Best Baby Shoes for Natural Development

First shoes, walker shoes, crib shoes…Where should a parent turn when it comes time to choose those first few pairs of shoes for baby?

Does a supportive pair of sneakers encourage proper walking like your grandmother says? Is barefoot good or bad? But of course, who can resist the adorable thrill of a little baby all dressed up in boxy loafers or ballerina flats?

The conversation around developmentally-supportive baby shoes is noisy and busy, like anything with parenting.

Here I’ll offer a wholesome, natural-minded perspective to baby’s first few pairs of shoes, plus help you find the best places to buy them!

Having read a lot about the subject of foot and balance development and hearing many opinions on the matter, the thoughts presented here are what I believe is well-founded in research and common sense. (like I always try to!)

Note: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Are baby’s first pair of shoes a big deal?

When it comes to children learning how to walk, there’s lots of conflicting advice out there. You may have heard advice to let your one-year-old go barefoot as he learns to walk. Many people swear that it helps the child:

• develop their sense of balance
• exercise and stimulate the many muscles in the foot
• allow for proper bone and muscle formation in the foot, since the toes are not stifled within a toe box where they can’t spread
• develop a better sense of where they are in space and of the terrain, since there’s a feedback loop from the foot muscles to the brain

There is a wealth of information out there which you can peruse to decide what you’ll do for your new walker.

Resources for Parents of New Walkers

Before we get to the shoes, here are some resources you might appreciate on the topic of how a child’s shoes impact their general movement, posture, and development. They shed some more light on this from a developmental perspective:

• “Children’s Feet and Shoes“, Australian government
• “Why Kids Should Go Barefoot More,” Washington Post
• Katy Bowman’s website, especially this article “Feet, Footwear, and Walking Resources,” and her book “Simple Steps to Foot Pain Relief: The New Science of Healthy Feet“
• “Why Barefoot is Best for Children,” The Guardian

The thrust of the argument for young walkers can be summed like this:

“When a child is allowed to be barefoot, her tactile pathways feel the surface of the ground, proprioceptors respond to pressure, and the terrain creates slight imbalances that create neuromuscular strength, spacial orientation, balance, and coordination.”

Dr. Kacie Flegal

And, in simpler terms:

“Despite how irresistible tiny little sneakers might be, there’s no scientific evidence that infants need to wear shoes once they’ve learned how to walk. In fact, the opposite might be true—going shoeless helps a just-toddling toddler improve her balance, strength, and coordination.”

VeryWell Family

You can decide whether you think these are convincing reasons to allow your child to be barefoot as new walkers. I think it can’t hurt, and have personally seen many children who do wonderfully learning to walk without shoes on.

Personally, when we are outdoors I do prefer to put shoes on even a new walker.

Many parents would agree that between gravel, stones, bacteria and pesticides and other substances you’ll encounter in a highly populated area, it’s not always as realistic to leave kids barefoot as it is when, say, at the beach or playing on the lawn.

When selecting shoes, you want to have your child’s comfort as well as their optimal development in mind.

Choosing baby’s first pair of shoes

With all the information above in mind, I found myself extremely overwhelmed in choosing my toddler’s footwear the past few years. It’s overwhelming to sift through endless children’s shoes, trying to decide if they offer the right features for your child’s optimal development.

It’s also challenging to simply keep track of all the ins and outs while shopping- whether a heel is desirable, whether arch support is desirable, whether the fit is right, and so on and so on.

Of course, all this is further complicated by a mother’s desire to have their kid look CUTE! I could never bring myself to buy a super-natural and organic baby shoe that just looked more Indian or hippie than our usual style.

Well, that’s why I wanted to share allll the organic and cute baby shoe brands that I’ve found! Scroll down to find links to six places that I have relied on for beautiful, practical, and also healthful shoes for baby and toddler walkers!

Stock up now for your baby or kid, or share this with a friend who needs this advice! Hope it’s helpful to someone.

You may also like:

• How to Find nontoxic educational toys for toddlers
• Plastic free non-toxic breastmilk storage
• How to Make a Healthier Shabbos Menu

5 Features of Developmentally-Friendly Baby Shoes

How to shop for natural ergonomic baby shoes? Five helpful features for baby’s shoes are:

1. Soft sole– This allows feet to bend and mold to the ground, and baby’s feet can feel the terrain underneath. The way I see it, it’s not always realistic to find shoes like this for older toddlers, but is most important for a first pair of shoes.
2. Leather- I like that leather can work for day-to-day as well as dressier outfits like for Shabbos shoes. From a health perspective, if standing on the ground or grass wearing leather shoes, your baby will also benefit from the effects of grounding. Other materials get in the way of that beneficial energy transfer, so all in all, leather is a good choice.
3. No heel- It’s shocking to look through a kid’s shoe store and see how many kids are being dressed in heels! What this refers to is a bulkier back than front- essentially forcing the back of the foot to be higher than the front. This completely changes a person’s gait (at any age!) and causes them to lean slightly forward. You want to allow your child’s foot to rest on the ground in its natural form. Look for either a soft sole or, for older kids, a simply flat sole.
4. Good grip that won’t slip- Some of the shoes I bought from Amazon, while flat-soled and not too chunky or cumbersome, were simply grip-less. This caused my toddler to have trouble walking on many indoor floors and also to be prone to tripping. Turn over the shoe and make sure it isn’t slippery!
5. Avoid stiff soles and narrow toe-boxes– Again, the goal is to avoid cramped toes and inability to bend the foot.

In summary, you don’t need fancy features, just a simple design that covers the foot.

Many extra “features” actually just function to encumber the child’s walking and development– Keep it simple!

Six Places to Buy Cute & Natural Baby Shoes

1. Ulla Viggo– Shopping small while getting the sweetest little handmade shoes? You’ll love this woman’s handmade beautiful shoe shop. Some of the cutest ones she makes are the ballerina flats and these pompom shoes.

2. Amazon is also an easy place to shop for first shoes. Their items aren’t all the highest quality, but for this purpose it doesn’t much matter since were really just looking to cover the feet. (read longer shpiel above!)

3. Freshly Picked is a very popular brand for their moccasins, as well as pretty girls shoes. All their soft-sole options are leather and beautiful quality, while allowing room for baby’s natural foot movement as they learn to walk.

Again, walker shoes with soft soles don’t need to be high-end, but these certainly look rich if you’re wanting to dress your kids up!

4. Etsy is always my top pick for handmade, unique items. Lots of sellers on this site make custom or one-of-a-kind shoes that you won’t find anywhere else, and at very high quality.

Some cute baby and toddler shoes that also have ergonomic, natural qualities:

Lastly, here are some brand-name options that will still give baby’s foot more flexibility!

5. Converse are a classic, and they also look incredibly cute for everyday. These more ergonomic toddler shoes are also affordable if you find them at the right place, and they go on sale too.

I especially love the white for both boys and girls!

You can feel good about these for an older toddler or kid because the sole, while not soft, but is FLAT. This means it serves as a barrier off the ground, but will not affect your child’s posture or balance the way a heel would.

Just ensure it’s being tied loosely and not leaving marks on baby’s feet. You may want to go up a half a size or more to allow for this, especially if baby has wide or chubby feet. You can grab a cute pair here.

6. Uggs- The ultimate winter shoe, to many people. These two designs caught my eye for being flexible and unrestrictive, while adding a luxurious layer of fur to protect baby and toddler feet from getting nipped by cold wind or snow.

Share this if it’s helpful! Of course, also feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments below.