Why Did She Curl Her Feet When Putting Shoes On?

For some reason, whenever we tried to put my little girls shoes on, she would instantly curl her toes and arch her foot.

It was one of those little things she did as a child that I remember so clearly because, at the time, I could not understand why she was doing it.

She did not curl her toes while walking, standing or running around. It only happened when a shoe went anywhere near her foot.

The second we tried to put one on, those little toes would curl tightly, making it surprisingly difficult to get her shoes on properly.

Sometimes it would take several attempts just to get one shoe on.

Why Did She Curl Her Toes?

At the time, I did what most parents probably do when faced with something they cannot explain.

I searched online.

I wanted to know why my child was curling her toes whenever I tried to put her shoes on and whether anyone else had experienced the same thing.

A lot of the advice I found suggested that children might curl their toes because they disliked wearing shoes, found them uncomfortable, or simply wanted to pull them off.

But none of that really seemed to fit her.

She actually loved shoes.

She would happily bring them to us, try to put them on herself or sit there trying on my shoes just for fun.

She never cried when we put shoes on her. She never tried to take them off and she never seemed upset once they were on.

In fact, she even curled her feet when she was pretending to wear somebody else's shoes.

That was the bit that made me think it was not simply that she disliked wearing footwear.

It honestly seemed more like an automatic reflex than a refusal to wear shoes.

Her Little Toes Would Curl Up

For months, I kept thinking she would eventually grow out of it.

But the habit seemed to stick around for quite a while.

We tried all sorts of different footwear.

Trainers.

Little pumps.

Slippers.

Boots.

Soft shoes.

You name it, we probably tried it.

But it made no difference.

Every single time, those little toes would curl up.

Sometimes she would scrunch her whole foot into a tiny little ball, making it almost impossible to slide the shoe on properly.

I remember trying all sorts of little tricks to help.

I would gently rub the bottom of her foot to see if I could get her to relax her toes, or I would try distracting her for long enough to quickly slip the shoe on before those toes curled up again.

Sometimes it worked.

Sometimes it didn't.

And then we would have to start all over again.

She Wasn't Upset About Her Shoes

The funny thing about the whole situation was that she was never upset during any of this.

Quite the opposite, really.

She would sit there happily trying to help me put her shoes on while unintentionally making the whole process about ten times harder.

It was almost as though her brain was saying, "Yes, let's put my shoes on," while her feet were saying, "Absolutely not."

Except she wasn't actually refusing.

She loved wearing them.

That was what made it so confusing.

I could understand it if she was crying, pulling her feet away or trying to remove the shoes once they were on.

But she wasn't.

It was just those little curled-up toes.

I Had Never Seen It With My Boys

I never experienced anything like this with any of my boys.

It was only her who did it, which made it stand out even more to me.

As a parent, you become so familiar with your children's little habits and quirks. You notice the things they do differently, especially when you have more than one child to compare your experiences with.

So when something completely new comes along, it can leave you wondering whether it is normal, whether it is something they will grow out of or whether you should be concerned.

In her case, I never really got a clear answer at the time.

I found plenty of explanations online, but they didn't seem to describe what I was seeing.

Her toes weren't curling because she hated shoes.

She wasn't trying to get out of wearing them.

She wasn't distressed.

It simply seemed to happen whenever something was being put onto her feet.

Looking Back, I Sometimes Wonder About Neurodiversity

Looking back now, I sometimes wonder whether there could have been a sensory reason behind it.

I have since learned more about neurodiversity and how some children can experience sensory input, touch and movement differently. Perhaps having something placed around her feet triggered a sensory or automatic response that made her toes curl.

At the time, I didn't know anything about this and certainly wasn't thinking about sensory processing. I was simply trying to work out why my child's toes seemed to have a mind of their own whenever I tried to put her shoes on!

I will never really know whether there was a connection, and I would not want to suggest that curling your toes when putting shoes on is a sign of neurodiversity on its own. There could have been many reasons for it.

But knowing what I know now, it is something I sometimes wonder about.

Did She Eventually Grow Out of It?

Eventually, the curled toes became less of an issue.

Like so many of those strange little childhood habits, it was something that seemed to fade with time.

Looking back now, I sometimes wonder what exactly was going through her mind whenever I brought her shoes over.

Perhaps it was simply a reflex.

Perhaps she was responding to the sensation of something touching her feet.

Perhaps it was just one of those funny little things that children do without really thinking about it.

I don't know.

And honestly, I am not sure I ever will.

What I do know is that it was definitely not because she disliked shoes.

She loved them far too much for that.

Maybe She Was Destined to Be a Ballerina

There is still a part of me that likes to think there was a much more glamorous explanation.

Maybe she was simply destined to be a little ballerina with permanently pointed toes.

Okay, probably not.

But when you spend months wrestling tiny curled-up feet into shoes, you have to find some humour in it!

It is funny looking back at some of the little things that used to occupy so much of my time as a parent.

At the time, I just wanted to get a pair of shoes onto her feet without having to attempt it five times.

Now, those memories make me smile.

Did Your Child Curl Their Toes When Putting Shoes On?

I would genuinely love to know if anyone else experienced this.

Did your child curl their toes when you tried to put their shoes on?

Did they do it only when footwear was being put on, like she did, or did they do it at other times too?

I spent so much time searching for an explanation and never really found one that matched what I was seeing.

So perhaps I wasn't the only parent wrestling tiny curled-up feet into shoes after all.

And if your child did the same thing, please tell me I wasn't alone!

If you are concerned that your child’s shoes may feel restrictive, you may also find my guide to: choosing the right footwear for your child helpful.

Repeated movements can have different purposes, particularly for neurodivergent children, as I explore in my post about recognising stimming, anxiety and compulsive behaviour.