Like the whole child's skeleton, the bones of the feet grow at a great rate until the age of 14 or 16 of life before ossifying completely, although later they continue to grow almost negligibly. For the correct development of the feet of the little ones, you have to take care of their feet from birth, and the footwear they wear since they begin to crawl.
It is very important to know the evolution of the feet to provide them with adequate support and help, to avoid subsequent malformations and postural problems. One of the most frequent mistakes is to put on shoes that are too small, so you have to be very attentive to how much the children's foot grows.
Keep in mind that the foot is a complex organ that coordinates 107 ligaments, 19 muscles, with 26 bones, and that will help us walk hundreds of thousands of kilometers throughout our lives. So it doesn't hurt to take care of them since we are babies…
From birth to the first year, we can help the development of the baby's foot by giving gentle massages, observing well fingers, arch, heel, instep and the entire foot in case we notice any deviation consult it with the pediatrician as soon as possible, although usually the feet They are checked in the baby's first exams.
The feet should be checked by the pediatrician at each visit, also when the child is growing, in order to detect any problem as soon as possible. It is important that the problems be corrected as soon as possible so that no difficulties arise in other parts of the body such as knees, hip or waist (think flat feet, deviations, inadequate supports ...).
Since they are born, babies have the plantar grip reflex, which they will lose to learn to walk correctly. The tactile stimulation, the games, the crawling… and the development of the baby will make the reflex disappear little by little.
At birth, the foot usually measures about 7.5 centimeters. At this stage, during the first months of the baby's life, the foot is rounded, with a layer of fat that conceals the vault or arch.
At one year of age, the structure of the feet is cartilaginous, the bones are not completely solidified, so special attention is necessary, avoid overweight and help children start walking by placing a suitable shoe, which we have already talked about in our pages. The foot at one year of age is about 12 centimeters.
Between the year and three years, children begin to walk and achieve verticality of their body. While they look for it, they usually get out of balance and fall or collide with furniture and objects. It is also usual to support the foot in or out, because the legs are strengthening and looking for the best posture, and this affects the support of the feet. It is a delicate moment where periodic reviews and our own observation will tell us if there is a proper development of the foot.
At this time there is usually an increase in plantar fat, so many parents think that the boy or girl has a flat foot, however it is early to make such a diagnosis and it will be the pediatrician who determines this fact, perhaps more ahead.
After 3 years, the legs rotate, which also changes the form of support on the feet. We must remain attentive to footwear as appropriate as possible to the feet, changing the size as necessary, avoiding friction and taking care of periodic checks.
From the year on, the child's foot increases by about 10 centimeters in 5 years, that is, by 6 years of age the foot can measure around 22 centimeters. Although we have to take into account that these measures are approximate, and that it will depend on whether we talk about a boy or a girl and the physical characteristics of each one of them not reaching or exceeding those means.
