Best footwear for child with flat footed and knock knees

[Sunsh1ne24]

Hello, I'm posting here for opinions on what shoes you have found helped with flat feet (I'm pretty sure she has collapsed arches) and knock knees. It runs in our family and my mum now has very bad feet, knee and hip problems and I want to try and avoid these problems in the future for our daughter. We've been looking at Vivobarefoot but my only concern is that when we saw a physiotherapist when she was 2 they recommended shoes with a supportive ankle/heel and these look soft/ unsupportive around the ankle/heel but all the shoes she has had have rubbed her feet and I can see they squash her toes. She's nearly 5 now and she likes to be barefoot and I understand the logic of wearing shoes like Vivobarefoot (and would love a pair myself!).
Thank you

I'm pretty sure you should run this past a professional, but a million years ago, I turned my toes in, and later so did DC1. We both wore Startrite shoes and the problem corrected itself for both of us. However, DC1 is 27 and I'm sure there's more up-to-date information.

Orthotics may be needed; you could ask the physio for a referral

Barefoot shoes are great for plodding around the house in but you will definitely need orthotics for decent amounts of walking and standing.

DS2 had rigid, supportive boots with orthotic inserts and, of course, what got overlooked was the fact that his feet rolling in was part of a whole body full of hypermobility related symptoms and he couldn't comfortably kneel to play at nursery with his boots on and ended up W-sitting, which is damaging to the hips and knees.

I agree @PickAChew my DD saw a podiatrist and got orthotics in her startrite shoes, tip of the iceberg with her hyper mobility and connective tissue disorder.... still not sorted now at nearly 20, it's complex

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply. I'm going to go back to the physiotherapist and try and get a podiatrist referral.

I started wearing barefoot shoes a couple of years ago and am gradually replacing all my shoes with them. I love them, I have really wide feet with high arches and pronate. I often hit my ankles and knees together when walking/running. I love the change. I started wearing them after reading a book called Born to Run. For me it makes sense, our hips, knees, ankles and whole skeleton are founded on our feet’s movement and strength. Having space for my toes is great, my big toe now longer turns in and I don’t have corns on both little toes now. I also love to have nothing on my feet at home and really enjoy the feeling of the gravel and pavement etc under my feet when walking in minimalist shoes.

The Live Better Feel More podcasts can be a bit evangelical for me but podcast 502 and 13 are useful listens. 502 is interesting as to how the medical industry doesn’t like these shoes. I say that as a medical person, working in a research field myself. I quite enjoyed learning how modern female shoes came about.

Happy Little Soles is a great online shop to get you started and a website called Anya’s Reviews is a great resource for shoe brands and styles.

Vivo’s do a 100 day free trial so you can try them out.

How old was your daughter when she grew out of it?

I was flat footed, knock kneed, and pigeon toed. I wore Startrite shoes with inner raise as a child, but the problem was still there when I took them off. I had hyper mobility in my hips.

Hi, my suggestion would be to check a podiatrist can deal with orthotics, ime the referral has been needed for the orthotics team, as here at least, they do very different things.

Oh gosh now you're asking me! I don't actually remember tbh. I recall wearing the same style of Startrite Inneraze myself 2 or 3 years into secondary? I hated those things!

She needs orthotics insoles in her shoes. And proper shoes that support her feet and ankles. This will help the muscles get stronger. Also probably do some physio exercises each day- a few from now will strengthen the weak muscles and help the skeleton be supported as she grows. I’d go for proper medical advice

Those barefoot shoes won’t support arches - I wouldn’t think. I’d go to a professional and get insoles made