Childrens Feet
Baby Feet
There is nothing quite like holding your baby and marvelling at their tiny extremities. So squishy and soft! And that is just the way our babies feet should be.
Babies are born with a few ‘partly solid’ bones while the rest of the bones in the foot remain cartilage. The metatarsals (forefoot bone), the talus (ankle bone) and the calcaneous (heel bone) area all partially formed in childrens feet at birth. These bones do not take on their final shape until much later. After birth your babies foot position will be checked in the hospital to ensure their is no evidence of serious child foot abnormalities that would require intervention.
It is normal for your baby’s feet to look very flat. They have lots of extra fatty padding to cushion the feet. As they start to stand up and walk, most commonly between 12-18months. The ‘flatness’ of their feet can be a concern to many parents. But it really is just how children’s feet should look like at this age.
Shoes for babies beginning to walk are only there to serve a protective function. When home, keep them in barefeet. This will encourage neural (Nervous system) feedback to the brain and establish developmental postural and sensory mechanisms.
Toddler Feet
Between 2.5 to 5 years of age your toddler should be motoring along with their movement. Their centre of gravity becomes more upright, their hands will lower down by their sides and their feet will begin to move in a normal heel strike to toe off walking pattern. More bones are becoming solid in our children’s feet at this stage. At around 4-5 years of age the navicular (our main arch bone) will solidify and show it’s position along the arch.
Childrens feet in the toddler bracket of 2.5- 5 years of age will start to lose some of their fatty padding and begin to show the shape of the arch. Shoes become more functional as they approach kindy age and their level of activity changes to include more sports and exercise. Look for shoes with solid heel cups, a retaining mechanism like laces, velcro and buckles to hold the foot inside the shoe.
Growing pains, tired legs and feet, and the resistance to participate in activity are all symptoms parents should consider in this bracket as means to intervene. Growing pains are not normal and intervention may be necessary.
Childrens Feet 6-10 years old
Childrens Feet from age 6 through to 8 years have all bones solid bone with growth plates evident at some sites. Childrens Feet appear to have more natural bone shape characteristic to each specific bone in the foot.
By the age of 8 most of the full body postural margins have been formed. Foot position, knee position, pelvic position and back position are all evident in overall postural positioning by the age of 8. Have a look at your child’s resting postural position when they stand and move.
Do they have stooped posture with rounded shoulders?
C curve through their back when standing side on?
Knocked knees or very flat feet?
Are they intoeing?
It is important to start creating change around these resting postural position. Muscles working around poor posture may become weak and injured.
As activity increases through sports and school, childrens feet in this age bracket will require more supportive footwear. Footwear to help cushion against shock and reduce load. Sneakers or running shoes become a great shoe product for exercise as they work to support childrens feet while under load. Exercise like jumping can increase the load through the body and feet by up to 3 times the childs normal load so it is good to have them supported well.
Children feet 10-14 years old
Sssh don’t tell the 14 years old I still classify their feet as childrens feet! There will be a resounding… “ I’m not a child” protest….Yes I agree, by 14 years old we will have more adult sized feet but final foot size and shape doesn’t occur just yet.. For females growth of the foot finishes at approximately 16 and for males 19 years of age. At 14-15 years the final growth plate of the heel bone fusing will occur. At 14 years old Children’s feet have 26 solid bones in each foot and 33 joints sitting in their position.
Between 10-14 years of age is when Podiatrists will see the most children coming in to the clinic with symptomatic pain. Its no longer presenting as growing pains and sore tired legs at this age. By this time our kids are experiencing injuries to muscles, tendons and bones from poor foot position and their inability to absorb increased load. These kids will be in pain and they will let you know outright where and what type of pain it is!
We will also have kids that become experts sport people. Their level of load sky rockets as multiple training sessions and games becomes the epi-centre of their life. So its not uncommon with greater load to get tissue breakdown and injury. If there is pain its important to seek a professional to diagnose and implement a treatment strategy.
Check out my other blogs on typical Heel pain and knee pain syndromes found in this age group.