is crawling around and pulling to stand
and the shoe will last you for a longer period of time.
You also want to look for shoes that have velcro
or fasteners because it makes it easier
to put your baby's foot into the shoe in the first place.
Trust me, that is really, really hard.
So, if you can open up the shoe,
so that the foot just slides right in,
that's going to make it significantly easier for you.
The other reason is when you have these fasteners,
it ensures that the shoe is kind of giving their foot
a nice big cuddle,
so that their feet aren't going to slide around in the shoe,
because if they start to slide around in the shoe,
what your children will do
is they'll start to curl their toes to try
and get some traction, which isn't great.
When they're learning to walk or crawl
or pull themselves up into standing,
it can actually have an impact.
So, you wanna make sure it's nice and snug and supportive,
when your baby is wearing these shoes.
It is also extremely important to make sure the shoe
is not too big for your baby,
because if it is too big,
then their feet are going to be sliding around.
Now, I know we often wanna buy shoes
that's going to last them for a long period of time.
So, we get way ahead of them,
but by giving them shoes that are too big,
you're essentially giving them clown shoes,
which means that it is going to be really difficult
for them to walk.
If you see a baby wearing shoes that are too big,
they have really exaggerated steps and they fall over a lot.
So, you've wanna make sure that they're not tripping
on the shoes because it is too big.
Make sure they're the right size for your little one.
Now, there are certain things
that you wanna avoid
when you're buying your baby
their very first soft soled shoe.
You don't wanna get shoes that go past their ankle,
because it just makes it really hard
for them to move around.
They need a lot of flexibility in that ankle
when they're learning to walk and crawl.
So, if you kind of block it,
it makes it difficult for them to actually walk around.
The other things you wanna avoid are obviously crocs
and flip-flops because they don't have
that solid heel counter
and their feet are going to move around all the time.
And it's going to be hard for them to walk.
And they're going to fall over a lot because of that.
So, some of the good brands of soft soled shoes,
are actually the Bobux Xplorers as well as Old Soles.
And I've got a few others
that are also in the description box below
that you can check out
and see if it's something you want to get your little one.
If you want more information
on the steps to walking so that your baby's getting closer,
then check out this video.
And if you want information
on how to get your little one up off the floor
and starting to walk,
then check out this video
and I'll see you next week,
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.
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