It may seem dangerous or unhygienic, but leaving your little one barefoot is essential for the development of their feet and spine.
Jorge’s sole is full of pressure and sensitive receptors. The little one, sitting in the sand on the beach, does nothing but fall and get up. Maintains balance for a moment, takes one or two steps and turns to the ground. Precious information is reaching Jorge’s brain and all his muscles that help him to be increasingly successful in his goal. The sensitive and pressure receptors are stimulated each time the child places his foot on the ground, explains the specialists. Would it be the same if the stimulus were always from the same surface, same temperature, same texture? Does bare footwear the same joints and muscles as barefoot? No.
When Victoria walks through Grandpa’s lawn and reaches an area with more water, she instinctively slows down. He treads more carefully, his little fingers shrink (as if clinging to the ground) he knows that he slips even though nobody has told him. Your body perceives in milliseconds what is happening and makes immediate adjustments. Information from the water does not reach your brain through your shoes. The non-slip sole shoe may also hold it. But she misses the opportunity to develop her own resources.
Danger: atrophy
The more terrains the bare feet of the little ones move, the better. Your body will try to adjust the entire posture to a more or less firm, more or less cold, more or less level ground. What happens if this stimulation is not given? The foot atrophies, it loses, from the beginning, capacity and possibilities of movement.
The foot atrophies and the body atrophies. Because the foot does not end at the ankle. If we continue upwards we will find a huge number of interrelated muscles, bones and tendons that are directly affected by the functioning of the foot.
The legs, knees and hips continually adjust to foot movements. We can continue until we reach the crown because the whole body is supported on the foot.
So? What favors the correct development of the foot? The use of the foot itself, barefoot, without further contact with different surfaces. On the beach, in the grass, on uneven and different surfaces, the child’s foot develops, strengthens and this affects his entire body.
On the floor of the house too?
The child can also walk barefoot on the floor of the house if it is suitable, for example wooden. However, and even if you spend a lot of time barefoot at home, the best surfaces to train all the possibilities of your foot are the natural ones.
What is the difference between the house floor and the pool grass? The first surface does not give even a millimeter, does not adapt to the step. However, natural surfaces (sand, earth, grass) are the best for learning to walk because they involve this double adaptation: the foot adapts to the surface and the surface adapts to the foot. Although even rigid surfaces, such as home flooring, allow the barefoot to make its entire journey, something fundamental for body development and posture.