where and when do you let your children go without shoes

[butter16]

An earlier post got me wonder where and when do you let your children go without shoes.

My daughter is six and I spend a fortune on shoes for her, yet she takes every opportunity to take them off. She never wears her shoes around the house and garden or to go to her friends a few doors away and to the local shops. When we go to the park she will be running round in her socks in no time. Soon she grown out of the shoes she has and we are off shoe shopping again. We will stop off at McDonalds which has a little play area and she'll be running round the restaurant without them in minutes

The concept of just letting her go barefoot is appealing

I was meant to add to this post earlier but before I could register my newish computer gave up and I just got it back, well this morning. Then I was not receiving the confirmation mail for some reason

always indoors. Our own garden and those we visit.

nipping out to the car/bin etc

Apart from goiing to tesco/shopping then I'm quite relaxed really.

Didn't put any of mine in any kind of footwear till they'd been walking ages.

Anywhere indoors or outdoors at home. Though I do insist that they do not run around outdoors in socks. They are normally barefoot or in socks when indoors.

I wouldn't let them go barefoot in the street (I cut my foot doing that as a child, bore the scar for many years) but if the playpark appears to be free of broken glass or similar, I do let them go barefoot there.

Would your dd tolerate flipflops as a compromise?

Just returned from nz holiday where I was surprised/ pleased to see school children taking off their school shoes and going barefoot the moment they came out of the school gates!
It is a milder climate, but I think there is a culture of barefootedness. Didn't see any injuries. Maybe a lot less rubbish on the streets out there.

Flip flops are really bad for childrens' feet as they affect their natural gait but provide no support - bare foot/proper shoes are much better. I wouldn't allow barefoot outside of areas that you know are clear of dangerous objects, etc.

I take DD out barefoot but don't let her walk - she just pulls her shoes off in the pushchair or in trollies - I am sick of losing them.

no shoes indoors or in garden if boys don't want to, barefoot to pop to car or neighbours house to play, beach, any opportunity whilst camping

now won't let them barefoot in park as ds1 got a splinter in his foot when 16 months and had to have it cut out at A&E with local when it got infected he only stood on a stick too

Indoors. In the park and sandpit. In my parents' garden. On the beach.

I saw a wee girl the other week, she looked about 8/9 with totally bare feet walking through Princes street (main shopping street) in edinburgh on a damp saturday...

I'm sorry to say I judged the mother who was walking along side her quite badly...

Was I wrong to do this??

At home, in the garden at the beach.

Home, garden, beach, park, car.

I encourage mine to leave their socks on at least they offer some protection.

sunchild77, if that is how you feel then why would it be wrong?

I do not see anything wrong with it myself.

DS is 2.5. very basic rule of:
If we're walking anywhere that isn't the house or the garden, he wears shoes.

Non-negtiable.

I am strict OCD parent though.

Hi everyone thanks for your feedback

in reply to PrettyCandles she as several flipflops, a couple of slip on shoes, a number of crocodile types, sandals, proper shoes.

sunchild77, why did you judge the mother badly

Logic tells me there is nothing wrong with letting DD go barefoot but I have doubts, the reaction of others is a major one

However let her go barefoot round a supermarket on sunday and no one seemed to care

Totally lax parent here (to make you all feel better ): I let DS (3) go barefoot pretty much anywhere apart from the supermarket... he just takes his shoes off in the car, anyway, which totally enrages me... much calmer Mummy if I jusy give in... I also have DD (8 weeks) so guess I could plead post-natal exhaustion, but nah I'm just lazy, really!

oh, butter - just read your post properly re supermarket - he's actually often barefoot there, too, but in a trolley, and no one seems to mind?!

DS 2.6 is barefoot in the house and other people's houses and the concrete part of our yard; pretty much nowhere else. But our garden is full of spiky plants that were already here when we moved in. DH and MIL are much more lax than I am and so far I have had to pull spikes out of DS's feet two or three times (it wouldn't cross their minds to). He's allowed to go barefoot on the beach - but not at MIL's house because there are oyster shells all over the waterfront and they're f'ing sharp! Plus oystershell cuts are a bit like coral, more likely to get infected. He's fallen on them and cut his hands and had a little lump which became a cyst on one palm for 6m.

Perhaps I am over cautious - but DS is pretty good at keeping his shoes on.

Butter - I judged the mother because the child was at least 8 years old and was walking down the dirty high street on a wet day, crossing roads etc in totally bare feet, surely there is a serious risk of broken glass, dog shit, nails, INJURY with someone stepping on her toes fGS... Need I go on?

Oh I must say that the mother was holding her daughters hand at the time.

I have nothing against going barefoot, me and my kids are pretty much always barefoot, in the house, outside in our garden, etc. Its just that this was in town on a busy saturday afternoon.

I have to say DD can go barefoot where ever she chooses but that is because I would rather go barefoot than bother with shoes. I grew up in South Africa where shoes at schoolo ere optional in the summer and when we did wear them they went on at the school gate and came off as we came out. I get some odd looks from people when we pop to the shop or park barefoot. We have a holly tree on on our fence line and DD no longer yell when she stands on a prickly leaf she just sits down take it out and carries on.

I judged the mother because the child was at least 8 years old and was walking down the dirty high street on a wet day, crossing roads etc in totally bare feet, surely there is a serious risk of broken glass, dog shit, nails, INJURY with someone stepping on her toes fGS... Need I go on?

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I do not see why walking down a street is any more dangerous then on a beach.

Are flipflops that so many people wear these days much protection from glass, or nails, or someone stepping on your toes

My DS is almost 8 and goes barefoot everywhere, apart from when it's really cold or snowing/icy. He wears shoes for school but they have a constant battle with him to keep them on.

I often get the 'you are obviously a bad mother' stare from the do-gooders but they are the same ones who would be even worse if I was to be seen in the street fighting with him to keep shoes on his feet.

Even if you had shoes on, you wouldn't walk on broken glass, stand in dog poo or step on a nail on purpose would you?

Gaffer tape keeps them on quite effectively.

I just bought my dd a pair of these beach shoe things as a compromise - she is 2.5 and would happily be barefoot forever - but we have loads of jaggy rocks, sharp shells etc at the beach we go to - plus the odd broken bottle. So its bare feet on the sand but these waterproof shoe things for all other outdoor messy things - would she wear them? I think DD tolerates them because I then don't restrict her from being in the sea, puddle jumping etc.

My ILs hate to see people barefoot, even on the beach. I wander round their house and garden barefoot in the summer and will let ds do so too once he starts walking.

garden, indoors, and in the park....

have just got her summer shoes that ar wearing in, and take them off on walks when they start chafing...

I don't really care enough about shoes to bother (unless it was somewhere dangerous) However, I did get thrown out of mums and toddlers a couple of years ago as child had an indigo moment and pulled shoes off and refused to put them back on again.

Gah - Sure Start!!! They never threw us out up Methodist!