When should I buy proper shoes for my LO?

Girl_least_likely_to

OK, I know I'm jumping the gun a bit here as my DD can't walk......yet:D . She's just turned 1 and cruising around the furniture and standing alone for about 10 seconds at a time. Everyone who's had kids say that she'll be taking her first steps sooner rather than later. So I know it's too early to get her proper shoes now as she's not walking yet, but once she starts walking how long should I leave it? Advice please

hankc35

how long should I leave it?

Thursday week.

divadee

when my daughter was younger shes 8 now, they advised after she had been walking 6-8 weeks properly.

but i do know that clarks sell shoes especially for crawling and cruising now.

I would think your little one would be in cruising shoes, this may also help if she is starting to want to wak outside holding your hand.

Someone like quackers will hopefully be along soon (she works in clarks) to give you more advice, but this is what i have been told.

Becles

What's an LO?

I just had mine in soft fabric shoes until they were ready to walk properly outside. It's cheaper

divadee

Becles wrote:

What's an LO?

Little One

troll35

I was told that it's best for little feet to go barefoot wherever possible to allow the toes to spread etc. so I would leave it as long as possible. Will your LO need proper shoes for anything special? My DS took his first unaided steps at just 9 months but I didn't buy his first pair of proper shoes until we went to a wedding when he was 13 months old and we thought it would be unfair to keep him in the pushchair for such a long time at the church and the grounds at the reception. Until then he went barefoot or had those fabric padders things.

mancitychick

I bought both mine their first shoes as soon as they could walk unaided. Not sure if it is correct but I also thought that you were not to leave them in the cloth shoes once they could walk.

They only wore the shoes in the garden or when we went out, at home they were shoeless to give their feet a rest.

jellyhead

hi, i've been thinking about this recently too. my baby elephant has size 5.5 feet already with width H and a high instep so i'm limited, can't buy just anything from anywhere because his feet are so wide and high. daisy roots/shoo shoos etc. are just not big enough for him.

i just bought him some cruisers from clarkes, they wanted me to wait a bit longer but we were going on holiday in a big group and instead of keeping him strapped into the pram all the time when we were out or carrying his 2 stone weight around with him squirming to get down i thought that some cruisers would be good for him to cruise around outdoors and walk holding hands etc. they advised that he only needed them outdoors, and then only for actual standing up, not for sitting about in the pram or car seat. the clarkes staff were very good and for the sake of my baby's feet would rather i'd gone away without buying him shoes than buy them too early when he wasn't ready. i bought them anyway but only for short periods in special circumstances, and in the 2 weeks since we bought them he has had them on for less than 2 hours probably.

i was told that babies don't need crawling or cruising shoes really, barefoot is best. i remember my eldest had been walking properly for a few weeks before i bought him shoes, and then he only wore them outdoors.

but anyway, if you want shoes for now then cruisers are much lighter than walking shoes. proper shoes are heavy and chunky and babies can't really feel their feet. the staff in clarkes said heavy shoes will put a baby off walking and if they haven't already started to walk properly they will actually hinder their progress. so if you feel you really want shoes then i'd recommend cruisers, but i had to get ones with barely any growing room because they only go up to size 5 - bah! she said she'd never met a baby with such huge feet lol!

janeawej

Leave it till he wants to walk outside sa shoes arnt realy needed around tha house and it is better for feet to be bare, then go into clarks or startright and ask for advice, you could always try ringing them and asking I am sure they wouldnt mind, but do make sure you get properly fitted shoes and remember toddlers feet can grow a size in just a few weeks!! so get regular checks shoe shops are happy to do this and dont expect you to buy if you dont need to!

Girl_least_likely_to

Thanks everyone for your advice.

troll35 - no I don't need shoes for a special occasion.
jellyhead - your baby elephant :rotfl:

I'm not in any rush to get her proper shoes, I just didn't know when to get them and didn't know whether it would hinder or help her getting her in them too soon. She's either cruising around barefoot or in those soft padded shoes at the moment and I think I'll keep her in those for the time being and a good few weeks after she starts walking unaided. I suppose I'll just have to see if she is wanting to get out of her pram when we're out, those fabric soft shoes won't last 5 minutes then. I will be taking her to an independent local shop my OH was taken to when he was little so will hopefully have lots of brands to choose from.

Thanks again everyone

missk_ensington

I got my son proper shoes from Clarks when he started walking across furniture (but couldn't balance unaided) He's been walking for a few weeks holding onto things but when he let go, fell over.

I bought some hard sole shoes, and within 10 minutes he was walking unaided. I think it helped balance him by having something sturdy attached to his feet. This was a couple of weeks before his 1st birthday. My friend bought the 'Clarks Cruiser' shoes mentioned on here, and they were pretty good as they adapted for walking and crawling.