A good example of this is the way little ones are often put in shoes too early, at the pre-walking stage, one of the few times in life when we can go barefoot all the time and shoes are perfectly unnecessary👣.
In this post we want to answer the age-old question so many parents ask 👨👩: Why do children take their shoes off? although, from our humble point of view, we'd rather answer this one instead: Why might it be better not to put shoes on our baby?
1- How sensitive their feet are
If your little one takes their shoes off, it may be because a baby's feet are more sensitive than their own hands in the first months of life.
As they grow, this sensitivity in the feet gradually fades, but right now their feet are like a receiving antenna connected to the outside world.
When we put shoes on them, this sensitivity is lost: when they touch the shoe, they don't feel their foot as they did before, and they don't receive stimuli in the same way 😟. The shoes have taken that sensitivity away, and they take them off because they want it back.
Would you like to feel the same thing? Put on a pair of oven gloves and try to find and pick up your keys inside your bag.
2. Becoming aware of their body
Sensory information is a vital source of information about the world around your little one, and this may be why they take their shoes off.
The proprioceptive sense is inherently linked to their motor skills. Knowing where the different parts of their body are is essential for good coordination. At this stage they often grab their feet with their hands and put them in their mouth, which lets them get to know and explore the limits of their own body.
As Gentil García points out in his study Podología preventiva: niños descalzos igual a niños más inteligentes, through their experiences with new textures, different temperatures, uneven surfaces... their cognitive development is stimulated.
3- Security and stability
Have you noticed what martial artists wear on their feet?🤸 You guessed it: nothing. Barefoot is when we feel most agile and secure, no doubt about it. This may be another reason why your little one launches their shoes off like a NASA rocket 🚀about to go into orbit.
Bare feet can help children go carefully, be mindful of the surface they're on, and feel they're in real contact with the ground. Isn't it ironic? How many times have we heard: "Don't go barefoot, you'll catch a cold" or "If you go barefoot you might hurt your feet"?
Children aged 1 and 2, whose walking isn't yet steady, keep their heads up for longer when they walk barefoot 👶: thanks to the information they receive through their feet, they have less need to look down, which is often what makes them lose their balance and fall 🧠 .
4- How their feet develop
If your little one takes their shoes off, it may be because the shoe doesn't allow their foot to move freely, and they feel pressure somewhere on the foot...including their little toes.
When they're very young, their feet are still forming: in the image you can see that the bones are not yet visible, and it's important that they aren't squeezed while they develop. That's why you should leave them free for as long as possible!
Have you heard of the square watermelons grown in Japan? 🍉 When the fruit was placed in a square container 🧊, it grew, adapted to its surroundings and took on the shape of the mould, preventing its natural development. So imagine what might happen if we shut a baby's delicate feet away somewhere unsuitable.
Don't rush to put shoes on your little one; only when their feet need protecting...and when that time comes, make sure those shoes are as close as possible to going barefoot.
