When should I buy proper shoes for my LO?

jellyhead

when i bought cruisers i got the impression that the staff didn't want me to buy them. i wondered why they sell them - probably to lessen the damage done by the parents who want their children in pram shoes. when i get him weighed at baby clinic he is the only child not wearing nike trainers. they look really narrow and wouldn't do my baby's feet any good (but he's a H fitting and high instep).

he's not keen on his cruisers, doesn't want to walk with them on but if we're in a park with gravel etc. he can't go barefoot. it's not for long each day, i carry the shoes in my bag and only put them on when needed. this has got to be better than leaving him in the pram like other people do, or carrying him and have him squirming to get down and crying. crawling around isn't doing his knees any good, even in long trousers

Quackers

If the cruisers are fitted Jellyhead they'll do him no harm at all.

I agree that when they are at that almost walking stage its good to have something to put on their feet - especially in the summer when there's lots of opportunities for him to have a walk about outside.

Sometimes those pram shoes can be really tight - can often do damage to little feet without the parents realising it.

I hate seeing children in designer trainers - they always look so tight - usually a narrow fitting as you said and most children have got really chubby feet.

Clarks are a business at the end of the day and they sell cruisers/crawlers as there is a huge demand for them. If we didn't fit them then parents would only buy ill fitting shoes from woolies/next etc so Clarks saw the opportunity and took it! Clarks cruisers/crawlers are really soft and supple though - the sole is really flexible which is really good for when they are just finding their feet - they wont feel as restricted in them.

Girl_least_likely_to

Blimey! I go away for the afternoon and it all kicks off! Can I ask people to calm down......it's only a forum .

I use this forum as a subsitute for my baby group that I can no longer attend as I have returned to work. I find it interesting and valuable as this site attracts a wider audience than your average baby group or dedicated baby website. The advice given may be taken in or not. I for one will not jump off a bridge just because so and so says this, that and the other will happen if you do or don't do something. So please can we keep posts on topic and lets not try to judge others whatever they might think.

For what it's worth, after reading all the posts with great interest I have decided to wait until DD is walking unaided to take her to be fitted for her first pair of proper shoes. TBH this was my gut feeling beforehand and I thank all of those who contributed to the thread.

jellyhead

quackers the cruisers were fitted and he has room in them, but one of his feet is half a size bigger and they don't make them in 5.5. it's okay for the moment but the assistant was worried that i might think he had a few months growing room when he hasn't, she also mentioned the cost, thinking that £28 is a lot of money to spend on shoes that will only fit for a few weeks. i suppose she thought i might think if i've paid £30 for the shoes i want him to wear them for longer.

pity they don't make cruisers in larger sizes but i suppose once a child is racing around outside they need sturdier shoes, and not many babies have 5.5 feet before they are a year old lol! sorry this bit is off topic

girl least likely to, i'm missing baby groups too because it's the school holidays. my baby is really missing them, poor sausage! most baby topics have the potential for strong feelings and people tend to be more outspoken on a forum than they might be face to face. this is still a great place to get opinions though, we're a nice bunch really

Brightness

Don't know if they still make them or not but when my kids were babies I used to buy them 'padders' to wear when we went to parks etc.

They are basically a rubbery bottom with a corduroy or material top that is gathered at the ankle. They are a bit wider than babies feet and so give them plenty of room to move. Neither of mine had proper shoes until they'd been walking a few weeks. They are 15 & 20 now and apart from broken toes from sport they've never, ever had any problems with their feet at all.

In fact, most of us spend most of our time at home barefooted and we all have completely healthy, well shaped feet because of it.

Lots of my friends got their kids shoes before they could walk or as soon as they could walk and most of those kids have ended up having problems with their feet

Girl_least_likely_to

jellyhead wrote:

pity they don't make cruisers in larger sizes but i suppose once a child is racing around outside they need sturdier shoes, and not many babies have 5.5 feet before they are a year old lol! sorry this bit is off topic

Yes you are a bit off topic actually. We've been discussing baby shoes not elephant footwear

jellyhead wrote:

girl least likely to, i'm missing baby groups too because it's the school holidays. my baby is really missing them, poor sausage! most baby topics have the potential for strong feelings and people tend to be more outspoken on a forum than they might be face to face. this is still a great place to get opinions though, we're a nice bunch really

I know what a great forum this is, I just thought it was going a bit mad earlier into the thread. I'm forever the diplomat :rolleyes:

mrsbez_2

When my DD starting walking, we bought some cruisers just for outside, but to be honest she walked better in bare feet, or socks.

They tend to do what they like when it comes to walking, my DD started walking then decided to stop again and was fully walking at 15 months.

Jellyhead - my DD has really wide feet and high instep and we have great success with Startrite shoes. They are a bit pricey, but we have no problem finding several pairs to fit. We have to go to a pricey shoe shop but they are very knowledgable and i don't mind paying for a good fit.

We have great problems with Clarks, not their fault, but they never seem to have anything wide enough and the styles don't seem to cater for wide feet.

jellyhead

i've found clarkes are also limited for my children because the shoes seem to come really far into the ankle, if that makes sense? the tongue is too long lol! my eldest is very skinny and the baby, although probably having a bit of chub because he's only a baby, is underweight for his height so he's not especially chubby either. but both children struggle to find shoes. we had a startrite shop but it's moved. my eldest got his first shoes from there. price doesn't bother me, shoes are important. i'll live on toast or banana sandwiches if i'm skint after buying the shoes

i'll look for another startrite shop, i suppose we could drive there on a weekend. i've never had a problem with the quality or the staff at clarkes, but their range is very limited at our tiny local shop and they never have G or H fittings in stock.

roob is walking most of the time now, from one side of the room to the other and he wants to walk outside but he absolutely HATES his cruisers. he doesn't put his feet flat on the floor. would proper heavier walking shoes help, or should i find some soft padders in his size? any ideas? we go out to theme parks a lot and i don't want him kept in the pram like the other families there do.

Biddyrolo

Just out of interest, do people find that when their childs feet are measured to a certain size that when that size shoe is brought they don't actually fit, so you have to get a different size? I found this with my two and so did my mum, if I had to do it again I'm not sure I would pay the price for Clarks shoes. *runs from angry mothers*

Girl_least_likely_to

I agree, I'd rather live on beans on toast that scrimp on shoes for DD. I suppose we'll see when we go for her first fitting if we'll have problems finding shoes to fit. Me thinks an independent shop would have a greater choice of makes but maybe not sizes. Oh well, we'll see. She's happy in her £3.50 pram shoes from tesco for the time being, I'll get the 2nd mortgage application in for the proper shoes in the post :rotfl: