Shoes for Narrow Feet in Children: What Parents Need to Know

Normal child growth and development requires some degree of attention to your child's mobility. If you are the parent of an infant who has recently begun to walk, it is important to ask your pediatrician to evaluate your child's feet to be sure shoes are proper for your child's foot needs. For children with extremely narrow feet, the need for shoes for narrow feet may need to be addressed so as to ensure that walking and running is not impeded in any way.

Extremely narrow feet in children, much like extremely wide feet, can pose a complication in children who are just beginning to walk. But, as a parent, how do you know if your child's feet meet the definition of "extreme narrow" and what treatment is needed? In most cases, professional evaluation by a pediatrician or a pediatric podiatrist is the only way to get clear cut answers.

If your child is found to have narrow feet, it may be prudent, based on your pediatricians' recommendation, to invest in shoes for narrow feet. Oftentimes, you can buy these types of shoes online or through a local child shoe retailer but, depending upon the degree to which your child's feet are narrow, there may need to be a custom made shoe. Overtime, it is true that your child's feet may grow to normal width but in the first few years when learning to walk and run, these shoes for narrow feet will help to ensure your child's walking is of highest integrity.

Much like any abnormal child development, a specialist pediatrician is recommended for a child who has unique healthcare needs. Just like the use of a pediatric ophthalmologist for narrow angle glaucoma in children, so is the need for a pediatric podiatrist for children with excessively narrow feet.

Narrow feet and other abnormal body develop is common in young children and will spontaneously correct as your child grows. Only in rare cases do narrow feet on children require long term medical correction and special shoes. As a parent, it is important to protect your child's foot health and to ensure development continues as normal as possible as, in the long term, health issues will dissipate and your child will be healthy and busy moving about in a normal pair of shoes.

Sources: The Good Foot Book, by Glenn Copeland