5 features of a good supportive shoe!

A special treat for you! GUEST BLOG! written predominantly by Liba Bielik. She is the owner of an Australian online store named Shoe Baby Shoe. 

Liba started her business after her son was told by a physiotherapist that he required good quality supportive boots to support his feet, but that they couldn't be bought in Australia for less than $300! 😱 Liba now exclusively stocks good quality leather shoes for supporting the feet of babies and children. 

When evaluating good quality supportive footwear for very young children, we are looking at everything we can see and touch, and then also what we can’t see with naked eye – everything that was used in making of the shoe.

Here are our tips for 5 ways to spot the supportive shoe that is right for your baby;

1. Heel Counter- the part of the shoe that accommodates the heel. Heel counter provides stability to the foot, and also gives the shoe its shape (and keeps it that way long term). You can test the heel counter by squeezing as in the picture below. 

The heel counter is essentially the “reinforcement” of the very back of the shoe, generally consisting of treated cardboard, positioned between inner lining and external material of the shoe. Sport shoes have a counter made of thermoplastic. And cheap shoes often don’t have any, you will be able to collapse the heel by squeezing. Yes, it is the case of “you get what you pay for”.

2. Support- how is the shoe holding up the foot, particularly ankle, and how do we keep this support stable?

We want the shoe to be high enough around the ankle to “hold” it, and also firm enough to keep the ankle and leg in alignment, when we put the shoe on. Then we need to prevent the loss of that support when walking by fastening the shoe on.

Low moccasins, thongs, loafers, ballet flats and boat shoes don't hold the foot at all. Loose ugg boots and gum boots, while taller, allow the foot to slide around inside. 

Just how much ankle height and firmness does your child need will depend on their individual situation – their skeletal and muscle development stage, general motor development, any diagnoses and present symptoms, any goal you are working on together with your physiotherapist or medical team, and if your child has orthotics. 

To fasten the shoe, we use either shoelaces or velcro. Most physiotherapists prefer shoelaces as they let us apply constant support, and won’t “give”. This can be also made in some instances more convenient and fool-proof by using magnetic shoelaces. Parents usually prefer velcro, at first for convenience, and later on because it allows child to put their shoes on without help.

When your child does need supportive shoe, laces will clearly win in any closed shoes, and I have never been asked by a physiotherapist to sell boots with Velcro. I do however bring supportive sandals with Velcro strap around the ankle and that has always been preferred to buckle around the ankle, perhaps as Velcro strap is thicker and firmer and thus holds around the ankle better.

3. The insole- To see the third feature of your child’s potential shoes, you have to look inside. There will be a raised part of the insole, for young children often cushioned, called arch support. You will see it easier in our sandals, but all shoes I sell have this – baby shoes, full boots, sandals and extra tall boots. It is sometimes missing in first shoes for children, as their foot still has a lot of fat underneath, but once you start walking, shoes should have arch support. Later on you will see shaped insoles for adults without cushioning.

4. Correct shoe structure including sole and toe box.

Soles need to be flexible to allow you to raise your heel when walking, but not too flexible. When you hold the shoe upside down, you should be able to bend it behind forefoot (picture below), just like it would bend when you walk, but not bend it randomly all over or even diagonally or lengthwise. 

Safety aspect of the sole shouldn’t be forgotten either – soles should have a grip (pattern) and anti-slippery surface. Different pattern and anti-slip features will depend on the kind of situation you need to wear shoes for. Just remember that all of this can fail in most wet and slippery conditions like rain / mud / sleet and we want to exercise caution regardless.

Toe box is responsible for lot of “wrong” in fashionable shoes for women, starting with discomfort and ending up with deformities and chronic pain. We want nothing of that for children. Toe box is essentially round or rounded flat front part of the shoe, working with actual anatomy, and never pointy in children’s shoe. This allows for proper development of the little foot, and also comfort (think stretching of toes).

Another aspect of this area is a toe box protection in sandals. While there are situations when you do need just a flip flop or little slipper, very young child can get easily hurt without both support and protection. Some brands offer sandals (including supportive ones) with open front, some brands offer both open and enclosed front. I believe the is a place for both, however Shoe Baby Shoe only brings enclosed sandals – with toe box protection. This is something I learned from our son’s bloodied big toes, both from playing on hard surface outdoors and from “braking” on his little plastic motorbike. 

I had to recently explain this to one father ordering shoes (yes, there isn’t many of them among all mums I hear from, but they exist).  His disappointment that his son’s sandals lasted only three months because he pretty much tore off the front is to me always preferable to scraping off the skin on child’s toes, or hurting toenails. Plus, you don’t really expect to have a pair of sandals forever given the growth rate of kids’ feet.

5. Materials- Last thing we look for is largely hidden, the components and materials used in manufacturing, very much affecting the safety, health and hygiene aspect of your child’s shoes. You see the end product – cute little booties – but there is a whole process to get here, and unfortunately also a lot of opportunities to cut corners, or get it plain wrong.

• First there is a design – we mentioned some aspects above – which has to take in account the specifics of a child’s foot anatomy and its healthy development.
• Then there are materials; those used in footwear for children under 3 years old should be non-toxic, and same goes for dyes. 
• Glues must not contain any organic solvents (read there won’t be formaldehyde slowly escaping from the shoe). 
• There must be no small parts or particles, to exclude risk of choking or ingestion.
• Closed shoes should be made from breathable materials.

Wearing correct footwear in the first years will can prevent the need for therapeutic footwear or any other corrections later in life.

Shoes from Shoe Baby Shoe are hand made without the use of organic glues and both finished product and all used materials and components are tested to comply with rigorous mandatory certification (law requires this from all manufacturers and importers of footwear for children under 3 years of age in the Czech Republic, where our shoes are from). This includes not only basic health and safety concerns (small particles, toxic dyes, soles). Healthy development of child’s feet is given consideration starting with the age-appropriate design and shape of shoes and also comfort of little feet is taken into account (water vapor permeability testing in closed-toe designs). Please note that there are no similar requirements when selling, manufacturing or importing footwear for this age group in Australia.

While most of our customers were referred to us by their child’s physiotherapist or key worker, your child may still benefit from wearing age-appropriate and certified shoes, giving you that extra peace of mind. 

A note from Alison, our physiotherapist and the Walky: I frequently use and recommend Shoe Baby Shoes in the clinic I work in. We recommend these products but do not receive any financial compensation for it. As a physiotherapist I agree with everything Liba has written.