Anyone Have a Kiddo with Flat Feet and Orthotics?

AS a podiatrist, I can tell you she probably won't wear them. I have made many orthoses for preschoolers and they just don't find them comfortable. If you do go down this route, find a shoe with a removable insert, so you can get the orthotic in without it taking a all the room in the shoe. I had way more success with advising parents to buy a lace up boot to support the ankle.

Please do it!! One of my friends had NO arches at all...her feet were perfectly flat, and she was having knee replacements in high school.

I had knocked knees (they touched when I walked). My mom had me in corrective shoes for many years...and I am very very grateful to her for my beautiful straight legs!!

My son wears his without complaint. They help and he actually has more of an arch now.

You have just described my DH to the T. His parents couldnt/wouldnt afford the minor correction needed when he was a young child. And he's suffered 40 some years because of it. Exercise is painful for him, especially running. And though he made it through Airborne School, it was very hard and to this day he is adverse to exercise. Exercise will always be associated with pain. He struggles with weight issues as a result. My advise? Do whatever you can to fix this situation now. Some issues can't be fixed after the growth plates fuse.

If I were you, I'd do it. My daughters were diagnosed as tweens & had already had some related issues (knee trouble, etc). My youngest found then very, very helpful and switched them between her school shoes & her soccer cleats quite willingly (though, to be honest, we butted heads during the summer when she wanted flip flops or bare feet and I wanted her to wear sneakers so she could wear her orthotics.). She admitted they really helped and noticed if she didn't wear them for a while. As a soccer player, she found wearing them gave her greater stability on the field -- unfortunately, she developed some problems with one knee before we discovered the core of her problem: her feet! She wound up having knee surgery & is fine but I wonder if things would have been different if we found out when she was younger.

We found my second to youngest would trip if she was running while tired. Her podiatrist explained that it was because of how she placed her feet. She, unfortunately, was less diligent about her orthotics and now, as an active 20yo, finds herself with knee trouble.

If I had it to do over again, I wish they could have been diagnosed when they were younger so that we could have (a) caught the problem before any real damage was done & maybe prevented some injuries and (b) been a little more in control of making sure that the orthotics were in the shoes every day & the girls would have just grown up with the habit.

By the way, it did take a few days for the girls to get used to how the orthotics felt in their shoes, but they adjusted & that feeling of weirdness went away.

I have worn them since I was 3, my mom said that it was a god send. She could not take me anywhere with out me complaining that my legs hurt, once I got the orthoidcs I would not take them out of my shoes not even for the break in peroid. And just like that no more complaints -until I needed them redone due to feet going up in size.

Do not hesitate! GET THEM. I still wear them today, I do only wear a tie shoe (by my choice) as I have one leg shorter than the other and there is also a lift in my ortho. I am pain free from wearing them.

Good luck.

I can’t say enough about proper fitting orthotics. I too wear them and there are certain activities I cannot do without them. I recently had my 7 YO fit for them as well to correct his pronation. I took him to the doctor because he periodically complains of having a sore back (at his age!). There was nothing major going on, and he hasn’t been injured, so we’re hoping with proper alignment his back will stop hurting. Don’t know yet, just got them last week.

Fixing the pronation via orthotics can help with proper alignment of the entire skeletal system starting at the feet and ankles and moving right on up to the knees, back, neck, etc. Makes sense, it's all connected. There is a very good possibility that proper correction now can help with your child’s ankle pain, not to mention other aches and pains that could crop up in the future from improper alignment.

Because orthotics can be very uncomfortable at first, you could try breaking in your 3 YO gradually with a softer, less rigid, EVA material. Most Podiatrists recommend a hard, rigid plastic. Speaking from personal experience, I DON’T recommend it for an orthotic newbie, especially a little kid. Many adults can’t even tolerate them and hundreds of dollars end up in the garbage. If the hard rigid plastic is recommended, maybe your child could graduate to them eventually.

You’ll have ample opportunity to make changes to the orthotics, as it’s been recommended to me to have my son’s replaced every 6 months (will vary by growth spurts), so you’re not stuck with them for years. I only recommend this because if they’re too uncomfortable from the get go, they will not wear them, or will do so with extreme resistance (tantrums, etc.). Older kids will just remove them and not tell you.

They will notice the new orthotic no matter what and there should be a break in period (my personal opinion - don't go on a long hike on day one and get break in instructions from the Doc or orthotic mfg). The only word I can think of for a new pair of orthotics that are providing some correction or support is, annoying. The more the correction, or support, the more annoying. So, I guess you're looking for that point of tolerance until they get used to it. It took my son a day to get used to them and he hasn’t mentioned it since.

Hope I didn't write too much.

What about using the over the counter inserts like they make for adults? I know they make them for kids as well, may have to order online. I would try those before going with an orthotic for a 3 year old...I'd also get a second opinion on that.

Your experience will depend on your doctor and your parenting style.

When I was young, I had to wear special shoes because I was turning in. My mom chose saddle shoes because that is what they wore when she was younger and thought they were 'too cute!'. I hated them, and would find every reason possible to not wear them. I had an excuse, I couldn't wear the special shoes during school gym class, so I'd have to change, and gosh darn, I didn't forget to put the saddle shoes back on until right before my mom got home.

The only 'therapy' that I could stand is when they put me in a brace at night. None of my friends could see it.

My son was diagnosed with flat feet when he was 9y. By the time we got the molds for his shoes (3 weeks), he'd had a growth spurt and the molds didn't feel right inside his shoes, so again, he would find reasons to not wear them. So for $400, my son wore the inserts like 3 times. :/

One thing that will help if you have to get the special inserts is to try and give your daughter a choice in the shoes. If she doesn't like the look, she won't wear them willingly. You may also need to make them her only pair of shoes (i.e. put the rest away), because again, if she has a choice, she may choose to not wear them.

Leather shoes and/or shoes with arch support will be more helpful than flimsy shoes like Converse, Keds. Shoes with even width support on the bottom will be better than shoes that slope like running shoes or heals.

Physical therapy and exercises can be key to helping strength and correct the ankles.

I had flat feet but I don't think my ankles pronated in. My parents took me to a podiatrist when I was around 13 or so (I think) because my legs ached nearly all the time. I wore orthotics until I was in my early 20's. I also did strengthening exercises for my feet. When standing on a step or on the curb I lowered my heels to the lower level. And when just standing I'd roll my feet touching just the outer edges to the ground.

In my 20's I noticed that I had arches. I can still stand totally flat footed. I think I'd strengthened muscles and became accustomed to holding up my arches

For what it's worth I was diagnosed with Morton's syndrome. Here is a sight that gives more complete information about the syndrome. It does list pronation as a possible difficulty with it.

I found the "movie" part of the page incomplete and a bit irritating. I turned the sound down and gained much information from reading the article. This is an ad for a doctor's practice. However, based on my research this article has the most information in one place.

http://www.footcare4u.com/mortons-toe-what-is-it-what-cau...

BTW custom made orthotics, tho they may look the same, are definitely not the same.

It's not so bad. My DD gets hers costum made and gets to select a print this last time she got a leopard print, before she had butterfies etc. That makes it more fun.

I don't know if your will be the same or not but ours is an AFO and covers all the way up to the back of her calf to the knee. so I went and found knee socks for her to wear under the AFO, if she is embarrassed by it she might be able to get a bigger sock and cover the AFO on the outside justs for looks..

We also used Velcro sneakers, not ideal but also not $100 like some fancy ones you can buy. tehy allowed enough room for the AFO to fit we couldn't get it into a tie shoe. We used Crocs alot TOO.

personally, i think you are better off saying that DD needs to wear it all the time, and starting off taht way. other wise pick a part of the day like every morning she puts them on but maybe doesn't have to wear them during nap time. that part is up to your dr, but i'm just saying in the summer we all go barefoot and that was hard for dd to get used to. so i had to start wearing my shoes too so she wasn't alone.

another tip. I recall a few tiems adults would assume she had broken her leg but were very polite, I don't ever remember other kids being remotely curious. it's possible your dd's will be short ones and won't even be visible if it's covered by the shoe.

don't worry though, it's really not that bad, but you do need to be very firm and no nonsense about her wearing it, if you get all weepy or wishy washy she will sooooo pick up on it. It's nothing to be ashamed of it's just how her body is, and i'm guessing this is somethign that she might outgrow. so no biggy.
pm if you need to talk once she actually gets them.