Kelly Kohen's 15-month-old son hates shoes. Really hates them. In fact, Kohen says her son so prefers being barefoot that he takes off his shoes and socks whenever possible and must have them off before falling asleep. (Thankfully, it serves as a great cue for this mom – when the shoes and socks come off, she knows he's ready to nap.)

When the Kohens moved to Davis, Calif., in August of last year, the family encountered some serious heat, complete with blisteringly hot pavement, which was a challenge to bare feet. "And of course, there was also the normal possibilities of bugs and sharp objects, but it seems my son has been able to avoid that for the most part when walking barefoot," Kohen says. "He's learned to walk in the grass and simply yells 'Mamma!' when he wants me to carry him over something. We let him go barefoot as much as possible and feel that when he was learning how to walk it helped him keep his balance better when he was able to balance with his toes. Now that it's colder outside, we do stick to the shoes-and-sock rule, but come warm weather, he'll be sans shoes again, I'm sure!"

Kohen is not alone in having to keep a close eye on her shoe-ditching little one. How many times have you seen a happy camper in a stroller with her shoes mysteriously missing? Or a mother wrestling with her toddler to get his footwear on? Is it OK to let babies and toddlers go sans shoes if the weather permits?

"As a pediatric foot specialist, I'm often asked about shoe gear by parents and family members," says Dr. Jeffrey J. Falcone, a New York City podiatrist with offices in Manhattan, Bay Ridge and Williamsburg, and a clinical assistant professor in the New York College of Podiatric Medicine's orthopedic/pediatrics department. "There appears to be a lot of confusion on this subject because parents and caregivers often get conflicting advice from grandparents, shoe salesmen, pediatricians, orthopedic surgeons, podiatrists and pedorthists."

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