[mommamarci]

Hey all,

I know I have been told several times not to put shoes on kids until after they are walking well. This is not always the case. We have started physical therapy for Cameron becase he is not crawling. He has started trying to walk, but he is walking on the inside of his foot. (He rolls it to the side and is walking on the arch area instead of flattening his foot.) He also has very flat feet. The physical therapist said if we do not put him in hard soled shoes soon while he is learning, we will need special shoes later to make him stop rolling his foot and to fix his flat footedness. So, don't assume kids don't need shoes. Ask your ped! The PT said she gets so frustrated because they never add caveats to the no shoes until walking. For kids with good arches and no issues, they should not, but kids with flat feet or issues should have shoes and most parent (like me) have no clue about this.

Okay, that is my public service announcement!!

[KarynB]

Thanks for this momma marci - but I have a question for you - I think our boys are the same age (k is 9.5 months) and he is not crawling either - can you tell me why your ped was worried about this? Ours just says he will do it in his own time - now I am a bit worried.....

[mommamarci]

Well, originally we started therapy because he was not sitting up, rolling over, or crawling. When we wnet in at 6 months, she was concerned because he was doing none of those. He has started rolling and sitting, now we are just working on crawling. The PT says it is VERY important for kiddos to crawl. It does soemhting to their pelvic area which makes them walk better. Not really sure, but she is coming once a week to work with him.

Is K rolling and sitting? If so, I would not worry too much. In the US most (if not all) states have free or low cost early intervention programs. That is who we are using. We have a $6 co-pay for therapy. And it is free to have a child evaluated at any time. We figured it was worth an eval.

When we took Cameron is for his nine month check up last week the ped did say he is still delayed but we are doing therapy, so there is nothing else that can be done about it...

[KarynB]

Hi Marcy,

He is sitting up and rolling - although he hates being on his belly so he rolls over right away onto his back.

Can I ask what kind of exercises you do to help Cameron learn to crawl? I have also heard that crawling is an important stage they have to go through....

[SamIAm2]

Marci, I have an 18 month old and 20 year old twins (ya, I know) Anyway it is so funny how the times change. When my daughters were babies they said to always put them in a good walking shoe or they would have problems. Now they say don't or they will have problems. I give! So we put the twins in shoes back then and my baby now in Robeez until she was one year old. Neither seem to have a problem but I just wanted to share how much things have changed. They should just say that it depends on the child, their arches, and how old they are when the begin walking.

[mommamarci]

Originally Posted by KarynB

Hi Marcy,

He is sitting up and rolling - although he hates being on his belly so he rolls over right away onto his back.

Can I ask what kind of exercises you do to help Cameron learn to crawl? I have also heard that crawling is an important stage they have to go through....

We put him on his hands and knees (he is able to get up and rock) and then we move his legs. At first we would scoot one leg forward and then the opposite arm, then the other leg, arm, etc. Now we just scoot his legs forward one at a time and he will move his arms. She also brings some of those doggy steps and puts them next to the couch and tries to get him to crawl up those. Plus lots of putting him on his knees and trying to teach him to pull up. The PT also said to start bicycling his legs to help loosen them up in case he does not crawl. I can see some improvement.

Cameron has a webbed neck so he has trouble getting his head up all the way so I think he does not like crawling because he cannot see. (There is really nothing to do about a webbed neck.)

[mommamarci]

Originally Posted by SamIAm2

Marci, I have an 18 month old and 20 year old twins (ya, I know) Anyway it is so funny how the times change. When my daughters were babies they said to always put them in a good walking shoe or they would have problems. Now they say don't or they will have problems. I give! So we put the twins in shoes back then and my baby now in Robeez until she was one year old. Neither seem to have a problem but I just wanted to share how much things have changed. They should just say that it depends on the child, their arches, and how old they are when the begin walking.

Yeah I know. My mom says all the time how it is so different than when she was having kids. My sister has a 5 year old and she even says it is different now then it was 5 years ago. They can't seem to make up their minds!

[blessedbybug]

Originally Posted by mommamarci

Well, originally we started therapy because he was not sitting up, rolling over, or crawling. When we wnet in at 6 months, she was concerned because he was doing none of those. He has started rolling and sitting, now we are just working on crawling. The PT says it is VERY important for kiddos to crawl. It does soemhting to their pelvic area which makes them walk better. Not really sure, but she is coming once a week to work with him.

I'm not questioning at all what your medical professionals are saying but I do find it interesting when you hear very different viewpoints on this. Our DS was followed by a pediatric developmental specialist for awhile and one of her biggest points to us is that crawling was not a milestone (as I was very concerned about it). The milestone is the ability to get what they want when they want it. In other words, roll, scoot, crawl, doesn't matter.

[KarynB]

Thanks everyone...

Well, I tried to get him to get up on hands and knees but he was having none of it! He juts his legs out straight whenever i try to bend his knees! Anyways, I will keep trying but I am not worried yet, he does roll around and try to get things (as blessedbybug mentioned)....he is so even tempered though, that he just goes along with whatever is happening! I also have heard that kids who have been in an orphange type setting are often delayed by a month or two in developmental milestones....

[jennmomtothree]

And our daughter was just very strong willed. She does things at her own pace. She sat up pretty much on time, but had no interest in moving whatsoever (she could roll, but didn't) until she was 10 months. I asked the pediatrician about it at her 9 month checkup, and she told me to wait it out till she was a year old to worry.

At 10 months, she started crawling all by herself. Within a day or two, it was as if she never hadn't crawled. The same thing happened with walking. She showed no interest, and then all of a sudden, right around 13 months (a little late, but of no serious concern), she decided she wanted to. The first day, she took 8 or 9 consecutive steps.

And every other milestone has been the same way. Nothing for what seems like too long, and then perfection. The kid doesn't bother with falling down; she'd rather perfect a skill (is that really possible without practice?) and then do it.

[redbonec]

Marci,
I am not at all trying to undermine the PT, but just wanted to say that when I was a baby, I and my brothers were in the hard soled baby shoes. My feet are flat, which affects posture, and back care, I have learned. So I guess they didn't work for me.
It sounds like you have learned a lot from the PT.
THanks for the info!
Michelle

[mommamarci]

I believe shoes today are a lot different. Plus the PT said to only buy certain kinds. (Like Stride Rite.)

Originally Posted by redbonec

Marci,
I am not at all trying to undermine the PT, but just wanted to say that when I was a baby, I and my brothers were in the hard soled baby shoes. My feet are flat, which affects posture, and back care, I have learned. So I guess they didn't work for me.
It sounds like you have learned a lot from the PT.
THanks for the info!
Michelle