School shoes - is this too early?

[Cobblersorchard]

DD starts school on 29 Aug (they start early here). I have booked a shoe appointment at an independent shop on 5 Aug.

DD is a tricky fit and I don’t want a last minute panic as we are rural and travel
to shops is a PITA. But is that too early?

I’m worried if I leave it late there will be nothing left.

Is 24 days too many? I want her to be able to wear them in a bit and have time for a back up in case the 5th doesn’t yield anything!

Sounds perfect. Why would it be too early. It’s only 3 weeks and that gives you time to either wear them in or look for a plan B

It's fine, we are going away all summer so I'm doing school shoes this week. One of the DC might have a spurt I suppose but we tend to swap out the first pair for winter boots by November anyway.

You are over thinking this. It's fine.

It's also ok to not buy new shoes for September if their shoes already fit! There was a crazy thread about this in June because someone decided it wasn't worth buying new school shoes 6 weeks before the end of term.

I always left half an inch gap in my sons school shoes that way they had some growing room

It’s fine……I buy for my 3 GDs and 2 of them are away for 4 weeks ….so I’ve just ordered ( as chosen by their mums) 9 pairs from m&s for trying on this week end ( the size we think they are and the half size above and below just in case) …..so it will be shoe trying on at Granny’s house this weekend ….we will go for a bit of growth room probably

We always bought early as DD only wore two brands and none of them were available outside independent shoe shops.

As these shoes only come in full sizes we had no issues. And strangely enough, she never had a growth spur in Summer, always in winter.

Thanks, these are first school shoes as she starts Reception so we have nothing suitable already.

They don’t allow boots at ours, apparently not comfortable for sitting cross legged for long periods!
I’m not massively fussed if they don’t last ages but if we could get to Christmas that would be good 😂

That was my reasoning when I booked it, but I have had a few people in real life suggest they will be outgrown. Which I thought seemed unlikely, she usually goes about 4 months or more.
I’m not expecting them to last more than a term or so. More will be a bonus at that age!

Interesting! Which brands?

The one we are going to is well recommended and alongside Clarks and Startrite it carries Geox, Ricosta, Hush Puppies, Petasil - that sort of thing.

I’m wondering now if I’m under-thinking this as I just bought DS two pairs of black school shoes from Deichmann ready for starting primary this year and… that’s it?

DD wore Ricosta and Ecco in primary.

In secondary she also got Geox.

Startrite caused bleeding wounds and Clark's blisters.

She unfortunately inherited my feet, I wear Gabor most of the time to avoid spending a fortune in padded plasters.

It’s fine….my GDs wear m&s school shoes…..cost around 30 quid and always last until Easter ….they look smart….fit fine and last well….why 50 or 60 quid for the same thing

I’m sure that’s perfectly fine if they don’t grow fast and have easy to fit feet. DD doesn’t, she’s a tricky fit.

I worked in shoe shops as a student and did the fitting course (albeit 29 years ago) and I still find her hard!

Depends on their feet. DD is a tricky fit and M&S just don’t seem to fit her. They all slop at the heel and gape at the sides. Shame as they do nice shoes I agree.

We tried 19 sandals this summer to get one pair. It’s hard work when you live a long way from shops, an M&S or Next is 30 miles for us.

If I could pay £20-£30 instead of £50 I would, trust me. But she needs to be able to run in them and not fall out of them.

I hope you find what you are looking for….Clark’s and start rite are definitely overrated

Definitely. You are doing good getting her fitted properly, even though it is a real pain and expensive at this age as they outgrow them so fast and it seems wasteful. My mum taught reception for years and saw so many kids in badly fitted shoes. It’s really important at this age when they are growing and also running about a lot.

DD has quite wide toes but a narrow heel and they sort of disappear at the ankle bone. Getting them to be both wide and narrow simultaneously is a challenge, and they need to fit quite high.

Startrite are sometimes ok, Clarks rarely although she has had some trainers that were a perfect fit. It is very much trial and error.

If we find something that works I intend to buy the next size up in readiness!