DD has flat feet and cracked toe nails at 16months what shall I do?

[twinkletwinklepops]

Hello. I just read the 'shoes or no shoes' threads but cannot find an answer to my dilemma.

DD is 16months and in nursery full time. During the day at nursery she goes bare feet and if she goes she wears her outdoors shoes. At home she goes bare feet too, so she spends most of her time bare foot. She is our first baby so I'm just following what I've read/advice given to me.

I recently noticed both her big toe nails are cracked in two places each. Although her toe nails are short it looks like the cracks are permanent because each nail has two cracks in it and the different parts of the nails grow at different speeds. Is this repairable? It's not so obvious as her nails are tiny but of course I want her to have perfect little feet and nails :-)

Also, with cracked toe nails should I be putting her in indoor shoes during the day to protect her nails? I have been keeping them short but I'm not sure this helps. And will shoes hinder the growth of her feet?
The other reason I feel indoor shoes might be good for her is that she has very flat feet. Will indoor shoes help with this?

So, are cracked nails repairable? With cracked toe nails shall I put her in indoor shoes? Will indoor shoes help with her flat feet.

The lady at nursery said DD keeps hurting her feet on toys so she said I should get her some shoes.

Sorry for the long post.

[adoptmama]

Flat feet are perfectly normal at this age - all babies have them. I thought my youngest had the shortest, fattest, flatest feet on the planet (and she possibly does) but babies just don't have arches at this age. It is definitely normal to have zero arch and a totally flat appearance. They also don't have bony knee caps - all in good time :) The arch develops as they walk and the muscles and ligaments get stronger. Don't worry - it is a perfectly normal appearance. Obviously the later your baby walks the later the arch develops. My number 2 was very late at walking so she still has very flat feet.

I think it is very unlikely that anything on her nails is permanent at this point so try not to worry. (You can always check with your GP if you are still concerned).

I would definitely get her some nice, supportive indoor slippers for nursery. It will not damage the growth of her feet in any way at all and will protect her from hurting herself as she trundles around.

[MainlyMaynie]

Do you mean horizontal cracks across the toenails? Dr told me this was normal and will grow out.

[twinkletwinklepops]

Thanks Adoptmama, I feel assured by your advice. We will buy her some indoors this weekend, especially with the winter coming. Keep her little feet warm.
MainlyMaynie, these are vertical cracks going from top to the middle, they don't go all the way down to the cuticle. But I don't know what to do. Maybe the indoor shoes will help, we'll see. I know the GP will say, watch and see how it goes.
If anyone has any tips on how to lookafter vertical cracks in toe nails I would welcome some advice
Thanks.

[MsPickle]

What about slipper socks sometimes? Feet warm and less sliding but not restrictive. (Also useful as welly socks). My ds saw a physio who saw him on tiptoe and said that's how you tell whether flat feet or not, the arch was visible when on toes (they look flat when he's standing). She also got a strange gait post a plastered leg sorted by suggesting we got him an indoor trampoline (flat dweller) which sorted his balance and gait in a couple of weeks. (And is a godsend in bad weather!). This was at just over 2.

[twinkletwinklepops]

Thanks MsPickle, but with socks she always pulls them off. Today we brought her a pair of indoor shes by Shoesme which she seems to like.