Ok, now I am wondering what that contraption on the one baby’s shoes is. It looks like a rolling pin with some cords attached...
It’s to straighten her feet. She was probably severely pigeon toed.
To treat clubbed feet.
One of our daughters wore that as a baby. It's to ensure their legs grow straight. We were expecting a normal vaginal birthing with a midwife present, as was the case with our other children. But our baby turned in the womb and the doctors couldn't make her turn, having to come out in a c-section delivery. Her legs had been twisted in the womb, and that appliance was prescribed to straighten her feet. Every day we'd put it on her while she slept in her crib, until she was able to walk. Straightened her feet out just fine before she turned one year old.