Congratulations! Your child has finally completed five steps on their own without your support, a mobile toy, or the white walls. Just before you rush to the nearest shoe store to purchase those supportive, soft, and flexible first walk shoes...
Dr. Udi Lebel, Director of the Pediatric Orthopedic Department at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, explains why in most cases, it's advisable to wait a bit and leave your child barefoot.
Parents are excited. Just before you want to spend your hard-earned money on sophisticated first walk shoes, Dr. Udi Lev, Director of the Pediatric Orthopedic Unit at Shaare Zedek, explains why, in most cases, it's better to leave them shoeless.
He smiles. Your baby has flipped, crawled, and their digestive system has already adapted to the world outside the womb. Now your baby's face a new and particularly challenging task – walking! Research conducted among populations of 'barefoot' individuals, such as Africans, Asian Indians, and others, suggests that in most cases, their foot arches are healthier. (It's worth noting that there isn't much research on this topic.) "There's no reason to assume that wearing shoes is beneficial," Dr. Lebel explains. "Clearly, in colder regions, protecting the feet is necessary, and this likely led to the concept of 'first walk shoes' that we know today. But these shoes are essentially no more than socks," he adds.
"Your child doesn't really need you to intervene in their steps."
"Let's start with one step back," Dr. Lebel explains. "Healthy children begin walking between the ages of one and two. If the child is healthy, there's no significant need to worry if they're not walking by the age of two."
"From our perspective, a 'first walk shoe' should essentially be walking barefoot. The reason for this is that we're disrupting the child's ability to learn about their environment and sense the world around them in a fundamental way. We believe the child needs to feel the ground. Sensation is meaningful for infant development, and so we shouldn't 'interfere' with their ability to feel: pavement, grass, stones, soil, sand, or even a carpet. Putting shoes on a child is similar to raising a child with gloves. We don't want to do that. There isn't a substantial research foundation for this topic either, but if the child isn't cold, doesn't have thorns, sharp objects, or other harmful elements, if the pavement isn't too hot for them, and if there's no risk of injury – the shoe is unnecessary."
"Furthermore, we don't recommend trying to guide healthy children with walking aids. There's not much benefit in devices like walkers and walking trainers, as walking is a stage dependent on brain maturation and the interplay of muscles, visual coordination, and balance. It's not dependent on muscle maturation. A child can stand from a very young age and can testify to that. It's advisable to let the child walk with support as they wish, until the triangular muscle system matures."
And if we've already given in to the trend... Which shoes are worth buying?
"It's best to let children develop as long as possible without shoes. This way, they'll receive stability from the foot arch itself rather than from the shoes. For children who find it slightly more challenging, we recommend shoes that hold the ankle and provide more stability. Very often, the shoe overly complicates the child's walk, making it harder, especially in winter. Winter walking is always more cumbersome than summer walking, enjoyed by 'barefoot' kids. A 'first walking shoe' should be very simple, and there's no need for overly sophisticated and expensive shoes. And it's important that they're cute too ."