Advice for Flat foot runner

Flat feet run in my family -almost everyone who was "blessed" with them has gotten special orthotics inserts for their shoes. It has worked well.

Vibram 5 Fingers or barefoot. That was my solution after years of crazy blisters and sore feet.

I like both the Brooks Trance and Brooks Pure Cadence. If she's going to be running seriously, you should take her to a running store to get fitted.

Vibram 5 Fingers or barefoot. That was my solution after years of crazy blisters and sore feet.

Some folks in my family are flat footed. I have heard that running barefoot or in minimal shoes can actually cause your arch to strengthen and raise...

Good luck with whichever route you choose!

My wife pointed this out to me not too long ago. I actually have an arch now and I had none before. I hate sounding like a nut job, but this is one area where I tend to. Go barefoot if you can. I'm spoiled because I live on the beach and can run barefoot. I used the 5 fingers much more often when I was living in a major city. If she does this though, have her build up distance very slowly. It takes time to build up the strength in the feet and calves.

Edit: typo

When making a decision on how to treat your daughters flat feet you need to understand that flat feet are caused by one thing. Weak, atrophied foot muscles. There are forty intrinsic foot muscles that are responsible for the height and more importantly the strength and functionality of the foot. These foot muscles need to be stimulated and exercised regularly just like every other muscle in the body if you want to maintain a healthy functional arch. Studies have shown that children in shoe wearing societies are born with healthy feet and by age nine they have lost 50 of the foot functionality. I hear from people every week that they were born with flat feet. I ask them if they were born with arm muscles,a six pack and chest muscles. In unshod countries 3% of the population seek medical help for foot,knee and back problems where 85% in shod seek help. Unfortunately the foot wear and foot care industries have feed you a lot of misinformation that states that the foot needs to cushioned,supported or braced in order to be healthy. If you Google Websters Dictionary description of an Orthotic it will accurately tell you that it is a brace for a dysfunctional joint or muscles designed to permanently immobilize. This practice was abandoned by modern medicine in the early 1900's for every other part of the body. It is well documented that permanently cushioning or supporting muscles or joints forces the muscle and joint into atrophy and dysfunction. The shoe fitting teams in most cases will tell you that because your daughter has flat ,atrophied , dysfunctional feet that she needs to wear shoes that restrict her feet and accommodate her dysfunction.
Correcting her feet is really simple. The ancient art of exercise and allowing for as close as possible to full range of motion will not only fix her immediate problem but also ensure that she will be in the 3% injury bucket throughout her life. Walking Barefoot in the sand or grass will strengthen her feet as well as the many foot exercise programs that you can find on the web. The Barefoot Science foot strengthening insoles will provide the same level of "proprioceptive "strengthening feedback that she will need with every step and will reduce her skin on the ground or plantar surface area by 36% over a six to twelve week period.
http://www.barefoot-science.com/proof/study/studyabstract
http://www.barefoot-science.com/proof/study/proprioception
http://www.toesalad.com/reviews/barefoot-science-foot-strengthening-system

For her shoes the recommendations for Vibrams or any of the new "Minimalistic" flexible shoes are great. The only problem is that even the thinnest of shoes insulates those natural proprioceptors that engage and stimulate the muscles so you need to add the BFS insoles to those as well. A simple test to understand this would be to run a pencil along your hand or foot and then retest with a piece of paper over your hand or foot. You will find a significant drop in sensation or Proprioceptive feedback.
These new shoes are great because they do not restrict the foot but do not run in them until she has reached level three of the strengthening system and she has the foot strenght to handleit .. If you look at the SEMG report you will see that as soon as turn the foot muscles back on that all of the gait ,balance and stability muscles have a dramatic increase in strength and efficiency. http://www.barefoot-science.com/proof/study/progfootstr You would get the same results if she walked barefoot.

Good Luck!