Shoes for toddler w/ low muscle tone

[treehugginhippie]

DD2 is 17 mo and was evaulated and found to have low muscle tone. She sometimes (not often) points her toes. And she isn't walking yet, which I know isn't a big deal yet. The PT said to try supportive shoes like the classic white ones from Stride Rite to help support her.

I always read that bare foot is best but is it not always? I'm having a hard time imagining my toddler wearing anything but Robeez type shoes. Are there any studies supporting that toddlers w/ some delays benefit from stiff shoes like Stride Rite?

The PT said she used the Stride Rite's for both of her kids (who were not low muscle tone) so I don't know how much I value her input. Looking to get input from fellow mamas here

[faerierose]

My ds has mild hypotonia and he wears sure steps http://www.surestep.net/ to help support his ankles. From what I understand pronation of the ankles is common with kids that have low muscle tone. They have helped my ds quite a bit with his stability.

[47chromosomes]

I think if your goal is for her to walk as soon as possible, a supportive shoe may help with that. But, if your goal is for her to develop all her muscles well and walk when she is ready, then I would go with Robeez.

My son has low tone, and our PT thought Robeez were the best thing for him because they allow him to learn all the little ways he needs to use his muscles in his legs, feet, and body to balance. And, actually, my son still cannot walk well in stiff shoes because of his tone. He now wears See Kai Run shoes because the sole if very bend-y and the sides are soft, not stiff. He was 26 months when he started walking, and he still has issues with low tone and balance, but he is doing great, and I am glad we were never urged to go with braces or stiff shoes. They might speed things up, but I think quality of more important that quick.

Now that I've said all of that, I should add that in some cases there are really good reasons that a child might need support. But you need to research that and ask lots of questions as to WHY your PT things supportive shoes are important. Does she have some sort of pronation? Does she have structural differences in her feet, ankles, or legs. My son has very flat feet, and his ankles tend to roll in toward the floor a little bit, but those things were not significant for him.

[sbgrace]

Stride Rite owns Robeez now I think!
We did Robeez when my boys were first walking until maybe twoish. My son has low tone and ended up in Stride Rite with orthotics to help with feet positioning. He was walking but pronating (I think that's the word) because of his low tone. He was walking with a roll to the side basically. I have low tone as well and lots of feet problems because of the same type of walking style that compensates for the low tone. I think it also contributes to back pain. I have an orthotic now that definitely helps me avoid further damage but I've permanently damaged the nerves in my foot. Part of that was shoe choices imo. I do think there are studies to support not using orthotics in kids and I would think that might be a hint toward not using stiffer shoes. IMO low tone is completely different, though, than typical toddler or preschool foot stuff that goes on. I will only buy my kids supportive shoes now because of my experience. But you might look into research into orthotics and low tone and sort of apply that to your thinking about using shoes with no support vs. the shoes with arches/soles/etc. Here is one article (pro orthotics for low tone it looks like) and I know there are positions on both sides. http://www.ptproductsonline.com/issu...2006-10_04.asp

[mrsfru]

Both PT's that saw my boys (both had/have low tone) wanted them to wear pretty flexible shoes (as did the ortho doc we saw for ds1's toe problems). They wanted the shoes to bend at the big joint in the front of their foot and be as much as walking like barefoot as possible. My kids wore Robeez/Robeez-style shoes until they were walking outside/in the cold/wet/etc. We've liked Pedipeds, b/c they have a little more padding on the sole than Robeez w/o having a true "sole". See Kai Run have worked out great, too, and they have a thin, flexible rubber sole. We have not used Stride Rite, b/c for my first son, they will not work on his feet, b/c of his crooked & curly toes...but they are fairly flexible AND supportive.

DS1's favorite shoes thus far (besides Polliwalks, which aren't going to work for you yet!!LOL) are Tsukihoshi sneakers. They are so lightweight--as light as Polliwalks and Crocs rubber clogs--w/a decent sole--so he didn't trip and he didn't get exhausted trying to run in them or putting them on by himself (at least he tried w/these!)

I really don't think that the high sides on the "old style" white baby shoes are necessary, and I do think that they are not a good idea for low tone kiddos unless your doc says your child really needs that extra support around the ankle.

(-:

mrsfru

[mommy2maya]

My dd has low tone, and wears suresteps for her pronation. She also wears supportive, yet flexible shoes with them. Her pt did not recommend shoes at all until she was weight bearing, and even then it was only for a small portion of the day, and only with a nice flexible sole. We did switch to supportive shoes for a while, under her recommendation, to avoid the need for braces, but she still needs them.

Her reasoning with the shoes/no shoes/ part day with shoes was that it was definitely better for her developing feet/muscles to be unhindered, until she showed that she needed extra support for her muscles to work properly and not become damaged by working wrong. She walks a lot better with the shoes/braces than without. She can also walk a lot further/longer now that her muscles are not working three times as hard to do half the work.

[pixilixi]

Originally Posted by mommy2maya

My dd has low tone, and wears suresteps for her pronation. She also wears supportive, yet flexible shoes with them. Her pt did not recommend shoes at all until she was weight bearing, and even then it was only for a small portion of the day, and only with a nice flexible sole. We did switch to supportive shoes for a while, under her recommendation, to avoid the need for braces, but she still needs them.

Her reasoning with the shoes/no shoes/ part day with shoes was that it was definitely better for her developing feet/muscles to be unhindered, until she showed that she needed extra support for her muscles to work properly and not become damaged by working wrong. She walks a lot better with the shoes/braces than without. She can also walk a lot further/longer now that her muscles are not working three times as hard to do half the work.

I'm a paediatric PT, and saw this thread while looking for another here! I really agree with the above post - of course everyone's situation is different, but I think this is a sensible middle ground. Flexible soles on shoes that are also supportive at the heel are great if shoes are required. And for some children, they are helpful, because without them, the kids just need to work so darn hard to walk and balance. But balanced with some barefoot time in most / many cases. Sorry, I'm in Australia and not familiar with brand names, so can't make any specific comments about the brands you mention.

[treehugginhippie]

Thank you everyone! I wonder what brand of shoes make ones w/ flexible bottoms but supportive around the ankle? I will see if Stride Rite makes any

[FuzzyOne]

my son did well with hightop converse sneakers (chuck taylors) - fairly flexible sole and nice ankle support.