Tips to promote healthy feet for life

Try not to restrict your baby's development by avoiding tight shoes, bedclothes, booties, socks or blankets.

Allow them to kick and exercise their legs and feet as much as possible.

Discourage poor sleeping and sitting positions such as sleeping on their stomach, or kneeling with their feet turned out. When sitting, encourage children to sit with legs crossed, as this encourages normal hip and knee development.

Walking frames place stress on bones and muscles prematurely. Babies will begin walking naturally when developmentally ready, which usually occurs between 9 and 18 months. Walking earlier will not speed up their development, but may hinder it later on.

When you watch your kids run and play, look for things that don't look quite right to you. In our experience, parents are generally a pretty good judge of when their kids need a little extra help. In particular, look for things such as:

• Awkward walking / running style.
• Excessive falling / tripping when playing

• Feet turned out excessively
• Painful, tired legs at the end of the day 
• Abnormal wear patterns on shoes
• Skin lesions (ie. corns, blisters, calluses)

IF you do notice something when watching your kids, don't be alarmed. In the majority of cases, the solutions to children's foot problems are simple, painless and non-invasive. Often, they can be treated with exercise, shoe modifications, custom made insoles (orthotics) in the shoe, and most importantly, education.

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