baby shoes

sillysocks

I think 'they' say that barefoot/socks only is much better for their development for as long as you can keep it. We only got proper shoes when our boy started walking outside. I'd imagine you're better with shoes not boots, i find it very hard to find boots that fit well fit my 4 year old and even as a 3 year walking 'veteran' she can't walk in most of the boots we try. She waddles this funny walk when we try them on. I'm sure a good shop could advise you better on the boots, but I think the likes of Clarks are obviously quick to get you buying shoes even for kids that can't walk!

pwurple

cerastes wrote: »

dont write off secondhand, good quality shoes are grown out of before worn out, have gotten some great bargains secondhand, have looked at some cheaper brands and not so convinced but could not buy for 47 new.

Can you tell me what brand doesn't wear out? Because every single pair of shoes my daugher has worn has broken in some way. Sole come off, straps split, toe scuffed so much there is a hole in them. I can't even keep them for my second child.

Plus, the range of sizes is massive with the widths. My daughter and her cousin are 8 months apart in age, but she can't wear hers either, as there are 4 sizes difference between them in widths.

cerastes

pwurple wrote: »

Can you tell me what brand doesn't wear out? Because every single pair of shoes my daugher has worn has broken in some way. Sole come off, straps split, toe scuffed so much there is a hole in them. I can't even keep them for my second child.

Plus, the range of sizes is massive with the widths. My daughter and her cousin are 8 months apart in age, but she can't wear hers either, as there are 4 sizes difference between them in widths.

Had/have a few pairs of clarkes, another brand too, secondhand, v clean, didnt wear out. I'll get the name,seem to be very hard wearing for us. Never come across the level of damage you mentioned. What age are you talking about?

Xdancer

pwurple wrote: »

Can you tell me what brand doesn't wear out? Because every single pair of shoes my daugher has worn has broken in some way. Sole come off, straps split, toe scuffed so much there is a hole in them. I can't even keep them for my second child.

Plus, the range of sizes is massive with the widths. My daughter and her cousin are 8 months apart in age, but she can't wear hers withering, as there are 4 sizes difference between them in widths.

I have always bought Pablosky shoes for my daughter. She is nearly 3 and she has never worn a pair out so badly that they needed to be replaced, she just grew out of them. Obviously they have been a bit scuffed, but nothing a bit of scuff coat can't hide.
I have bought her the odd cheaper pair of shoes for special occasions or to go with a certain outfit and they have barely lasted 2 minutes.

How Strange

I bought pablosky for my son last January and he was wearing them until yesterday. He only has one pair at a time so I was very impressed at the good quality.

We bought Polish shoes yesterday on the recommendation of a friend. Significantly cheaper than pablosky, Ecco etc so I'll see how they look after a few months.

pwurple

cerastes wrote: »

Had/have a few pairs of clarkes, another brand too, secondhand, v clean, didnt wear out. I'll get the name,seem to be very hard wearing for us. Never come across the level of damage you mentioned. What age are you talking about?

She is 3 1/2 now, mainly we have used clarks... Tried startrite and found them worse. Dunnes, was ok for wellies and slippers, shoes fell apart within 2 weeks, similar for Next. I don't know why she is so hard on shoes. She has always been light for her age (around 25th percentile). maybe we are outdoors more than average family, we walk a lot of places as we live in the city, but it's not like she is pounding the pavements all day. She is in preschool etc. She has her current shoes (Clark's patent shoes) six weeks, and they are not in great shape. I should take a pic.

pwurple

Xdancer wrote: »

I have always bought Pablosky shoes for my daughter. She is nearly 3 and she has never worn a pair out so badly that they needed to be replaced, she just grew out of them. Obviously they have been a bit scuffed, but nothing a bit of scuff coat can't hide.
I have bought her the odd cheaper pair of shoes for special occasions or to go with a certain outfit and they have barely lasted 2 minutes.

Thanks, i'll have a look for them and give them a go.

Sligo1

pwurple wrote: »

She is 3 1/2 now, mainly we have used clarks... Tried startrite and found them worse. Dunnes, was ok for wellies and slippers, shoes fell apart within 2 weeks, similar for Next. I don't know why she is so hard on shoes. She has always been light for her age (around 25th percentile). maybe we are outdoors more than average family, we walk a lot of places as we live in the city, but it's not like she is pounding the pavements all day. She is in preschool etc. She has her current shoes (Clark's patent shoes) six weeks, and they are not in great shape. I should take a pic.

Pwurple any clarks shoes we have ever bought he has worn out. Any Ecco shoes we have ever bought he has outgrown.

seventeen sheep

At what stage do you need to buy "real" shoes? I'm willing to spend the money on a good pair when we need to, but it seems a bit of a waste right now. He has loads of cheap shoes (Dunnes, Next etc) to wear outside, but he spends his days in creche and at home either barefoot or in socks.

He's fifteen months now and still only learning to walk (maybe 5/6 steps at a time.)

I'm inclined to hold off for another couple of months (when the weather will be better and he'll be walking outside more), I'm just worried I might be damaging his feet in the meantime with the cheap shoes! Hopefully unlikely when he's only actually wearing them for maybe an hour max most days - and half of that time is in the buggy anyways, on the way to/from creche!

How Strange

I'd hold off for another few weeks. I think it's recommended to leave them barefoot until they're properly walking for a month and then you get the soft soled shoes. You can get little leather booties, I think there's a website called shoozie or something, and they are handy for being out side.

I wouldn't put any shoes on his feet other than those leather booties at this stage. I think they tend to walk on their tippy toes to start so being barefoot helps and putting shoes hinders them. I'm being vague because it was explained to me but I can't quite remember!

Millem

seventeen sheep wrote: »

At what stage do you need to buy "real" shoes? I'm willing to spend the money on a good pair when we need to, but it seems a bit of a waste right now. He has loads of cheap shoes (Dunnes, Next etc) to wear outside, but he spends his days in creche and at home either barefoot or in socks.

He's fifteen months now and still only learning to walk (maybe 5/6 steps at a time.)

I'm inclined to hold off for another couple of months (when the weather will be better and he'll be walking outside more), I'm just worried I might be damaging his feet in the meantime with the cheap shoes! Hopefully unlikely when he's only actually wearing them for maybe an hour max most days - and half of that time is in the buggy anyways, on the way to/from creche!

Cripps told me to wait till he walked more than he crawled. He started walking at 10 months but we didn't get shoes until he was 12ish months. (He had learned to run and rarely ever crawled!!) I just had socks with grips on him or barefoot. We have startrite shoes for him now as he has a very broad foot. Crips said barefoot is best

What about a shoebee to keep his feet warm?

seventeen sheep

Ten months, wow! :eek: My son still mostly just walks to show off and get loads of praise, I think he still prefers crawling for getting around quickly when he wants to! So I would say he's still crawling more than walking for the moment!

So basically it won't do him any harm to keep him barefoot or in socks mostly for now? I'm not really too worried about the cheap shoes damaging his feet, as we basically only put them on him for when he's in the car/buggy! He doesn't really spend much time walking or crawling with them on.

Millem

seventeen sheep wrote: »

Ten months, wow! :eek: My son still mostly just walks to show off and get loads of praise, I think he still prefers crawling for getting around quickly when he wants to! So I would say he's still crawling more than walking for the moment!

So basically it won't do him any harm to keep him barefoot or in socks mostly for now? I'm not really too worried about the cheap shoes damaging his feet, as we basically only put them on him for when he's in the car/buggy! He doesn't really spend much time walking or crawling with them on.

He was very early alright! When he's in the house even now I still have him barefoot. When he was 11 months we went to Clarks to get him measured and he was bigger than a 5 and a half so we couldn't get the soft shoes as they only go to a 5. At 12ish months he really really needed shoes as he was walking full time and I wanted to get him to walk outside instead of carrying him! We went to cripps who sell loads of brands and got him startrite in a 5h as they are bigger than Clarks!

bp

I like Clarks as I liked the look of a more expensive pair for the first shoes (only a few euro) but the sales assistant told me to get the slightly cheaper pair as the fit was better on the foot.

I liked the honestly!

Ginny

I think it's recommended to wait until they're walking 4-6 weeks or are actually walking outside.
Tbh I stay away from clarks, they don't have enough arch support and aren't the best for high arched feet. Our son had his first shoes from clarks and ended up needing to go to a consultant for a turn in his foot. She recommended independant retailers that have a varity of different shoes, as in pablosky are very good for high arches as they have an inbuilt arch support in the inside sole. In her opinion clarks aren't work the money, they used to be better fitting and supportive but are mass produced now and not much better then buying from Next or M&S.