Finding Their Feet: Every parent's guide to milestones and movement

We are delighted to be working with Bernie Landels, an internationally-certified Infant Massage Instructor (IAIM) and health practitioner, and stocking her new book, Finding Their Feet.

This book is a fantastic guide to the anatomy and development of your baby’s feet, and the important relationship between their feet, body and brain. It is an invaluable guide to any new parent and particularly for those of us fascinated by feet and their role in development.

Background

Bernie Landels is an internationally-certified Infant Massage Instructor (IAIM) and since 2002, has helped many parents build strong connections with and foundations for their children through touch and education.

While working with adults presenting with pain and postural ‘issues’, and teaching parents about their infants Bernie started asking the question – what if the ‘issues’ started developing in the earliest years?

This burning question was the catalyst for Bernie to embark on writing Finding Their Feet: an accessible and practical guide designed for parents and carers, to equip them for the most important role they will have – guiding their child’s development.

As Bernie began her research it became clear that if she was to really make a difference to people’s lives she had to go back to the beginning and get the newest feet on the right path to success.

An X-ray of an infant foot, and the understanding that bones take time to grow and that a child’s foot does not fully mature until they are 15 years old, convinced her that she had to do something. Her mission became about sharing this information with parents as they could really influence the development of their child’s foot by what they put on them (or not).

To explain the importance and develop understanding of why ‘barefoot is best’ she expanded her research and content to include how the foot influences each developmental milestone - after all the aim of every child is to eventually get up on to their feet and walk. She concluded that good health and well-being starts at the feet. From their first kicks in the womb to their first wobbly toddler steps – and every milestone in between – a baby’s feet play a crucial role in their physical, mental, and emotional development.

The Book

The culmination of all of Bernie's research is presented in her book; it covers the journey from womb to walking as a baby finds their feet.

Finding Their Feet is an accessible and practical guide for parents and carers, designed to equip them for the most important role they will ever have – guiding their child’s development for life-long success, from the feet up.

Learn about the anatomy and development of your baby’s feet, and the important relationship between their feet, body, and brain. Explore how your baby practices movement from their earliest moments, and how their innate primal reflexes and gross motor skills (rolling, crawling, standing and walking) help to develop their central nervous system, laying the foundations in their first years for reading, writing and language. Discover the importance of being barefoot, and the best footwear choices for your child.

Combining the latest research, easy-to-follow anatomical science, and fun, practical activities and exercises for you to enjoy with your baby while supporting their development, Finding Their Feet is a parenting book like no other.

Chapters Include:

• First Kicks: The Development of the Foot
• Feeling Their Feet: Sensory Development
• First movements: Reflexes
• Early milestones: Head Control, Tummy Time and Rolling
• Sitting and Crawling
• Standing, Squatting and Climbing
• Cruising and the Novice Walker
• Finding their feet: Walking
• The case for going barefoot
• The evolution of footwear
• What is the best footwear for children?
• Podo Problem-solving