Fallen Arches/Flat Feet in 3 yr old

[jellibeans]

Anyone have experience with this and use a shoe insert?

[lalasmama]

We haven't dealt with inserts yet. However, DD has always had flat feet, and our doctor just told me to put her in "good shoes" (ie, running style shoes, not deck/board "Vans" types.

For what it's worth, I bought her "Vans"-styled Sketchers, and she did okay with them, but watching her walk from the back almost brings me to tears, because she doesn't look "right". So as soon as she outgrows them, we're back to good solid shoes with good solid arch support.

[Minnifer]

I thought, based on what I've read about this, that flat feet were typical in kids under 5 and didn't need any correction b/c they tend to self correct. DD has flat feet for now so I'm keeping an eye on them - I have them too (completely, utterly flat - so much so that podiatrists marvel at how flat they are) and have sporadically worn orthotics over the years (custom made by podiatrists) as an adult but never felt they did much of anything. Fwiw I've also read that flat feet don't necessarily need correction generally anyway b/c they don't really cause any issues - that's been my experience at least but I guess it depends on the person.

[HannaAddict]

That's what I've heard too and read, that arches don't generally get very pronounced until much later in most kids. I would just get good shoes like Stride Rite or Pedipeds or something with support unless a specialist had convinced me to do something else.

[brittone2]

It is very, very common and IME does not usually require treatment unless there are other circumstances complicating things.

[pinkmomagain]

My dd2 had/has flat feet. I do too. Her feet (well, her whole body) is fairly lax/flexible.

When she was younger we had some orthotics, but they have fallen by the wayside. Spoke to the dr about it recently and he said that unless she was doing athletics, not to worry about it. And if she was, to get off-the-rack orthotics.

[jellibeans]

For what it's worth, I bought her "Vans"-styled Sketchers, and she did okay with them, but watching her walk from the back almost brings me to tears, because she doesn't look "right". So as soon as she outgrows them, we're back to good solid shoes with good solid arch support.

This is exactly it. I bought him a pair of Chucks and they look horrible. Almost like his ankles are folding in. I guess I should stick with his Stride Rites.

[HIU8]

My DD just got gait plates (precursor to molded inserts) for in-toeing. She will be in those for 2 years and then go to a molded insert. Podiatrist said she would be using inserts for quite awhile.

[cas]

Flat feet are totally normal in a 3 year old. Little kids have fat pads around the arches. You shouldn't make any determinations about whether or not they have flat feet until they are at least 4 years old.