how to tell if shoes REALLY are too small

joanie

Hi guys,
any tips on how to see how close to the end of the shoe (football boots) my sons toes really are? He's 11 and says they are too small - he's only had them a few months and didn't say anything until his friend got new ones!! normally i would take his word but his school shoes (measured at clarks) are a full size smaller (doesn't necessarily mean anything i know) but he has had them for about 3 months longer and they still fit which implies his feet haven't grown much????

any ideas how to see if there is still room ? being football boots i can't press hard enough to actually feel his toes.

ivyleaf

Hi

Different brands/styles of footwear often do come up different sizes. A "size 2" football boot won't necessarily be the same size as a "size 2" school shoe.

At the shoe shop I used to take my son to when he was young, the assistant would put a little sprinkling of talcum powder in the shoes before trying them on the child's feet; then when the shoes were taken off again, you could see where the child's toes came to because they left a mark in the talcum powder. Worth a try?

Hope this helps

ETA: You may need to use a torch to look into the ends of the boots.

heavenleigh

Don't take my word as gospel, The way i was brought up and the way i judge my kids is that as long as the toes don't reach the end of the shoe they aren't too small.
Of course you have to add in width and brands, my younger 2 aged 7 and 5 still go to clarkes to get measured etc, My older two aged 14 and 12 have 'grown out of wanting them' and i've found the sizes vary HUGELY.
Eldest son 14 wears a mans size 11 football boots but a 9 1/2 school shoes.
Press on the front of the shoe, if you can feel the toe at the end...too small, if you've got 2/3 cms they should be good for a month or so! xx

sjprmc01

If the boots are too hard at the front to feel his toes by you need to get him to push his foot up the boot (if there is room to do this) whic should leave a gap at the heel to show what space there is

Football boots can be narrow, so it might be that?

squeakysue

Hi, my son is the same, he is a 5 in his clarks school shoes but a six in his football boots, they wear thick socks with football boots so this makes them more snug.

Are the boots n!ke? I always find this brand to be very small fitting.

Can you take the insole out and get him to stand on them (with footy socks on) and see how far his toes spread?

Biggles

Oh, please bring back the X-ray machines in shoe shops! Er, or was there some problem with those?

stiltwalker

Don't know if it will help - my two both wear orthotic Piedro boots due to disabilities. As they are very supportive they are too solid to check for sizing in the usual manner. To get round this the guy at orthotics showed us that if we take the insole out we can check the kids feet size on that - when their toes get towards the end we just call for an appointment.

If you can remove the insole part of the shoe you should be able to do this - you will also be able to see if the boot is too narrow as well - if the insole is completely stuck down sorry it won't help. But thinking on the hoof here (sorry!!) maybe you could reverse this theory and draw around the foot really accurately and cut it out, adding a bit on the toe for comfort - you could then try putting the foot shape in the boot - if will go in flat - great, if you get any problems getting the shape in then the boot may well be too small.

Hope that random collection of thoughts helps.

joanie

thanks everyone - his innersoles do come out so that works - also talc trick will be useful on school shoes

lindseykim13

I always thought you needed to buy a few sizes up in footy boots compared to normal shoes? Thats what i was told anyway.
My son is a 2 in shoes but needs 4's in his footy boots-remember those football socks are pretty thick too.

Justamum

Biggles wrote: »

Oh, please bring back the X-ray machines in shoe shops! Er, or was there some problem with those?

I think it was because they were x-rays - too dangerous.

A way of checking is to undo the laces so he can push his feet right to the front, then see how much space is at the heel end.

Biggles

Justamum wrote: »

I think it was because they were x-rays - too dangerous.

Surely not!