Hellobee Boards

I've never read anything on it, but LO never wears shoes now because he's not walking, plus his feet would get hot! I also thinking crawling is easier for him when he's barefoot...his first pair of shoes probably won't be til this winter when he's hopefully walking!

Yes. I have read about it/heard about it. Drove my MIL NUTS, but, hey, I have science on my side

We elected for no footwear ever (including socks) until she was walking, and then only when it was needed. I also like shoes like Pediped that are very soft soled without compromising on protection for times where the ground might be rough (like all our gravel) or you might encounter things like bottle shards or something that could cut little feet. I did basically the same for Ellie, though she did wear socks more often as an infant.

Yes, I did. A lot of our physical pain stems from the feet, believe it or not! This is why I was very adamant about spending extra on SKRs Smaller (only less than $20 of course but still way more than I would other wise spend on a single item for a baby) line when LO started wearing walking. And I never put shoes on her until she started walking. At home indoors she is always barefoot.

Sweet - finally something I can quote when MIL gets on my case about L always being barefoot!

But seriously, she's not even walking yet, why does she need shoes?!

My husband read a similar article before DS was born and is adamant that we not put structured shoes on him til he's a confident walker. I'll have to find him some soft shoes this winter!

I've heard it's better for toddlers to be barefoot just because it helps them walk better. Personally I hate shoes so I never want to wear them.... and I figured LO wouldn't like to either. We're both usually barefoot Even when we go to library story hour or music class, I take our shoes off when we get there.

I hadn't heard about this but now I feel better about P being barefoot 99% of the time! She does have her converse, but rarely wears them.. those are really the only structured shoes she has.

I found shoes to be a giant pain, so we didn't use them. We went straight to the Robeez mini walker shoes with a grippy sole and even now, we let our son go barefoot a lot at home, he's 2.5.

Love it! We only bother with shoes when we leave the house

I don't see the point of shoes, unless a child is walking with confidence and skill. Granted, they're adorable, and I'm a total shoe horse, myself, but it's definitely not practical.

My newborn wears socks when we're out and about, but is barefoot at home (save for bedtime, when she's in footed pajamas).

I will not feel comfortable with LO being barefoot outside once she's walking, but otherwise, I think it's great.

This is the reason why I kept LO barefoot or in soft soled leather shoes indoors for so long. However, I was against having her barefoot outside, but after seeing her early struggles with slightly uneven ground, I just let her run wild (but only on our yard).. Now she's fine either way. But I still let her run on gravel every once in awhile when she refuses to wear shoes. I tell myself it helps circulation. Hehe

hahaha... well this makes me feel better about my 15 month old LO having only worn shoes maybe 8-10 times in his life so far!

for us the main reason was he was a late walker (just getting steady this week!) and that he has wide/tall/big/chubby feet so every pair of shoes i've tried hasn't fit. right now he has one pair of shoes -- a wide pair of natives that we wear when we go to the water park that's it!

You can get flexible soled shoes for older kids and adults as well. We really like Merrell (child/adult) and Tsukihoshi (child). I have a pair and used them for running. Back when I had time and did that sort of thing Now I use them for chasing.

@allison: I started him in shoes only for weddings--then once he started walking we wear them to go outside--usually. Sometimes we go for a walk in the yard without shoes but generally we put him in shoes to walk on concrete or in public areas.
The shoes he wears are leather soles--pedipeds.

ha! finally, a scientific excuse for my laziness! LO has super chubby feet and does crazy things with his toes so it's impossible to get shoes on him in the first place anyway... but i'm glad to have a real reason now

@allison: FWIW my DH had Merrills and hated them. he said they rubbed on his ankle wrong no matter how he laced them, and the woman we returned them to at REI said it's a common issue for them!

I love the vibram 5 fingers for "barefoot" running and walking! not sure how small they sell though, and they're not the prettiest shoes ever

I knew this before I had kids, and so mine never had shoes before they were walking. I would do socks in the winter time, but other than that we are barefoot. In fact, neither of mine wear shoes inside, but that is because I don't like to wear shoes inside and they copy me hahaha

I'll have to tell my mom about this. She's always disliked shoes for babies. The only thing she would put my little brother in were a pair of soft moccasins (I think Minnetonka), for cold weather or potentially hazardous terrain, and that was over 15 years ago. She actually just bought a pair for LO for when he gets bigger. He's only 8 months, and it's his only pair of shoes. He's normally barefoot, though he did wear socks in the winter.

She is usually barefoot at home and then when we are out she is almost always wearing her Stride Rite SRT SM. They have a very flexible, thin sole meant for babies learning to walk. Before she was walking she wore robeez or SKR smaller leather soled shoes. I have been looking for some new shoes for her, but I don't want them to be bulky. I think I will get another stride rite pair, as I really like them.

LO hates wearing shoes anyways I can never keep them on him. He barely wants to wear socks, he's barefoot all the time.