First shoes - confusion

[sophiechristophy]

Hi guys,

Ok so my daughter is 14 months and is walking. She has just growm out of the soft clarks cruising shoes that she had been wearing outdoors. So, I need to buy her some new shoes, but I am confused. I have read on the american podiatary website that children under 7 really don't need shoes at all, and bare feet is best. However, the shoe shops all say she needs a hard sole and support now that she is walking. She also has really narrow feet.

Anyway, I can't decide whether to get her some hard sole start rites, or something like this instead: http://www.robeez.co.uk/Product.aspx?ProductID=1299&PriceCat=3&Lang=EN-UK&RefID=gouk_robeez_toddler_shoes&STID=GB&SID=03384151-b3bb-4b10-a95f-86055dafbd06

What does everyone else do about shoes?!?!?

Thanks!! Sophie

[Pickle]

For both of mine I got the Clarks first steps shoes, with a solid yet flexible sole. Fine to wear bare feet when you're somewhere you can be sure is safe, but I think something with a decent sole is necessary if you're letting them walk round in parks/playgrounds etc.

[sophiechristophy]

Hi Pickle - how long did you keep them in the first steps shoes?

[Saffron]

Ditto what Pickled said about a flexible soled shoe for outdoors, otherwise barefoot everywhere it is safe. I even let Little Saff go barefoot in our local children's playground in Hilly Fields b/c the ground is in pretty good condition and well looked after. I noticed that Little Saff is much less prone to slipping on the climbing frames when she is barefooted. The sole of the foot is naturally grippy, and the foot can flex more without a shoe.

[The Nappy Lady]

Agree with Pickle, and I found my two walked better with proper shoes on.

You can do bare feet at home for much of the time to balance it out if you want to.

[bluesuperted]

Hi Sophie, am grappling with this baby issue myself! Especially as E is now walking really enthusiastically at 11 months - so even softer squidgier feet to consider (opposite problem, so squashy and wide at this end!!). I did a bit of research and found some useful advice on Green Parent forums as I'd also read the barefoot as much as possible information.

Anyway, in a nutshell, I found this great American site that does structured but very soft and flexible shoes and you can ship them over here (although I'm shipping them to my States holiday rental address!):

http://www.softstarshoes.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=51

What really struck me about something I read (will try and dig it out) was that babies' feet are not miniature versions of adult feet - they are still growing and changing and some commercial shoes ARE just scaled down adult items and as such squash little feet into shapes they don't want to be in... The company above has a really good information bit too and they are really helpful with recommending how to measure correctly and which type to go for. I'm planning on getting the soft Villey leather mocassins as per their advice, and keeping baby in bare feet as much as possible (including lots of socks off time at home!).

Hope this helps! xx

[Ruth_Baldock]

We do shoes when we're out, bare feet when we're at home. In parks that aren't terrible, we let our son go barefoot. This means he's barefoot probably about 70% of the time, actually.

[Saffron]

Thank goodness I'm not the only one, Ruth! People keep giving me really odd looks when I have Little Saff barefoot in the park. :)

[bluesuperted]

I always let him go barefoot in the park on grass and would consider it on nice playground areas too! Watching his feet I can really see the benefit of as much barefoot time as possible - little toes that are really spread and agile compared to adults feet, helping his balance and grippy soles keeping him steady like you say. And yet still much softer feet than me, how unfair!!

[sophiechristophy]

When my mum was 18 she went barefoot for a year. Apparently my Gran just rolled with it...

[Pickle]

I kept them in the first steps shoes until they grew out of the sizes available in them (which I think is around a 4/5 from memory). My son has really weak ankles and we were advised by the specialists at Kings that he should wear supportive shoes to help them strengthen in the right position.

[The Nappy Lady]

It is interesting. You can see the importance of them being properly fitted by Clarks etc. - bear in mind my youngest, now nearly 3 has been in special orthotic shoes since 13 months old to correct her Metatarsus Adductus - this is when the Metatarsals (bones in the feet) curve inwards as a result of how she lay in the womb - so no issue with her ankles, but her feet were 'banana shaped'.

Just wearing these specially made shoes, which the wonderful NHS have provided, made to measure and with a straight inner edge has been enough to gently correct her feet, so they now appear totally normal.

To do this, she had to wear the shoes 12 hours a day, 7 days a week pretty much, though we are less ridgid now.

I'm so relieved, but also it does prove how easily their feet can be affected by what they have on their feet. I still think that if they are properly fitted shoes it's fine however. I know when they measure little fit they allow a thumbs width for growth between the end of the foot and the toe of the shoe, and also of course measure width, and advise on the style of shoe (my eldest always had to have a T Bar due to her high arches and chubby feet!

[bluesuperted]

Pickle and Molly - how did you both find out about your LOs feet related issues? Was it the shoe shops that alerted you? X

[Pickle]

My son was a very late walker (21 months, runs in the family so we weren't really that worried), and was referred to the specialist team at Kings when he was about 18 months. He still has developmental problems with his ankles and feet but they are due to him being double jointed more than the late walking... but we're due to go for follow ups in the next 6 months.

His "problems" don't affect him at all, he's just as active and capable as any other 4.5 year old, but his ankles look quite strange when you see him with bare feet.

[The Nappy Lady]

It was pretty obvious with C...I pointed it out to the midwives within the first few weeks and they referred me to the Kings physio team, who saw me a few times, and when she got to a year they referred me to the Orthotics Team for the shoes. In actual fact she was never considered that bad, in extreme cases the children may almost be walking on the outside edges of their feet. In a 'normal foot' if you hold a pencil from the middle of the heel to the toes vertically the pencil should run through the middle toe, but on her it would run through her little toe if that make sense.

If guess with an older child you'd have to ask your Doctor to refer you.

[buggie]

BST - those shoes look v nice but v similar to the leather shoes in ED (starfish or blue inch)

I'm begining to think about footwear for Bugglet as she's v v close to walking and is fine barefooted but her feet get really cold & with wooden floorboards throughout socks (even the Gap ones) are too slippy.

Does anyone know of really grippy socks in small sizes (at 10 mths she's still in 3-6mth clothes!)

[The Nappy Lady]

How about slipper socks Buggie? I got some for C last winter. Not sure how small a size them come in but maybe you could Google them? They have a lot of rubber on the base so might grip?

I was thinking about this thread and wintertime, and thinking in the UK you really have to have wellies for the park once they are on their feet, and some kind of socks at home unless you've got underfloor heating throughout (what a dream)!

Jo Jo Mamon do those rubber 'sock on' things to keep socks on don't they - do they offer any kind of grip as well? I suspect not as I think the bit that goes around the food sits in the arch...just brainstorming!

A gap in the market - quick mumpreneurs - get inventing!!

[Saffron]

Put some double sided tape on the bottom of the sock? x

[buggie]

Saffron - have image of Bugglet now stuck to the floor trying to free either leg - will bare it in mind if I need her to stay in one spot!

Have tried googling slipper socks but the guys making these things don't expect such little feet to be so active!!

Sock-ons with grip would be fab!!

[Moos]

We have lots of slipper socks, mostly from Germany where they're really common, they're called "flitze" socks. Maybe a company like "Jako-o" (online kids' clothes, I think German) might have 'em?

[mrs f]

Bluespurted you are right in that childrens feet do not have all of the same bones as adult feet, in fact our feet are not fully mature until we are about 18/19 years old and until then the bones are very soft and as Molly pointed out can be easily manipulated either for the better or the worse by our footwear. I studied footwear design & work in the world of shoes (including a stint at clarks kids dept) and from my 'professional' (if you can call it that!) point of view I would keep babies/toddlers/children bare footed as much as possible to enable their feet to grow & mature naturally... I would say though that most of the decent children's shoe brands (clarks, start rite etc) do have very good fitting & development behind their products and do understand the structure of the feet they are designing for... They are not really scaled down adult shoes...

[bumpy]

Slipper socks - we searched ebay and used some like these, lots of other suppliers on there too

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Babys-toddlers-non-slip-sole-slipper-socks-BNWT-/400181186230?pt=Baby_Clothing&var=&hash=item9bff5ca0a4#ht_572wt_907

[cuppa tea]

Oh dear - I've been putting son.2 in son.1's first shoes..so I am thinking this is a really bad idea right?! To be honest mostly he's not in shoes though. We have some great rubber soled socks from JoJo Maman Bebe. My eldest has worn them out many a time. And to nursery.

[bluesuperted]

Interesting points mrs f! Still need to find the article to which I was referring but should really be packing for my imminent flight!

Also it's blue superted - lots of people read it as bluespurted, think it's a lexical optical illusion ;)

[mrs f]

Sorry blue superted! I think you may well be right with cheaper shoes, for eg no doubt primark kids shoes (if they do them) would be scaled down adult versions (as they keep costs down by not spending on specific designers or proper development & technical staff (as well as cheap factories)) and therefore would be totally inadvisable for any child... It's those moments when you see little girls in high heels I really feel for them... Poor things could do serious damage to their feet :-(

There is a lot of legislation as to what you can make for children's shoes but sadly none of it (as far as I'm aware) takes into account fit etc. It isn't well known how fragile (unformed) our feet are well into our late teens/early adulthood and so sadly damage is done :-(