MS Shoes for Baby....

andycarmi

HI, My DD is ten months and I m starting to think about shoes. I m not going to buy any till she is walking but by the looks of things she wont be long...

I had a quick look in Clarks and Startright over the weekend. Clarks had some cruzers for £18.00 and Startright started at £30!!!:eek: (which I'm told only last 8weeks, thats £200 a year on shoes:eek: )

Anyone know how to save money when it comes to childs shoes? I have looked in Asda and Tesco's and they do shoes for like £8 but they just do a size not a width so not keen on this?

Any pointers?

TheWaltons_3

In my opinion, you should not try and cost cut with shoes. No way, not for babies shoes.

At a push, you can get your babe measured in Clarks then buy BRAND NEW on Ebay in the correct size.

Don't do cheap shoes and don't use second hand shoes.

Personally, I wouldn't use ASDA even for shoes as they're not measured properly. no width etc - small children can trip up in ill fitting shoes.

Hapless_2

andycarmi wrote: »

Any pointers?

yeah DON'T skimp on baby shoes

grahamliza4

You can't skimp on the cost of shoes while your kids are developing - you could give them serious back probs later in life or at the worst cripple them.

Clarks first shoes are about £26 a go - forget 'cruisers' - these are meant to be bought pre-walking when baby is 'cruising' on the furniture, etc. These are a waste of money.

Wait until baby takes first steps then buy proper shoes. Keep them only for walking outside at first (best to learn walking barefoot anyway). At first you need to get measured every 8 weeks but this becomes less over time.

The correct width fitting is vitally important. Make sure you get measured by a 'grown-up' looking member of staff and not the Saturday girl. You can get Clarks shoes for as little as £8 at factory outlet shops.

Sorry no moneysaving advice but this is not an area you can skimp in!

dawnybabes

I trotted off to Clarks with DS when he had just started walking and the sales assistant advised me not to buy cruisers at all, wait until he had found his feet (about 5 weeks) and then bring him back and buy his proper shoes.

HTH
Dawn

andycarmi

I was wondering if Clarks do an outlet shop or if there was a Clarks type shop I hadn't heard off. AS I said in my OP I didn't like the idea of Asda/Tesco shoes...

The Clarks pre-walkers- should I bother with them? or best wait till LO can walk and would save monay?

carolpinkdreamer

I have to agree with previous poster completely. I'd economise in other areas but not with their delicate little feet. I think you'll have to resign yourself to at least 12 years of Clarks.
One good point though is that they don't necessarily need new shoes every 8 weeks, mine used to go for several fittings and remain the same size, and then suddenly have a growth spurt all over and go up a size. I've found that shoes last approx 4-6 months on average once they reach the toddler stage.

gollygosh

my daughter had foot problems when she was little and needed to see a podiatrist, i had many conversations about shoes and his advice was always the same, childrens feet don't vary that much buy whatever you can afford and don't be fooled into buying through guilt. she had clarks that rubbed terribly (i got my money back) and ds had clarks fitted you know where they squeeze their toes telling you they can feel where they are and all's o.k. when we got home i found the tissue paper still up the toe!!! oh and both kids had feet measured on the same day in different shops at widely different sizes. that was the last time i bothered with the overpriced rip-offs managed to find lovely leather hush puppies for both kids in T.J hughes for about £8 now they're old enough to tell me what they feel like and it is a lot easier but a nine year old with size 6's is an expensive business.

Spendless

Do you have a clarks outlet near you?

I agree with the others about not scrimping on shoes. Recently I wanted some black trainers for my 7yo son. Clarks outlet is the other side of town for me, and with him having had his feet measured recently I thought it would be easy..wrong:rolleyes: . Many places don't do 1/2 sizes and when we did go up to next size he complained about how it felt across his feet. In the end I gave up, drove to clarks. The first pair he put on fitted. In future I won't waste my time elsewhere.

ViksB

At the very least get your babies feet measured. If you baby as normal sized feet then you could consider cheaper shoes, but if they don't, then please don't save on shoes.
My kid has wide high feet and the only make that fits her well is ecco shoes which are even more expensive, but I would rather pay it and save money on toys and clothes.
My experience with Clarkes has been poor to say the least. We have an independent shop which sells lots of European shoes and they have been brilliant, wider choice of fittings/style. Consider other shops to Clarkes.

Viks

andycarmi

grahamliza4 wrote: »

You can't skimp on the cost of shoes while your kids are developing - you could give them serious back probs later in life or at the worst cripple them.

Clarks first shoes are about £26 a go - forget 'cruisers' - these are meant to be bought pre-walking when baby is 'cruising' on the furniture, etc. These are a waste of money.

Wait until baby takes first steps then buy proper shoes. Keep them only for walking outside at first (best to learn walking barefoot anyway). At first you need to get measured every 8 weeks but this becomes less over time.

The correct width fitting is vitally important. Make sure you get measured by a 'grown-up' looking member of staff and not the Saturday girl. You can get Clarks shoes for as little as £8 at factory outlet shops.

Sorry no moneysaving advice but this is not an area you can skimp in!

I see this advice as moneysaving and just what I was looking for thak-you for this uesful post.