To have still not put my DS in shoes?

[luckiestgirlintheworld]

DS is almost 18 months and has never worn a pair of shoes. He's been walking since about his first birthday.
When in the park or garden he either goes barefoot if it's wet out, or sometimes he wears just socks.

When I spoke to the guy in the shoe shop he said it's really important to spend the extra money and buy properly fitting and properly made shoes, or the next best thing is no shoes at all. So I just decided not to bother.

I get a lot of odd looks from other mums and wondered if I'm being disapproved of. Do you think I'm BU?

But I always have buggy with me

Yabu, I agree with bare feet as much as possible but it's not fair on your DS to only allow him out of the buggy at places you 'know' are clean and safe. I didn't put proper shoes on mine until 19 months because he couldn't walk more than 2 steps (issue with his feet, seeing orthopaedic Dr soon) and he wore leather soft shoes but now he is walking fairly confidently then he has shoes for playing outside and we can walk to the corner shop etc, I think it's good to encourage him to walk especially if we are having a day out and are away from main roads.

My dd was walking at 10 months and so I bought her shoes. It was winter and it was cold. But she was wanting to be up and out of her pushchair as much as possible, not just inside or in our garden.

So she had proper fitted shoes. And she would walk about everywhere.

I wouldn't walk about in bare feet in the cold and wet in many places so wouldn't have thought to make dd do it.

She was barefoot whenever we were home or in a family/friends home or garden. But not when walking about outside those places.

I'm quite surprised at the amount of parents saying their DC were walking significant distances without a buggy. Where do you put your shopping when the toddler wants to be carried? forgive me if I am wrong, but aren't puppies discouraged from long walks cos their bones and joints are still soft, surely the same would apply to an 18 month old walking some of the distances mentioned? when my DDs were toddling it was quite normal to see kids 2yo and above in buggies. how times and attitudes have changed since my youngest was toddling, and she's only 9!!

We still took a pushchair out but dd wasn't keen. Never harmed her legs at all to walk lots but if she got tired we popped her in the pushchair, or if two of us there - one pushed, one carried.
And we weren't walking miles - just wandering round in not too busy places.

Just take a back pack. buggies should never be loaded up anyway. I didn't have to carry mine for the distances they did.

I think.we have gotten too used to seeing older kids in buggies.if an 18m or 2 ur old walking is such a surprise.

I used to feel quite sorry for the kids who's parents walked them.round and round town for hours while they squirmed to get out the damn thing so just had food and drink.thrown at them the whole time to keep them. quiet so the parents could continue with their circuits around town

I'd go to work and see them.on the way, I'd see them.walk past the shop window then again on lunch break I'd see them still walking about town kids as old as 3/4 sat in the buggy.

If your not in a hurry then there's no reason they can't come out fir a toddle surely?

In the house and garden generally no shoes on any of us. But I let 16month old ds2 walk to the little park, the shop and the school so he wears shoes then otherwise his poor feet would be ripped to shreds.

I would have thought that if a doctor says leave shoes for as long as possible, they mean not to to put your 3 week old in a pair of Caterpillar boots, as opposed to a toddler wearing a pair of well made, well fitting 'toddler shoes'.

drivin dd walked the distances she chose. If she got tired I'd stick her on my shoulders/ hip if I hadn't taken a pushchair. Because she was always allowed out she was obliging if I did need to hurry/ crowd dodge and stop her walking briefly.
Walking proportionately long distances compared to some others doesn't appear to have damaged her joints. Quite the opposite, the fact she has always had lean muscle is one of the reasons that for her a high degree of hyper mobility doesn't have any impact on her, nor is it likely to in future. She can just do funky stuff with her joints and the build up of muscle has prevented her doing it either unthinkingly or to the degree it causes damage, because she can feel the pull on the involved muscle if not the actual joint. Same for me.
( not implying hyper mobility is always cancelled out by lean muscle and that those with physical difficulties from it could all cure it by exercising more btw)