As therapists, we believe that shoes can play an important role in your child's gross motor development.  This article is meant to give you a brief idea of what type of shoe may be most appropriate for your child depending on their stage of development. You  may have read about this topic in our blog.  If not, check it out!

 

When your baby is still spending most of their time down on the floor doing things like rolling, sitting, crawling no shoes are really necessary.  However, if you are looking for something to provide protection or warmth for outdoors, robeez, such as the pair to the left will do the trick.  During this time, a stiffer, more structured shoe may actually get in the way of your child's abiliy to perform transitional movements or crawl.

 

Next your baby will most likely begin to pull to stand at furniture and learn to cruise. Again, shoes are not required for this in a protected environment.  In fact, it is often beneficial for your child's foot musculature to be barefoot when beginning to engage in prewalking activities.  However, if your notice that your baby is hesitant to get up on their feet or appears unstable when standing at furniture, then you may try a slightly more structured pre-walker shoe such as the one to the left.  This type of shoe still has a very flexible sole so that it will bend and move with your chid's foot but it gives just a bit more stability than the robeez.  If you opt for a shoe like this, it doesn't mean you can't also give your baby barefoot time as well.  The shoe may just help them initially to feel secure and then you can alternate netween shoes and bare feet.

 

Anywhere from 10-18 months, a typically developing child will most likely take off walking.  This is where shoes become even more important.  Now that they are really pounding the pavement, it is important to have a supportive shoe that promotes good alignment to avoid unnecessary stresses to the still developing joints of a toddler. During this stage it is important that function wins over fashion.  But don't worry, most if not all children's shoes are very cute regardless of the style! Generally, a sneaker type shoe offers the best arch support at this stage but there are many styles that will do the job.  For example, many brands make mary jane style sneakers or shoes for girls that offer good arch support as well. 

 

If your child has an identified motor impairment or delay, it is important to discuss footwear with the appropriate service provider as they may require more than just the right shoe. Below, we have provided a list of our favorite shoe brands: 

 Good luck in your quest for the perfect shoe!

 

A common question we get asked as therapists is just what is the difference between hypotonia (low muscle tone) and weakness.  While they appear to manifest themselves on the outside similarly, the internal origin and process is much different.  Hopefully these definitions will help clear up any confusion about this.  

 

Hypotonia:

Hypotonia is a medical term used to describe decreased muscle tone (the amount of resistance to movement in a muscle).  With hypotonia, the muscles are slow to initiate a muscle contraction, contract very slowly in response to a stimulus, and cannot maintain a contraction for as long as their 'normal' peers. Because these low-toned muscles do not fully contract before they again relax, they remain loose making it especially a struggle to maintain a contraction over an extended period of time.  This is why low muscle tone may be more apparent in the trunk muscles, as these are the muscles we use to hold us up against gravity and therefore, must have good endurance.

 

Weakness:

Weakness is the decrease in strength of one or more muscles. It is a term used for the inability to exert force with one's muscle as would be expected for their age or fitness level. 

 

Therefore, terms like "weak" or "strong" are purely refering to the force with which a muscle can contract at a given time. Hypotonia refers to muscles that have difficulty with the inititation part of a contraction, which has more to do with the process that occurs between the brain and the muscles. A weak muscle may have no difficulty initiating a contraction but can't produce enough force once it does. Weakness can in occur in one muscle or muscle group such as the abdominals, while hypotonia generally affects the whole body.