As parents we’re made well aware of the importance of monitoring our child’s development during their early years and the milestones they’re expected to achieve. Beyond taking those incredible first steps, there’s very little information about the role our child’s feet play in their overall development, particularly in building vital connections in their brain.
Brain development
The brain is the body’s command centre. We’re born with all the brain cells (neurons) we’ll have for the rest of our life, but it’s the connections between these cells that make the brain work.
For babies and toddlers everything they’re exposed to is new and exciting, an opportunity to learn. They use all of their senses to explore the world around them. Each sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and physical movement forms a connection. Each stimuli triggers a synapse in the brain, connecting neurons, enabling them to communicate and build a neural pathway.
During the first years of life, at least one million new neural connections are made every second, more than at any other time in our lives. It’s these brain connections that enable us to move, think, communicate… in fact, to do everything we do, both consciously and unconsciously.
Simple neural connections are formed first, with more complex circuits forming as actions and responses are repeated and developed. The early experiences that create the foundational connections can have a significant impact on the brain’s architecture and determine whether these more complex circuits are strong or weak.
From around the age of 18 months the brain begins a process called ‘pruning’. Eliminating unused connections and strengthening used connections, to make the brain more efficient.
The brain’s ability to change in response to experiences is called plasticity. Our brain is at its most “plastic” or flexible during these first years of life. This flexibility allows young children to adapt to a wide range of environments. The connections needed for many important, higher-level abilities like motivation, self-regulation, problem solving and communication are formed in these early years – or not formed - and it becomes harder for us to form these essential connections later in life.
How our feet help build the brain
Our feet are highly sensitive and our soles are packed with more nerve-endings per square centimetre than anywhere else on our body. These nerve-endings are continually providing the brain with rich sensory feedback.
For a toddler exploring the world upright for the first time, this information is invaluable. Their feet are teaching them about how different surfaces feel, if they are soft, hard or rough, warm or cool, flat, bumpy or inclined. As they begin to understand and recognise these stimuli, their brain learns how to respond and guide their movements.
Walking barefoot, or in socks, exposes the feet to more of these stimuli, increasing the speed and reinforcing the learning. It lays strong foundations for the development of more complex circuits related to movement and cognitive functions.
The feedback loops gradually become more complex and help the child learn about balance, posture, coordination and spatial awareness.
Proprioception, our sixth sense
Proprioception helps us perceive the location, movement and action of the various parts of our body. Sensory receptors are located throughout the nervous system and body, in muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons, with a high concentration in the feet. These receptors feed the brain with information about joint position and movement, muscle force and effort, enabling us to judge limb movements and position, force, heaviness, stiffness and viscosity.
In everyday activities we depend on the signals coming from our moving bodies to be able to respond to the space around us and react rapidly in changing circumstances. Much of this knowledge about position and movement of the limbs and body is provided by sensations arising in proprioceptors. The information they provide allows us to manoeuvre our way around obstacles in the dark and be able to manipulate objects out of view.
Without proprioceptors we would struggle to control our movements and balance. They are what allows our limbs to move into the right position, at the right speed and with the right amount of force required for the activity, and the reason we are able to move freely without consciously thinking about our environment.
When, and when not, to wear shoes
Keeping your child barefoot around the house, and in the garden during the warmer months, will support both their cognitive and physical development. The more freely and naturally feet are able to move, the stronger the muscles in the feet and legs will become and your child is likely to develop better balance, posture and coordination with their feet in direct contact with the ground.
Of course, it’s not always practical, or safe, to be walking barefoot. When out and about your child’s feet will generally need protection.
Shoes can influence the way a child places their feet, how they position their body, the force with which they strike the ground, how mobile and adaptable their feet are able to be and so much more. What you choose to put on your child’s feet will make a difference, so what should you look for?
The more structured, cushioned and rigid the shoes a child wears, the more limited the sensory information received by the brain and the more restricted the natural movement and development of their feet will be.
The soles of young children’s shoes should be relatively thin, lightweight and flexible. Enabling them to continue to feel the ground beneath their feet and be able to bend and move their feet as naturally as possible.
It may sound obvious that shoes should be foot-shaped, but it’s incredible how many shoes narrow around the toes, restricting their movement and function. There needs to be plenty of space around the toes, allowing them to flex and spread with each movement and develop a strong and stable base.
Building a strong foundation
Letting your child walk barefoot, when safe to do so, is a simple, free and effective way to support the healthy development of their body and brain.
Our feet play a crucial role in forming foundational connections in the brain and helping to develop more complex cognitive skills, such as problem solving, decision making and communication. They are also critical to the healthy movement and function of the rest of our body, if something is amiss in our feet, our foundation, it will impact the whole structure above… think of the Leaning Tower of Pisa!
As with many things, it’s about encouraging a healthy balance, between barefoot exploration and the use of appropriate, well-fitting shoes.
CeCe & Me shoe fitters are here to offer advice about what’s appropriate for your child and help you make a confident choice about what’s right for their feet.
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