Do you know the difference between children’s feet and adult feet?

The correct choice of quality footwear for your child is extremely important because children’s feet are subject to various changes and are constantly developing and growing. When buying shoes, pay attention to several important factors that will affect the choice of quality shoes and thus the development of the child’s feet. When buying shoes, parents should pay attention to the materials from which the shoes are made, the length, width, and shape of the child’s feet, how active the child is and what habits he has, how long he will wear the selected shoes and under what conditions. There are many questions that arise, but with information and good preparation, they have their answers. It is very important to know how to recognize and choose high-quality children’s shoes, not only when it comes to the first shoes, but also later throughout childhood.

CHILDREN’S FEET

The foot of an adult includes 100 tendons, muscles, and ligaments in addition to 26 bones and 33 joints. Contrary to popular belief, children’s feet are not miniature replicas of adults’ feet. The feet of young children are very different from the feet of an adult.

The soft structures in the baby’s feet will start to ossify when he or she begins to stand, turning them into bones or bone tissue. The foot forms throughout this time, allowing you to predict how it will look in the future (high or low instep, heel, toes, etc.). The immature bones are still spaced apart widely at this age, and there is a risk that they will shift out of their normal, healthy position. As a result, the initial pair of shoes should be able to be adjusted for tightness and fastening while also providing protection for the toes, heel, and wrist.

All the foot bones will develop during the child’s walking phase, but there are still significant spaces between them that allow for a variety of undesirable motions from the natural position. It is crucial to let these bones develop normally and healthfully since if not, they will become misaligned and be challenging to straighten later. In the front, where we typically tie our shoes, is the navicular bone, which has not yet developed. Instead, there is a thick pad on the foot’s arch, and over the next few years, the arch will form. The fat pads will gradually vanish, and the feet will gradually assume their mature shape. It is perfectly normal and unimportant if the foot arch has not yet developed at this point.

Children’s feet grow incredibly swiftly during the first several years of life. A child’s feet typically expand by 1 mm every month between the ages of 3 and 6, which is a lot when you consider that they have been wearing already-tight shoes since last winter. It is advised to measure the child’s feet every month up until their first birthday. The foot should be measured every three months between the second and third years.