Shoes can make a baby cry?

Jackie's refusal to wear shoes has been very hard for us these past few months. Whenever we put shoes on her, she would scream bloody murder for extended periods of time. I would drop it and try again a few days later, thinking it was just a phase, but it has lasted over two months.

Whenever she screamed, we would instinctively take the shoes off, thinking they were hurting her. However, more testing and investigation showed that she would even cry when I put mine or daddy's shoes on her (too big to even surround her foot). We couldn't take her outside to walk or play, because she wasn't wearing shoes. So, we were indoors more than I would like. Plus, the weather is now getting beautiful and I knew we had to do something.

Problem Identified: she won't wear shoes and for her safety and her quality of life, she needs to.

Trial 1: Trip to Walmart: We went to Walmart and I put her shoes on. I didn't want to go in public with her because it would be a terrible and stressful trip with a baby screaming through Walmart. But that's where my schedule brought me that day, and I didn't want to put it off. So I put her shoes on her. She screamed and screamed, and I sadly (very sadly) ignored it. I tried to have her walk beside me to the car, but she just wasn't used to the shoes at all. She just cried standing there on the sidewalk, refusing to move her legs with the awkward contraptions on her feet. I picked her up and took her crying to the car. By the time we got to the store, thank goodness, she was no longer crying! I said "Yay, you're so quiet, good girl" and I took her shoes off. I have never seen her smile so big! She was all smiles in the cart throughout the whole store, her white socks kicking and dancing.

Trial 2-one week later: I decided the best way to put her shoes on, was when she was in her high chair. Her vision was blocked because of the tray, so she couldn't see her feet. I would say "put your shoes on" followed by my hands wrapping around her feet. She would laugh and giggle. I did this several times so she felt pressure against her feet, and then unsuspectingly put her shoes on instead of wrapping my hands around. You would think she wouldn't know the difference...

Shrieks ensued.

Stay tuned for Part 2
Colleen