Shoes and socks, sandals, flip flops or barefeet on your kids?

Question

Do you let your kids wear sandals or flip flops or do you require shoes and socks outside. Do they wear shoes in the house? Do you let them go barefoot outside? Do you allow shoes with no socks. My kids have to wear shoes and socks and for the most part have never complained. I do not think anything less is best for active kids. I'm asking this because my son wanted to wear flip flop and I told him only if he is going to the beach or swimming. What is your take?

Answer 1

I agree with you - Shoes and socks for running around outside; flipflops for the beach. Your child will be more prone to trip if they're using flipflops. It's almost impossible to run in them.

Answer 2

I wasn't a real barefooter yet as a kid, but I never wore shoes around the house, and I usually played in the back yard barefoot, and in parks and such, no one ever thought anything was strange or dangerous about that. We had a gravel driveway and I ran across that when the ice cream man came through the street (thirty years ago not everyone had a freezer yet so they came & sold ice cream on nice days riding through the streets ringing their bell -for those younger folks who don't know 'cause I haven't heard him in ages!). Usually there were some kids standing around there in slippers but others barefoot too. PE was and is still normally taught barefoot too. In summer we all wore sandals, open toed shoes were then & are now normal in school, much better than sweaty closed shoes! I can't remember any foot injuries from me or my friends from going barefoot or with open-toed sandals.

Only times I remember footwear causing a fall is a couple times riding my bicycle with closed shoes with laces, the laces came undone & got stuck around the pedals. No injuries but it was scary falling that way 'cause my foot was stuck & it was hard to get loose and get up, that's why I remember. I slipped off the pedals a few times with flipflops but never took a fall from that, just 'oops' and kept going.

Oh, I see another answerer who won't wear flipflops because of a bee encounter: I stepped on a bee once in my 38 years of flipflops, open sandals, bare feet etc (didn't think of it right away since it wasn't a childhood experience). Now I'm not very sensitive to bee stings so while it hurt pretty bad as it happened, I pulled out the stinger & half an hour later I couldn't find where it happened, as has also been the case in the dozen other times I was stung by bees, wasps etc elsewhere... But even if it had hurt for a few days or a week... would I give up wearing flipflops & going barefoot for 38 years just to prevent that one sting? My personal answer would be no way. The odds of that happening are pretty low, we have lots of flowers in the yard & lots of bees, bumblebees, some years we had a wasp's nest nearby, I sometimes got stung elsewhere when playing but I was very active in our back yard barefoot and I was in my twenties before I stepped on my first (and so far only) bee.

People in the US are so overprotective of their children and there's a lot of anti-barefoot bias too! Bare feet are healthy, closed shoes can actually damage growing feet more than an occasional splinter or scrape will. Please take a look at the website below for some advice on barefooting for kids.

Answer 3

Shoes are not allowed indoors (we have expensive flooring). Outside, if its warm, above 65 degrees, my kids go barefoot. They love it, and their feet are surprisingly tough from it. When we go out like to the store or to run errands, they wear flip flops if its warm, and if its cold, they wear socks and shoes. I say that they are only kids for a little while, so why not let them run barefoot and be kids while they can. Parents shouldn't be so overprotective. When I was a kid, I barely knew what a pair of shoes looked like until I started school at age 5.

Answer 4

I would allow my kids (If I ever have any) to wear flip flops when the weather is nice outside for flip-flop weather. I will even alow them to wear sandals as well even if the weather is a little bit cool. AT this day and age, you see a lot of people wear sandals almost year round. BUt I would only allow my kids to wear sandals when the weather is warm outside, and the temp has to be at least 60'F

Answer 5

It depends on the weather and what we are going to be doing if i let my daughter wear sandals or flip flops. Sandals or flip flops are for the beach or swimming and she must wear socks with her shoes. And we make sure she takes her shoes off while inside.

Answer 6

My daughter loves to wear flip flops, sometimes inside and sometimes outside (depending on the weather). Inside the house we either have socks, slippers or barefeet. She absolutely can not go barefooted outside. I do not like that. And with shoes she wears socks unless its those cute ballet slipper type shoes, those are better w/o socks, but I make sure she washes her feet thoroughly when she takes a bath.

Answer 7

i think it depends on lots of stuff. is it warm or cold? where are you going? what else is he wearing? what do the people around you wear? me myself go barefoot in the house all the time, so does my toddler. when i go outside and it's cooler than like 75 i wear shoes and socks, so does my toddler. when it's hot outside i go barefoot or wear sandles or flip flops. my baby's never gone barefoot outside because his feet are more soft and sensitive than mine for something hot or sharp. if he's wearing shorts then sandles or flip flops would be appropriate. i'm sure you're glad i told you all this about my feet! lol!! honey, you're the mom, you decide what the child wears but remember to pick your battles if the child is old enough to have a preference and is not picking something that is unsafe then why not let them do it. good luck!

Answer 8

My kids can wear sandles (if warm enough), inside or outside. My kids wear shoes and socks (when chilly) inside or outside. I will not let them wear flip flops at all (one time I was wearing them and a bee got in between my flip flop and my foot and I stepped down and I got stung, I don't want that to happen to my kids) unless they are inside. If there is snow on the ground they must wear socks and boots outside.

Answer 9

I would never wear shoes of any type in the summer time when I was a kid. I would run around the block and backyard barefoot and nothing bad ever came to it, and when I got home my mom would make me wash me feet? Whats the big deal about not wearing shoes?

Answer 10

It all depends how old the child is,the climate and seasons,where you live,apartment a house with yard etc. For the little ones sneakers because of the rubber sole and foot protection,easy to wash etc. For the older kids whatever they like,except for sports or city enviorment,lots of injuries happen to feet like sprains and cuts.Shoes should be worn with socks to prevent blisters,and prevent build-up of moisture that can cause fungal infections like athletes foot.