do you let your kids go barefoot???

[katiemumma]

depends where we are or what were doing

[Feeling Blue]

My boys are barefoot. Play outside barefoot, at the park barefoot, out the front barefoot. If we are going out then the shoes go on

[fairyfrog]

Three of my children are legally blind/Albino. I have always been notorious for going barefoot and I let my kids do the same. So I was very happy when my pediatrician and my children's eye doctor have said, "Let your children be barefoot as long as possible. People don't realize that this is another avenue for tactile learning." He said children under two should never have shoes on, but especially the vision impaired! Just look up the new barefoot fad and how much better it is for your feet. I would take precautions in snake or parasite infested areas.

[OneLastDream]

I used to until DS1 stood on a bee and got stung now they normally put crocs on !! Normally their choice though. It's very rare it's hot enough here for that though lol!!

[Shellbelle]

Like others have said, it depends on what they're doing. If they're just playing in the yard, though, absolutely. We live in an area where you can go barefoot most of the year, and if my kids do have shoes on, they're usually flip flops or something else that can be easily kicked off.

[hotdogz&boyz]

Me and DH have similar "arguments." He was brought up very sheltered and was always embarrassed about it. He was certainly not allowed to have bare feet, even in the house they wore slippers. But he does get on me because I always let the kids go outside without shoes (nor do I care if they remove their shoes at outdoor playgrounds, beaches, etc). I keep reminding him that it's an area he was embarrassed about and that we don't want to make them as sheltered as he was (he wasn't allowed to go to a party if someone had a cold a week ago). And he usually let's up for a while. But I think it's hard to change those initial internal reactions. I just have to keep reminding him that it is good for their feet (I can walk on gravel barefoot with no issues, DH can't even tolerate grass because his feet are so sensitive...I vote from never being shoeless!) and they won't have anything bad happen to their feet in our yard or anywhere else. The risks are minimal. But I am rarely found with "real" shoes on...so I am certainly far on the barefoot spectrum.

[EODwife363]

Depends on what the ground is like. In Arizona it's hard to find soft green grass so if it hurts me to walk on then there's no way I'd want my girls walking around barefoot either. Lol

[Yuzu]

I almost never wear shoes; I even kick them off in the car! So naturally I don't ask the boys to wear shoes at home or in the yard. I would NEVER let them go barefoot in a Playspace or restaurant though. I saw some kids at McDonald's playing barefoot on that sticky, nasty floor and I could hardly eat my ice cream. Yicky!

[HopefulMonster]

Definitely in the house, back garden, at the beach etc, but not anywhere where the ground would hurt, obviously! I never wear shoes in the house, I like my feet to be free!

[boymaker]

Depends, like many have said. If they're just playing beside me in the grass or not really going far outside then yes. But if I know we'll be walking around outside or be out there for a long time, then I'd like for them to wear sandals. Things can prick the feet and so forth, never know, what it might be.