Barefoot is Best

"Why aren't his feet covered?!"

This is often the response I get from well meaning strangers at the grocery store when they look at Bubba's cute little feet. Many time, okay, almost all the time, I carry Bubba around without shoes or socks on, for quite a few reasons.

According to most experts, having babies wear shoes too early will actually impede mobility. As Bubba is learning to walk (and steadily becoming more steady on his feet) I feel that it is important to keep his feet bare, especially when indoors. Shoes serve to trip him up and make the learning process harder. Much of the research I've done actually encourages allowing baby to go bare (one article), unless allowing your child to walk outdoors, which when I'm shopping I do not allow (he's usually sitting pretty in a carrier).

If you are planning on outfitting your child with shoes it is recommended that the child wear soft soled shoes that allow the greatest flexibility and the closest thing to being barefoot and yet covered. Though after a quick Internet search I many sites stated that children who are learning to walk shouldn't wear these for prolonged periods of time, either.

When it all comes down to it I look at the cost of shoes, the fact that Bubba is growing quickly, and the fact that he pulls them off and may lose them, and I elect not to put shoes on him. I try to explain to well meaning family members that most research states that he doesn't need them indoors (many times to no avail).

Why don't I just put socks on him when we go out? Well...I'm glad you ask. 1. He pulls them off, and what can I make out of 1 baby sock? 2. He chews on them. How much warmer is a wet sock to being barefoot?

So what do I say to those well meaning grandma strangers?

"Because I'm his Mommy and I choose not to."

It's so much easier than going into my rant, and hey I don't have to explain my reasoning to uneducated (in the new developments of baby) strangers (actual grandparents are a different story, and we still butt heads from time to time).