Children/Teens

Health Guides
Little Footprints
Foot Care

Foot care is important at all stages in life, but the first few years are the most crucial to your children’s development of healthy feet. After all, these little twinkle toes are going to carry them places for the rest of their life. Ensuring good foot care in the initial days will help preventing problems that might arise at a later stage.

Baby Steps:

During the first year, the infant’s feet undergo radical changes. Avoid putting too much strain on them, as they are very flexible and delicate and hence, more prone to damage. Allow the baby to freely kick and stretch its feet for normal growth. Also, make sure that the socks and shoes do not squeeze the toes.

The First Steps:

It is not advisable to force your toddler to walk. Avoid making comparisons with other toddlers as they learn how to walk between the ages of 10-20 months. Hence, if the neighbour’s child walked at 10 months and your 15-month-old kid still wobbles in a walker, do not press the panic button. When ready, the baby will take the first steps.

The Little Dynamo:

By the time children are 7-8 years old, their feet are fully formed. Measure your growing child’s feet every 2-3 months and if required, change his/her footwear. Even though foot problems arise mostly from play injury, illness, deformities or heredity, improper footwear can further agonise those conditions. Timely medical intervention can help prevent bone risk problems.

Common foot dilemmas

In-toeing: Metatarsus Adductus, popularly called Pigeon Toes, is a common foot condition affecting young children. It affects babies of both sexes. Though the actual cause is not known, doctors believe that this happens due to the babies being tightly curled up in mother’s womb. This condition may make it difficult for the child to walk and he/she may trip often. These kids rarely require treatment and get better with time. Occasionally they might need casts or special corrective shoes. Surgery may be suggested only in extremely rare cases.

Flat feet: Baby feet are way different than adult feet. Though the structure is the same, many babies at birth naturally appear flat-footed. This is because of the arch that is yet to develop and a thick layer of baby fat, which protects your infant’s feet. Do not worry, if your little one’s feet are fat, flat and floppy. Just as in-toeing, even this condition will disappear in most cases as your baby begins to stand and walk. However, check with your podiatrist if this condition prevails even by the time your child turns five years of age.

With or Without Shoes

Under proper conditions, it is healthy for kids to roam around barefoot for the proper development of their feet. Footwear is very important from the point of view of healthy development. Wearing poorly fitting shoes in childhood can lead to a number of problems in adulthood. Children’s bones are so flexible that the feet will deform even without their realising it. Despite footwear being essential for the protection of little feet, it is advisable to limit its usage to outdoors and certain dress-up functions at home.