Feet

Parents love looking at, tickling, and pinching little baby feet. I mean, c’mon, they are pretty cute. So, at times, I will get questions about foot appearances from the careful observations of parents and grandparents about their baby’s feet.

Flat feet are often a concern when kiddos are starting to walk. Back in the day, a diagnosis of flat foot would lead to immediate orthotics and arches placed in special shoes. Turns out, we don’t need to do this. Genetically, some people’s feet are more flat when they are standing. Toddlers universally have flat feet when they start walking and over time will develop more of an arch as they get bigger and stronger. Sometimes people’s foot arches are just hidden. When we ask a kiddo with concern for flat feet to stand on their tippy toes, boom! The arch appears in a very normal fashion. The countries with the highest rates of flat feet are also those with consistently dominant track and field and long-distance runners. So if a kiddo has a flat foot but is otherwise not complaining of pain with walking or running, we can just let those feet be. 

Toe walking is very common when kids are learning how to walk, but as they grow up and are in elementary school, walking on tiptoes should not be their dominant form of walking and could be signs of an abnormally tight Achilles tendon or possible sensory integration concerns that should be evaluated by your pediatrician.