My Bare-footers

Occasionally people are intrigued by my unconventional choice not to make my innately footwear-averse youngest child wear shoes. Some applaud it and tell me of how they hate wearing shoes themselves, or how they loved to go without as a child; I hear some lovely stories from people - it can be quite a conversation starter :) Others are appalled and very forthright in saying so! And of course there's everything in between, and those that don't notice or think nothing of it (as it should be ;) ). So I've compiled a Barefoot Info sheet to give to any 'interested' passers-by. Thought I'd share it here in case you are one of them! This is it:

I've done a lot of research into this evidence-based practice and have made my parenting decision based on my children's best interests :) So here's a brief summary of the wealth of thorough research out there (which basically comes down to: the benefits outway the risks). 

Based on the below evidence and more, I've come to the admittedly counter-cultural conclusion, that barefoot is best - it helps muscles develop and allows skin to breath, and among many other benefits, feeling the terrain beneath their feet helps children learn to walk: Feet weren't designed to be in shoes. 

Footwear is a cultural habit alien to the vast majority of the world, including the country my children's dad was brought up in where he and all his peers walked to school barefoot and stayed that way all day. 

Shoe-wearers have a much higher percentage of ailments than habitually barefoot people - from bunions due to soft skin through to hip and skeletal problems due to improper alignment caused by soles and the 'splint' effect of footwear. 

Going barefoot as much as possible is especially beneficial to children, and the younger the better - because: barefoot walking develops the muscles and ligaments of the foot, increases the strength of the arch, contributes to good posture and improves our proprioception. Foot development can be damaged by the constraints of shoes. The younger the foot, the greater the potential for damage (the cartialage our feet are made up of at birth isn't fully bone until our late teens). Shoes are of particular concern in children learning to walk because the lack of sole flexibility, and even the slightest incline at the heel end, causes the children to bounce and tip forward. Foot movement is restricted which has an impact on our physiological development. 

In footwear, our temperature-sensing nerves in our feet are stuck just reading the inside of our shoes. This dulls our senses and numbs our nerves into auto-pilot. Walking barefoot in different environments, weathers and temperatures keeps our nervous system stimulated, awake and developing. As a result the circulation to our feet is more efficient as is their temperature regulation, and so walking on cold ground does not have the same effect it would on a shoe-wearer's bare feet, in fact the well seasoned barefooter rarely has significantly cold feet. 

There are incidents that will happen with or without shoes on, but wearing shoes teaches children how to pay less attention to what is going on beneath their feet, and disconnects them from their natural way of being. 

 I do put shoes on my children when absolutely necessary, and let them wear them if they want to, but I choose their footwear very carefully with extra thin soles, zero heel, wide toes and flexible sides to allow for full range of movement among all the other above-mentioned reasons. I generally get them from Vivobarefoot, who have further research on their website. 

Thanks for reading!!! If you're interested in further reading there are a number of books and websites on the subject such as those below, or you could even speak to a paediatric podiatrist if you're feeling really motivated! 

Books: Every Woman's Guide to Foot Pain Relief, Katy Bowman, Alignment Matters, Katy Bowman, Move Your DNA, Katy Bowman 

Websites (there are many!): www.unshod.org the guardian.com (Why Barefoot is Best for Children) www.katysays.com