Narrow fitting shoes for child

Mrs_Imp

No 1 daughter has narrow feet and we're struggling to get shoes to fit her. She's currently a 5 E (child not adult 5), but the Clarks Es seem to be a bit wide.

Are there any other brands that people have had success with getting a narrow fitting? Our local StartRite shoes shop only goes down to an F.

Thanks

Indie_Kid

Could your child go down a size? This is what I've had to do. I measure as an adult's size 4; but usually end up with a wide fitting 3. Or even a 2...

Mrs_Imp

No easily. He toes are right at the end of her shoe. Her feet seem to have grown longer, but not wider, as she's gone from an F to an E.

Kaye1

I found some at M&S which fitted my LO. They had a 'zig-zag' Velcro fastening which seemed to hold the shoe on better than some of the other styles.

gunsandbanjos

I'd give start rite another go, trying different styles as the width varies wildly between them.

My daughter has very narrow feet, she was a C/D fitting:eek: thankfully she is a 13E/F now.

We had to just try loads of styles on, both clarks and start rite until we found the best ones.

peachyprice

Have you asked your local Start Rite stockist to order you in E widths? If they refuse I would find another stockist. John Lewis will order the correct SR size for you as will Russell & Bromley.

Seanymph

European shoes are much narrower - a private stockist will have them available.

I struggled and struggled with my girls, but found that independent shops were the answer. Specialist fitting, and a wider choice of make.

Mrs_Imp

Thanks all.

We tried Start Rite in another town while we were away, and managed to find one pair of shoes that fitted her! I guess we'll be going with Start Rite from now on for her.

michbright

I have a child who is an E fitting and we always struggle with shoes. We have resorted to using insoles in the end as we are never able to find shoes narrow enough to fit her. We also had to do this with her ballet character shoes. It has made a huge difference to her and, on the plus side, as her feet grow, we are often able to remove the insoles and the shoes last a little longer as there is then more room in the shoe for growing feet. She is now 8 and a size 12.5/13 and we still have this problem. The recommendation to use an insole came from the fitter at Startrite. We have also shopped at John Lewis in the past as they have a wider range of brands, without having to go from shop to shop, having feet measured.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have another child who, up until recently, was an H fitting due to her having a high instep. Her feet have now narrowed down to a G fitting. The only place we could find shoes for her was Startrite and she couldn't wear bar strap shoes, only t-bar. Personally, I think narrower feet are easier to accommodate as you can always put an insole in the shoe.