Do you allow your kids outside barefoot?

My daughter is 14 months old and has just learn t to walk. She will yet take a while before she can walk in shoes but yes there have been many times when i take her in the stroller without socks or shoes. In fact she has formed a habit of taking out her socks the minute i put them on her. Shoes, she wont wear them at all. she enjoys being barefoot and since its summertime, i indulge her. My husband is pretty paranoid and doesn't like it all.

you're doing the right thing, a child should never go outside without shoes, because they could end up getting their feet cut, or something could get stuck in it, and even something could fall on their toes while their playing. That is not common in the states, and i never seen any kids playing barefoot here in the states, maybe in other countries.

It really does seem to be a common thing. I would think more so in the southern states. I see it all the time! I like you don't agree with it at all. I remember going outside when I was a kid without shoes on but I wouldn't like my daughter doing it. Never know where dog feces, urine, vomit etc may be. Rusted nails, broken glass, no telling what else their little feet might come across.

How did anyone over the age of 25 survive? People that age walked barefoot, climbed trees, swam in dirty cricks and lakes, stayed out late at night. I grew up on a farm and we went out barefoot all the time. If we stepped in something we whiped it off. If we stepped on somehting (like a rusty nail) you just said a swear word, pulled it out and kept on going. My brother stepped on more then I did and both our feet are just fine. We also never got hook worm ring worm or any of that stuff. We had every opertunity with horses, chickens, dogs, cats, ducks, and other outdoor animals using nature for a bathroom.

Also something to consider is that child is going to get dirty feet walking outside and then walk right into your house and leave black footprints everywhere. And if you send them to the tub to wash their feet they leave quite a mess behind. I have never allowed my kids outside without footwear on and they complain because "Daddy gets to". I just don't think it is safe. I know my neighbour has a cottage so they are probably used to walking around barefoot all the time up there so they allow their kids to do it here. But when I was babysitting the boy after school I told him he couldn't go out without shoes on. His father heard me tell him that once and told the kid that he had to follow the rules of this house. Just the other day their younger boy was sitting at my sliding door at the back of the house with me. He had been swimming with the kids. He asked me why I was wearing shoes. I pointed to the old deck and told him it was a splinter factory (or something to that affect). He didn't know what a splinter was so I asked him if he knew what a sliver was. He said he did. I asked him if he wanted to get them on his feet, and he said no. So I told him that he should wear shoes then. When his Dad came to get him he said he couldn't walk across the deck because he didn't have shoes on. LOL! I am just as concerned with injury as I am with filth. I have some pretty mangy looking kids who walk around in bare feet all the time. Yuck!

It depends on. When my child is playing in the beach, I prefer to let him barefoot. He can be barefoot at home, too. As we have the wooden floor. Otherwise he has to wear shoes all the time.

There is nothing wrong in allowing the children to walk around barefoot as long as place is clean and neat. In countryside, the place is absolutely clean and nature friendly. It is dangerous to walk barefoot in cities because there can be litter everywhere, liquid and solid wastes with cantageous bacteria, nails and glass pieces strewn all over the place.

I will only allow them on our front pourch barefoot, cause we keep it clean, other wise they have to leave there shoes on espically in the grass

Guilty as charged- But only in our yard- we live in the country so we have alot of land- I'm constantly outside with my barefeet- it's just the way I did it when I was a kid- something about the way the grass feels under my toes- Love it- I won't let her anywhere else- You just never know- Sure there are bugs and stuff out there- but it didn't hurt me any growing up- I say we have to let our kids have some freedom- even if it means going barefoot-

No I don't. It would be too easy for them to get hurt. There is so much stuff laying in the streets from little stones to broken glass where they could really hurt themselves. My kids have a friend who lives on our street and he never has anything on his feet. I can't believe he's never really hurt himself. I think it's only a matter of time.

I will never allow my 1 and a half year old go barefoot outside the house. I just don't like the idea that her feet will get dirty, might step on sharp objects or something, or get some worm or disease. My neighbor always comes by the house and my little girl always loves it when the door opens she can have the chance to swiftly get out with no shoes on! My neighbor goes with her but I always tell to put on shoes/sandals first before going out, because the first time it happened they were out of earshot already and my girl was out barefoot with my neighbor. I didn't really like that it happened.

I never let my daughter go outside barefoot. There are just too many things I think she could get hurt on. Now if we had our own house with a fenced in yard with grass and I kept it nice and clean I would probably let her go barefoot. But while we are living in apartments absolutely not.

N0, they are never to leave the house without shoes on their feet.

Allowing a kid out of your yard barefoot is the easiest way for them to get an injury to their feet. So many people have no regard for others that they break bottles in the road on a constant basis, allow nails to lay in the road, and etc. If I had children, they would not be allowed to walk around anywhere off of our property without shoes on.

it depends. if they are going outside to get the newspaper for u in the morning i think it is ok for them not to wear shoes but i think if they are going to play and do a lot of activity they need to wear shoes. thats a must if they are going to play in the street. there could be something harmful in street and something can happen but thats it

Not only do I allow my children to go outside with no shoes on, I do it also. Your hands probably get as many germs, if not more, than your feet do. You touch things that people have sneezed on. There are those who don't wash their hands when they go to the bathroom and they leave germs and bacteria on door handles and other things. Your hands then wipe your face and you're infected. Yes, there is a possibility of cutting your foot or stubbing your toe, but that is life. Someone infected with a contageous disease may also sneeze in your immediate area and infect you. If my kids want to go outside in the yard without shoes, I let them. As long as they don't have dog poop or any other type of poop on their feet when they come in the house so be it. We have a hose. They can hose off before they come in.

My kids play outside barefoot, but we live on 5 acres. When we go to the lake or other places where broken glass or other dangers are a possibility, they don't.

No way I'd let my little girl run around outside without shoes. Only for the reason that we have outdoor cats and they like to do their business everywhere. Or, at least in unexpected places. And, that can lead to infantigo and such, so we always make her wear flip-flops or sandals. Also, there's the risk for contracting worms from dirt for children that don't wear shoes outside. We try to avoid that risk if at all possible! She's only three but she knows better than to take her shoes off outside. She will even fuss at me if I take off my shoes!

I do not let my kids play outside barefoot. For me it is because my oldest is diabetic and if he gets injury on his feet, it could get infected into his bones. So this has just carried on with my other kids as well. Where we used to live, there were a lot of broken bottles and glass in the parking lot and such so it was pretty stupid when kids would walk around barefoot.

My kids are always outside without any shoes. And my stepkids are even worse, the girls will walk around town (on ashpalt) without shoes.