Foot Care for Babies and Small Children: Early Development….by Julia Franklin
At birth and throughout the first year or so of life, babies’ feet are quite different in many ways from those of an adult. Firstly they are a different shape, being wider in the forefoot and narrow at the heel with the toes often being “curly”. Secondly the bones are undeveloped and at this stage consist of nothing more than cartilage, so they are soft and pliable. This is why small children can appear to do things to their feet without any harm at all – which would certainly injure an adult!
The 26 bones in each foot gradually develop throughout the early years, becoming basically bony by the age of 7-8 years, at which point the toes have usually straightened. However, they are not fully developed until the late teens.
