Anyone Specify The Style Of Shoe You Prefer?

[Blackcat31]

My contract says:

Shoes should be comfortable and provide adequate protection for the feet during outdoor play. Flip-flops, slip-on shoes, and open-toed sandals are prohibited as they present a safety hazard.

If a child shows up in the wrong type of shoes, they will go outside but have to sit by me the whole time. At pickup, I will tell the mom that Sam had on open-toe shoes so he could not play and to please make sure he wears proper footwear tomorrow.

I REALLY want to require velcro or pull-on shoes until the child can tie but haven't so far. True, it only takes a couple of seconds to tie shoes but when you have to do it multiple times on multiple children all day long it gets old quick! And I hate to tie double knots because when it comes time to take the shoes off, the knots become a hot, tangled mess. Plus, with velcro, everyone can put on their own shoes and it makes dressing and undressing sooooo much quicker.

I agree that for me I require specific shoes because I want the kids to be as safe as possible while playing in my care....not because I am micro-managing their lives. I have had enough stubbed toes and scrapes and cuts to last me a life time and when I have to continually stop and velcro-dirty unstickable velcro strips or readjust someones sandal when we try to take a walk that just takes away the whole point of a walk for the rest of them, especially when I have 10-12 kids and if I stop once for each of them, I may as well just not go for a walk at all. It sort of goes back to the whole gym rule when we were kids.....we were required to have appropriate gym shoes when in gym for a reason so I see no difference here.

If your child wants to wear flip-flops or Crocs while running and swinging, sliding or playing on the playground....do it on your time not mine. Kids who are under 5 don't always have the large motor control to run safely let alone putting sandals on them and expecting them to play a "safe" game of tag!

[jessrlee]

Wow. I dont care what shoes the kids wear. I am really not that interested in their shoes anyway. As long as they fit and arent too big or too small. I dont micro manage that much of my daycare all the way down to what type of shoes the kids wear. That seems alittle much. As long as they are safe, why do I care if they are laces or velcro? If they untie, tie them. It takes less than a minute to do. Velcro wears out too so it can be just as unsafe, I guess, as laced shoes. Personally, I hate veclro and Im never going to make my parents buy a certain type of shoe to come to care.

Because when a child is in your care you are responsible. It is soooo easy for a child to really hurt themselves in open toe, non secured shoes. I would much rather request safe shoes than take a child to the emergency room.

I just went through my files. I had SIX (6) incident reports last year from unsafe footwear. I started the policy in September. So far not one incident report of any kind.

[daycare]

Because when a child is in your care you are responsible. It is soooo easy for a child to really hurt themselves in open toe, non secured shoes. I would much rather request safe shoes than take a child to the emergency room.

I just went through my files. I had SIX (6) incident reports last year from unsafe footwear. I started the policy in September. So far not one incident report of any kind.

very true. Not to mention that if you go to the park, flip flops and open toe shoes are very dangerous. Lat year I wore flip flops to our park while on an outing with the kids. There were wood chips there and a wood chip went through my flip flop and right into the heel of my foot. I looked like I was dying from the trail of blood. I was in a lot of pain and ended up with a huge infection in my foot, becuase I could not remove the splinter completley. I was very thankful it happend to me and not one of the kids.

so after that experience I dont allow any more flip flops or open toe shoes of any kind.

[Greenshadow]

Ive had ONE incident in the last 5 years. I guess Ive just always had kids that dont trip or wear unsafe shoes. LOL.

[Live and Learn]

I specify closed toe walking shoes. I don't care if they have laces or Velcro.

I am closed for the summer so bare feet, flip flops, and crocs aren't shoe options I have to deal with. I make mention of this "closed toe" policy in my first interview and remind everyone again each spring.

....I don't think my dc parents feel micro managed in anyway. I have their child's safety in mind. If they felt micro managed then I probably wouldn't be full with a waiting list with the highest daily rates in my area. KWIM? Besides anyone who would feel micro managed over safe children's shoes wouldn't be a good fit for me.

[Hunni Bee]

We ban all open-toe or open-back shoes...no flip flops, sandals, "crocs", certain girl's dress shoes or any shoes that cannot be fastened and/or dont fit onto the child's foot. We have stairs and a blacktop play area...so thats important.

I would like to also ban forever the following items:

Shoes with shoe strings
Boxer-style underwear
Pampers Easy-Ups
Belts
Pants that require belts
Pants that hang more than 1/2" below the child's heel
Clothing made by designers other than Garanimals, Okie Dokie, Circo, etc because I dont care for clothes, I care for children

[Greenshadow]

I guess its just me then. Crocs and/or sandals dont always cause accidents. A regular pair of shoes can cause an accident. Having no shoes on can cause an accident. Isnt that why they call them accidents to begin with? I think we can try to prevent everything but at some point we just have to let things go. I mean, seriously, you tell your daycare parents that in the Summertime their children cant come in sandals because the might trip or fall down? That can happen at any time with any shoe. In the years Ive done care, I cant say a single child has ever gotten hurt because of the type of shoe they've worn. Ever. So I guess its just me. Just seems a bit overboard.

[SilverSabre25]

Greenshadow, I'm more considering it for my own convenience--tie shoes on kids too young to deal with the ties themselves take too long, flip-flips fly off, sandals get mulch and small stones in them...all those things require my involvement to fix the problem (except the flip flops, but that can just be dangerous). Velcro shoes can be done independently by most children from a young age, and that's a large part of my goal--getting children to be independent.

[Cat Herder]

I am a shoe stickler.

I live in a heavily wooded area with yellow jackets, venomous spiders, fire ants and deer ticks.

So do all of my DCP's, it is our region and is not a big deal when you apply a hefty dose of common sense.

Since we are also located in the watershed region we cannot use broad area pesticides outdoors.

For those reasons, I require two pairs of closed toe shoes, per child, year round.

I also require snake boots for creek play and water shoes for sprinkler play.

These are very common requests here.

I do not allow lights, sirens, bells, whistles, removable parts or animal sounds of any kind.

The main reason is that they annoy me :: but also make the child a constant target for torment from the other kids.

It is like pinning a "kick me" sign on your junior high student and sending them to school....

[Live and Learn]

I also require snake boots .....

I do not allow lights, sirens, bells, whistles, removable parts or animal sounds of any kindl....

EEEEK! Do tell!!! What on Earth are snake boots? I guess we are sheltered up here in the drippy Pacific NW!::::::

[Cat Herder]

EEEEK! Do tell!!! What on Earth are snake boots? I guess we are sheltered up here in the drippy Pacific NW!::::::

Sure!! They are just waders that help limit risk while playing or learning science in the river and marsh when we go...

[Live and Learn]

Thumbnail #1.....
what a cutie.

Glad I don't need to worry about snakes in my water though!
.....of course I can see Mt St Helens from my back deck!

[Cat Herder]

Thumbnail #1.....
what a cutie.

Glad I don't need to worry about snakes in my water though!
.....of course I can see Mt St Helens from my back deck!

You can keep the volcanoes, tsunamis and earthquakes. I'll stick with the snakes, ants and hornets....::::::

FTR, I do take a minimum 3 adults (2 kids/1 adult ratio) with us when we venture past my fenced in playgrounds....

Sadly it is not a requirement.

Back on topic, though. Proper, safe footwear IS important for many reasons.

[MsMe]

Every year I have to talk with the families that while it is great that their children have new and high priced shoes (I live in a an area where apperance is EVERYTHING) my back yard is WELL LOVED+very shaded and I have many areas where the grass is very thin and at the end of summer gone completly. If it rains and children dont have 'play' shoes we can't go outside.

Another pet peeve are those really cute slipper/shoes for babies new walkers. I have a 19mo old who loves to run around but all her mother every brings are slippers!! Even after being asked to provide real shoes!

[Blackcat31]

Wearing proper shoes is a fundamental element in maintaining the correct walking technique, as well as preventing injury. Shoes are tools. Without the correct tools, you are likely to hurt yourself, making you more prone to suffer further and more severe injuries in the future. .

Biomechanics refers to the internal and external forces of the human body, and the manner in which these forces affect the human body. This means every movement that your foot makes in the act of walking affects other parts of your body. If your shoes don't provide the necessary support for the arches and heels, they prevent essential range of motion in the foot. When your feet are not able to function properly, other parts of your body must overcompensate. When your body overcompensates, it is common to suffer from pain in the heels, ankles, knees, hips and lower back. The pain in these joints can then lead to weakness and further injury


While the media is promoting the regular wear of flip flops in pop culture, the same media, in other outlets, is reporting health problems connected to the regular wearing of these flat, non-supporting footwear products. To make matters worse, these health problems are happening to children, at very young ages.

Children who wear flip flops more than they should, which means that they are not just wearing them at the beach or around swimming pools, are experiencing health issues. Some are complaining of aching feet, sore knees, and lower back pain. The concern is that these children are wearing unsupported footwear, sometimes on a daily basis.
Wearing unsupported footwear takes its toll on the spinal area. The real culprit is that postural distortions are created when the spine is not in perfect alignment. Flip flops, basically, toss the alignment of the spine, out of whack. These distortions to proper posture cause pain in the lower and upper torso areas, the knees, and even the toes.

This pain is caused because the the extensive neural network that sends messages to and from the brain is interrupted by the imbalance of the spine. The natural electrical impulses can handle short time periods of distortion, but it does not do well with longer blocks of time. This is the main reason why the wearing of flip flops is causing distress and health issues.


Young Child (Vol.2 Issue 4, 06/2009)