So, the little monkey who lives in my house loves shoes. He loves to carry them around. He loves to chew on them. He really loves to throw them in wastebaskets. He does not, however, like them on his feet.
In December, we bought Nathan some of those "new walker" shoes. Basically, they are slipper socks. They keep his feet warm and they're better at gripping the ground than his socks. (We have hardwood floors.) He loves these shoes and doesn't rage against the machine when we put them on. Recently, we purchased real shoes (a cute pair of sneakers and a nicer pair of brown shoes) and Nathan hates them. He acts as if we're putting chomping alligators on his feet every time wetackle him sit him down to put them on. We try to distract him with a new toy - or better yet - mommy's cell phone, but to no avail. He just fights. Once they're on (oh yes, we do get them on), he plods around like Frankenstein's monster and grumbles in his own language.
I recently asked some of my friends how they got their child used to shoes after they started walking. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM replied that their kids always wore shoes? Really? My pediatrician and the lady who sold us Nathan's shoes told us that it's best to leave them barefoot when they're learning to walk. And really, doesn't the poor cookie have his whole life to spend in shoes? (I hate shoes.)
So, it's a process. Right now, we're just letting him wander around in socks or his "new walker" shoes. He had real shoes on when we went to the park last weekend, but mostly, he's barefooted. It's just another example, to me, of how individualized parenting is. As dumb as I feel, we're mostly doing okay.
In December, we bought Nathan some of those "new walker" shoes. Basically, they are slipper socks. They keep his feet warm and they're better at gripping the ground than his socks. (We have hardwood floors.) He loves these shoes and doesn't rage against the machine when we put them on. Recently, we purchased real shoes (a cute pair of sneakers and a nicer pair of brown shoes) and Nathan hates them. He acts as if we're putting chomping alligators on his feet every time we
I recently asked some of my friends how they got their child used to shoes after they started walking. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM replied that their kids always wore shoes? Really? My pediatrician and the lady who sold us Nathan's shoes told us that it's best to leave them barefoot when they're learning to walk. And really, doesn't the poor cookie have his whole life to spend in shoes? (I hate shoes.)
So, it's a process. Right now, we're just letting him wander around in socks or his "new walker" shoes. He had real shoes on when we went to the park last weekend, but mostly, he's barefooted. It's just another example, to me, of how individualized parenting is. As dumb as I feel, we're mostly doing okay.
7 comments:
AJU5 goes barefoot in the house (she refuses to keep her socks on most o the time) and then gets socks only most of the time we leave the house. If she will have a chance to walk anyplace other than church, then she gets shoes. Some times she will keep them on, but most of the time she takes them (socks and shoes) off before we get to our destination (which requires re-attaching then).
So, don't worry about the shoe issue. Save them for non-sock appropriate places until he is comfortable with them.
Pfft! Charlie didn't wear shoes until he HAD to at his new daycare, around 10 months. We were going along fine with just socks or nothing until then. Even still he wore Robeez (slippers, really) until he was about 16 months old and truly walking. I've heard it's better to keep them barefoot or in soft shoes too. I don't rememer how we made the transition to real shoes, just that they told me he needed them at daycare because he was slipping a lot.
I have a student at school who went through horrible foot surgery. His mama (our math teacher) informed the doctor proudly that he had been in hard soled shoes since he was nine moths old, so this must be a genetic issues.
The pediatrician informed her that children should wear soft soled shoes (like Robeez) and socks until they are at least two. He actually blamed the shoes for his foot development problems.
I have been proud to enforce that rule with my mackerdoodle. She only wears hard soled shoes like sneakers when it's been cold or really wet, and the robeez soles won't be warm enough. In fact, she didn't wear hard soled shoes at all until this Thanksgiving. (she was 15, almost 16 months old.)
I know that in a cold climate it's a little harder for outside things, but inside I'd still go with Robeez or similar style shoes.
Right now (18 months) she clomps around in her shoes when she wears them, but I think it's because she likes the sound on the wood floor.
My two cents. Sorry for the diatribe.
I hardly ever put shoes on Liam. If it is really, really cold I might. But usually just socks. Usually if we are going out, I'll throw on his slippers (house shoes). Hey if adults can wear slippers in Wal-Mart so can he!! Around the house he is bare foot. I don't know how the little guys stands it. These floors are cold! I'm with you. I hate shoes!! Karen with House of Hillsboro posted an article once about how kids actually should go bare foot more because of dirt. Hey, I'm all for that!
Madelyn would not wear shoes. She would throw a fit! She did not walk until she was 18 months, so she wore socks with grip bottoms or her favorite Robeez! They are great! All of ours are girly ones or I would ship them off to you! I do have some plain navy and plain white though! Let me know and I will get them in the mail to you to try!
Warmly,
Leslie
lgidden@att.net
Heck with my kids, I still hate to wear shoes. In the summer I go completely in flip flops because it's the second best thing to being barefoot.
My kids run around barefoot all the time too. They don't even like socks. In the summer, they'll play outside all day long and be completely barefoot.
We never do shoes in the house. We started with the soft-soled shoes that are super flexible for outside. This last pair that we got in January are a bit firmer. We went for things like Robeez and Pedipeds when he was super young as they're supposed to be okay for their foot development. But when we're inside it's shoes off for everyone. Me too...cuz slippers are just so much better!
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