How to choose the best barefoot shoe for your baby's first steps

Cómo elegir el mejor zapato respetuoso para los primeros pasos de tu bebé

The first steps of a baby represent an exciting and decisive stage in his development. During this process, choosing a suitable baby first steps shoes is essential to favour healthy foot growth, improve balance and allow the little one to explore their environment freely and safely.

In recent years, specialists in child podiatry and motor development have highlighted the importance of respectful footwear and barefoot footwear for babies, designed to imitate the sensation of walking barefoot while protecting your feet from outdoor or uncontrolled surfaces.

At home and in controlled areas, the best thing will always be WALKING BAREFOOT

The first steps shoe is specifically designed for babies who begin to stand up, stay in balance and take their first walks autonomously. It is considered first steps when your baby is able to take 10 steps without help, by himself.

Unlike traditional shoes, respectful footwear seeks to respect the natural anatomy of the child's foot, allowing muscles, tendons and joints to develop without restrictions.

Why is respectful footwear important?

Experts agree that walking barefoot is the best option whenever possible. However, when the baby needs protection against cold, humidity or outdoor surfaces, the footwear must offer an experience as close as possible to going barefoot.

During the first years of life, babies' feet are extremely flexible and are largely formed by cartilage. For this reason, any shoe that is too rigid can interfere with their natural development.

The benefits of respectful footwear include:

  • Favours the natural development of the foot.
  • Improves balance and stability.
  • It allows a greater perception of the soil.
  • It makes it possible to strengthen the foot muscles.
  • Reduces interference in the natural gait pattern.
  • It offers total comfort.

When should a baby start wearing shoes?

The general recommendation is that the baby remains barefoot as long as it is safe to do so, especially indoors. The use of shoes should begin when the little one starts walking outdoors or needs protection against certain surfaces.

How to choose the right size

Choosing a suitable size is as important as selecting a respectful model. To find the right size:

  1. Place the baby standing on a sheet of paper. The sheet of paper that touches the wall so that it does not move and the heel touches the wall as if it were the back area of the shoe.
  2. Mark a line on the longest finger.
  3. Measure the distance between the beginning of the paper that touched the wall and the line you have marked on the longest finger.
  4. That will be the measurement of your foot, and with that measure you can consult our SIZE GUIDE.
  5. The correct thing is that at the time of buying your first shoe there is a margin of 8mm and 1.2cm between the tip of the shoe and your longest toe.
  6. EMPLE: If your foot measures 11cm you need our size M with 12cm of insole, but if you measure 11.5cm you will need size L with 13cm of template, although at the beginning you have 1.5cm instead of 1.2, that margin is better, since they grow very fast. A margin of less than 8mm is not recommended (with 11.5cm of foot and a 12cm insole, a margin of 5mm is already end of size and small in two days) since we do not want your little fingers to touch the tip of the shoe when walking, we want them to have space.

It is advisable to check the size frequently, since children's feet grow quickly during the first years of life. To do this you can take out the removable template and see if the fingerprint is marked, or put the template against the wall and its foot on it.

Discover all the collection of first steps MINIS and choose the best respectful footwear for your baby, the best friend in his first steps.

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