When my sweet, chubby baby was a few months old, I found the cutest pair of softish baby boots I’d ever seen. They reminded me of my beloved grandfather’s tiny firm-souled, button-down leather baby shoe, which my grandmother found and gave to me and I’ve kept on my bookshelf for over 40 years.
I bought the boots, squished my daughter’s little toes inside, and drove to meet my husband and in-laws for dinner with the baby. My father-in-law — an eye surgeon who fancied himself a doctor of everything — took one look at the hard sole on my kid’s tender feet and said: “Take those off!”
“What?” I looked at him incredulously, ready for another argument. At the time, I was a health reporter and disagreed with him on many things.
“Babies shouldn’t wear shoes for at least the first year,” he mansplained to me. “It ruins their feet.”
I still have the adorable, though unnecessary, boots in question. (Image: Cheryl Murfin)
How ridiculous, I thought. I left the boots right where they were, looking super cute and maybe a little tight on the baby.
Flash forward 30 years. My ex-father-in-law is now 101 years old. And, as much as I hate to admit this, he was right. Sort of. I did a little research after he called me out. And, he doesn’t know this, but I’ve been making amends for my insolence for the last 25 years whenever I’ve gone into an expectant family’s nursery to find a line of hip baby shoes next to the diapers and warm wipes.
“Your baby does not need shoes until they are standing and moving on their own,” I tell them. “And those mini-me Docs are out.” Hard-souled, restrictive baby shoes are darling, but they are not good for a baby’s feet or learning to walk.
The operative words here are on their own. That’s the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advice: socks are just fine for baby foot warmth, and bare feet are best for learning to walk.
As AAP explains, “A person’s lifelong gait (walking pattern) begins with their first steps. Babies learn to walk by gripping the ground with their toes and using their heels for stability. This helps develop the muscles needed for walking and is easier to do without socks or shoes.”
Dr. Mike Tretiakov, a Seattle Children’s Hospital orthopedic surgeon, treats pediatric foot and ankle issues. He stands somewhere between my father-in-law and AAP in the shoes-or-no-shoes debate.
“Babies can start wearing [shoes] anytime,” Tretiakov said. “But I would not recommend overly restrictive or tight shoes. Being barefoot may help with arch development to some degree, but overall the effect of shoes on foot development in children has been shown to be minimal.”
Interestingly, in a complete counter to my doctor-in-law’s position, Tretiakov has no specific shoe style recommendation for infants and babies. He says there’s “no evidence to suggest one type of shoe is better than another for babies as long as they are comfortable and not too restrictive.”
My sweet baby and their ill-advised boots. (Image: Cheryl Murfin)
He also points out: “Most kids are naturally flat-footed until preschool age, at which point the arch starts to develop. It is normal for a toddler to be flat-footed, and special shoes or inserts are not required nor helpful to ‘form an arch.'”
But while barefoot is best until your baby really starts cruising, a 2022 AAP patient education advisory stresses you have to protect those little pads outside. “Although your baby’s feet will develop just as well without footwear, walking barefoot may not always be possible. Shoes should be worn to protect your baby’s feet when cruising, walking outside, or on uneven, hot, or cold surfaces. Shoes, socks, and footed pajamas should have wiggle room,” the authors advised.
And therein lies the definition of “not restrictive” espoused by Seattle Children’s Tretiakov and AAP. Non-restrictive baby shoes are lightweight and flexible, allowing a baby’s feet to move freely, mimicking the barefoot.
As for me, I’m still in the ‘scared straight’ moment of learning I was wrong about stuffing my new baby’s puffed little tootsies into stiff, shiny boots. So, I continue to tell new and expectant parents to stick to socks, slippers, and shoes that look and feel like socks and slippers for the first year, even if they are outside.
But, forget what I said about no Docs. Turns out Doc Martens, the world’s most popular retro bootmaker, has a whole line of soft and non-restrictive baby booties.
