MS Shoes for Baby....

Carmina_Piranha_3

a lot will depend on what your baby's feet are like. both of my children have very wide feet, and more importantly a very high instep. i can't just buy shoes from mothercare, they wouldn't fit.

you could get your baby's feet measured and see if they are an average width, let that influence your choice. my sister buys shoes from anywhere she fancies for her children because their feet are average. i only buy from clarkes, and even then i am limited and most of their styles don't allow for a high instep. there's another shop selling startrite and other brands and i was told there that my baby's foot is too wide for startrite. i've tried most of their styles on my baby who is almost 2 and nothing fits properly.

i don't buy trainers for my children. they're not usually wide enough and not usually breathable. my son had trainers from age 7 but i would never buy them for a preschool child. i hate seeing little babies, most of whom can't walk yet, with their feet stuffed into narrow nike trainers.

as for waiting until they can walk - what do you do during the cruising stage? don't they ever walk outside, go to parks, play in the garden etc? unless it's the kind of baby who is always indoors or in a buggy or carseat then you need something to protect their feet outside. i couldn't imagine my baby not playing outside before he was ready for proper shoes. i bought him extra large daisy roots, they are soft leather slipper-type shoes.

looby75

I used to work in a shoe shop (stead and simpson) we sold tons of kids shoes and had loads of repeat customers who used to shop at clarks but found them to be over priced and no better fitted than our shoes.

My niece was born with foot problems (my sister only had half a womb so nieces feet were a bit twisted and squashed when she was born) and her consultant told sis and bil that unless you fortunate enough to be able to afford hand made shoes moulded to the contours of your own feet then one shoe is as good as another as long as the length and width are correct. Most shoe shops have a range of designs of shoes now that are different widths so you don't need to pay for clarks.

TheWaltons_3

looby75 wrote: »

I used to work in a shoe shop (stead and simpson) we sold tons of kids shoes and had loads of repeat customers who used to shop at clarks but found them to be over priced and no better fitted than our shoes.

My niece was born with foot problems (my sister only had half a womb so nieces feet were a bit twisted and squashed when she was born) and her consultant told sis and bil that unless you fortunate enough to be able to afford hand made shoes moulded to the contours of your own feet then one shoe is as good as another as long as the length and width are correct. Most shoe shops have a range of designs of shoes now that are different widths so you don't need to pay for clarks.

You say 'most' shoe shops - which ones that sell baby/toddler footwear?

looby75

stead and simpson do, brantano, a lot of independent shoe shops have a very good range of baby/toddler shoes. Oh and matalan have quite a good range too, and they have the toe zone system so that makes fitting even easier, actually I've seen toe zone shoes in a lot of independent shops lately.

Carmina_Piranha_3

.... but if your baby has feet that are more like a ball that a foot you really do need to get shoes properly fitted by a member of staff who knows what they are doing. i've had mixed experiences in clarkes over the last couple of years so i went to a different outlet and got a better response.

i bought proper shoes for my baby nearly 12 months ago and have just bought the 4th pair. clarkes staff say the shoes should last a whole size in theory but with the first pair i wanted new shoes after my son's feet had gone up a half size - they just didn't seem to fit anymore and were leaving marks on his feet. he has grown by 3 whole sizes in 12 months but he is a large child and grows quickly. i just bought him size 8.5 last week and he's still only 1!

out of interest what's wrong with cruising shoes? i liked the idea of lighter shoes and would have bought cruisers for my baby when he started walking if they made them big enough for his feet.

looby75

Carmina_Piranha wrote: »

.... but if your baby has feet that are more like a ball that a foot you really do need to get shoes properly fitted by a member of staff who knows what they are doing. i've had mixed experiences in clarkes over the last couple of years so i went to a different outlet and got a better response.


out of interest what's wrong with cruising shoes? i liked the idea of lighter shoes and would have bought cruisers for my baby when he started walking if they made them big enough for his feet.

LOL ds feet were just like that when he was little. I admit that his first pair of shoes did come from clarks (MIL wanted to buy them so I let her lol) and it was a handy starting point to see what style suited him but that was the only pair he ever had.

As for cruisers, again something my nieces consultant said was that a child is better in bare feet, than anything else until they can walk steadily. I can see why some people like them but tbh how often does a baby who can't walk unaided walk somewhere that isn't suitable for bare feet?

Carmina_Piranha_3

sorry, i meant once they can walk properly couldn't they wear cruisers then? wouldn't that be better than proper shoes? just curious.

my eldest's first shoes were elefanten but the independent shoe shop says they've been bought out by clarkes

Carmina_Piranha_3

loobs i got shoes when he was cruising because we're often somewhere that a baby can't walk barefoot. perhaps it's not the norm but when we go to parks, paddling pools, farms etc. my baby got out to have a walk (aided) and needed something on his feet.

we were going on holiday and i knew i would be going out to different places for my oldest child. baby was not a 'buggy baby' as the health visitor calls them - even before he could walk he squawked for regular exercise :rolleyes: so i had to get something for his feet when we were at playparks etc. and the town paddling pool is surrounded by really sharp gritty concrete, no idea why. baby was crawling last summer and oldest child wanted to go to the paddling pool so baby crawled in the shallow end and loved it. but i didn't really fancy picking him out of the pool with nappy on and carrying him over to his clothes.

TheWaltons_3

Carmina_Piranha wrote: »

loobs i got shoes when he was cruising because we're often somewhere that a baby can't walk barefoot. perhaps it's not the norm but when we go to parks, paddling pools, farms etc. my baby got out to have a walk (aided) and needed something on his feet.

we were going on holiday and i knew i would be going out to different places for my oldest child. baby was not a 'buggy baby' as the health visitor calls them - even before he could walk he squawked for regular exercise :rolleyes: so i had to get something for his feet when we were at playparks etc. and the town paddling pool is surrounded by really sharp gritty concrete, no idea why. baby was crawling last summer and oldest child wanted to go to the paddling pool so baby crawled in the shallow end and loved it. but i didn't really fancy picking him out of the pool with nappy on and carrying him over to his clothes.

I always took my daughter out whilst she was only able to take a few steps and she needed cruisers as the Woods are very muddy, not to mention have Dogs trampling through them daily!

looby75

Carmina_Piranha wrote: »

loobs i got shoes when he was cruising because we're often somewhere that a baby can't walk barefoot. perhaps it's not the norm but when we go to parks, paddling pools, farms etc. my baby got out to have a walk (aided) and needed something on his feet.

we were going on holiday and i knew i would be going out to different places for my oldest child. baby was not a 'buggy baby' as the health visitor calls them - even before he could walk he squawked for regular exercise :rolleyes: so i had to get something for his feet when we were at playparks etc. and the town paddling pool is surrounded by really sharp gritty concrete, no idea why. baby was crawling last summer and oldest child wanted to go to the paddling pool so baby crawled in the shallow end and loved it. but i didn't really fancy picking him out of the pool with nappy on and carrying him over to his clothes.

Ah I can see why you would need them then I suppose in those circumstances cruisers would be ideal. I think Clarks now do a follow on shoe, it's a cross between a cruiser and a walkers shoe, they say that cruisers don't support the foot in all the right places once a baby is walking properly, but can't see it myself.