Children's Insoles

Children's insoles are designed to provide cushioning, support, and shock absorption for a child's foot and are sized in order to fit into a child's shoe. In some cases, children's insoles may provide orthopedic foot support, which would help with the treatment and prevention of child-specific foot conditions such as Sever's disease and toe walking. In other cases, the insoles are designed simply to provide enhanced comfort for a child's foot.

How do children's insoles help my child's foot?

Children's insoles work almost exactly the same way that adult insoles do. With orthopedic arch support insoles, the insole will work to cradle your child's foot, giving them a stable foot foundation, supporting the heel, and limiting excess foot & ankle roll. An arch support insole will further prevent arch collapse and help to guide the foot into a normal pronation movement, helping to prevent over-pronation, supination, and toe walking.

Even if the insole isn't an arch support insole, a children's insole should still provide extra cushioning and shock absorption for your child's foot. Especially for children that are on their feet a lot (whether at school, sports, or playtime), additional cushioning and shock absorption will help keep their feet comfortable all day long, eliminating sore feet and foot fatigue that can easily lead to unhappy campers.

We typically recommend arch support insoles in order to ensure that your child's feet get the support they need every day, but all children's insoles should help to provide additional foot comfort during everyday use.

What special considerations should I have about children's insoles?

The biggest considerations should be with regards to how quickly a child's foot grows (and how quickly they outgrow their shoes), and with regards to the way that children's shoes are sized and fit.

Foot Growth & Insole Replacement

With adult insoles, you'll generally purchase one size insole and use that insole in your shoes until it wears out (generally 6-8 months of use). Adult feet don't typically keep growing, so you're not likely to outgrow your shoes, meaning that your insoles will end up needing replaced only when they become worn out.

With children's insoles, however, you'll often find that you'll need to replace your insoles for sizing rather than wear & tear. Young children can outgrow their current shoe size in as little as 3-4 months, with older children needing a new shoe size approximately every 6 months. Given that insoles have a 6-8 month average lifespan, this means that you'll more often than not simply need to replace your child's insoles for size rather than wear.

It's for this reason that we find 3/4-length insoles so much more well-suited to children's usage compared to adults. With a 3/4-length insole, you don't need to replace the insole every time your child grows into their next shoe size, whereas you would with a full-length insole. This is because with a full-length insole, if the insole was originally sized for a Youth 11 size shoe, when you placed that insole in a Youth size 11.5 shoe, the insole would be shorter than the shoe. Your child would then feel the gap between the toe edge of the insole and the tip of the shoe, and the insole would be more prone to sliding forwards and backwards inside the shoe.

A 3/4-length insole is purposely designed to only extend from the heel through the midfoot, leaving the forefoot open. As your child's foot grows and they replace their existing shoes with larger sizes, this means that a 3/4-length insole can be transferred from one size to the next without impacting the overall fit and feel of the shoe or the insole. And since almost all 3/4-length insoles are designed to cover at least one whole size and the next corresponding half size (sometimes more), this means that you won't need to replace your child's insoles every time they outgrow their shoes.

In sum: If you plan to use a full-length insole in your child's shoes, you should be prepared to replace them along with your child's shoes whenever they grow out of their current size. If you plan to use a 3/4-length insole instead, you can usually plan to replace the insole once every other shoe size, sometimes longer depending on the specific insole sizing and durability.

Children's Shoe Sizing & Fit

Almost all adult shoes come with removable factory insoles, making them ideal for simply replacing the factory insole with a full-length insole of your choice without overly impacting the overall fit of the shoe. Only certain styles and brands of adult shoes lack removable insoles, requiring the use of a 3/4-length insole instead.

With children's shoes, there's much greater variance in terms of whether or not a full-length insole will even work in the shoe. Most notably:

• Many children's shoes don't have removable insoles, especially smaller-sized shoes for toddlers and young children. 
• Children's shoes tend to have a tighter-fitting toe box area, limiting the amount of full-length insole options available while still leaving sufficient room in the toes of the shoes.

Thinking ahead, too, even if your child's current shoe allows for a full-length insole, their next size might not (and we definitely understand how hard it can be finding a shoe that fits right even without insoles involved!).

Conclusion

This isn't to say that full-length insoles are discouraged. After all, we fully recommend full-length insoles for adult use and only recommend 3/4-length insoles when needed. Rather, we often find that 3/4-length children's insoles simply allows for much more flexibility in terms of fit and longevity.

What children's foot conditions should I be worried about?

We will always defer to your child's pediatrician or podiatrist for diagnosis and treatment of foot conditions, but in general children tend to be prone to the following:

• General soreness and foot fatigue, especially towards the end of a busy day. A proper arch support insole will help to alleviate strain on the foot and distribute pressure more evenly, providing relief.
• Toe walking. An arch support insole will "guide" the foot to pronate normally, encouraging your child to "roll" the foot with each step in a heel-to-toe motion, preventing toe walking.
• Sever's disease, an overuse injury that affects the base of the heel and arch of the foot. Similar to plantar fasciitis, an arch support insole will provide enhanced support for the heel and arch, taking strain off the foot and allowing the foot to heal.
• Ankle roll. Over-pronation (excessive inward rolling) and supination (excessive outward rolling) can lead to ankle injuries and general instability. A proper arch support insole with a good heel cup/heel cradle will help prevent excess roll and improve stability.

Children's insoles will help to provide extra support and cushioning to their shoes, which can help prevent foot conditions before they develop or alleviate symptoms if they've already appeared.

Are children's insoles safe to use?

All of the children's insoles we carry are designed specifically for children's feet, and many are APMA-accepted. We strongly believe that enhancing the support and comfort your children's feet receive will benefit them, but we encourage you to speak with your child's pediatrician or podiatrist if you have any concerns. We're always happy to answer any product questions you may have, and many insoles come with Wear-Test Guarantees that will allow your child to wear and use the insole and still be able to return it if you're not satisfied.