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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not get their shoes properly fitted?

30 replies

deemented · 08/08/2010 22:12

Am planning on a trip to a local retail village at the end of the month, before DS starts school as they have a clarks retail outlet where i can buy decent shoes at discount prices.

TBH though, the thought of dragging round a whiny five year old, a whingey two year old and a seven months old, as well as the Manshapes mother fills me with utter dread, especially as she wants to make it an all say outing.

I had thought i might take the older two to clarks in town and get them measured the day before i go, then perhaps i wouldn't need them to be there - they could spend the day then with their Ganga (who has offered to babysit) having fun whilst i get to mooch around relatively stress free, but am unsure if i should have them there to have fit checked ect.

So AIBU in buying their shoes without having them properly fitted?

OP posts:
hairytriangle · 08/08/2010 22:14

You're thinking of leaving your two children smoking Ganga ?

And what's a manshape?

BAFE · 08/08/2010 22:15

What do Manshapes and Ganga mean?

YABU about the shoes.

Original poster
deemented · 08/08/2010 22:16

Lol - Ganga's their granddad - the eldest could never say grandad.

Manshapes my fella.

OP posts:
faeriemoo · 08/08/2010 22:17

Hahaha, when I saw 'manshape' I thought, "oh that's what H* says" and lo and behold.... LOL

I don't think it's unreasonable as such, could just be a bit of a PITA if they didn't fit?

SloanyPony · 08/08/2010 22:18

I like your nicknames for people. You sound fun.

I think if you've had them measured but not fitted, it will probalby be okay on the basis that I've never had them measured but then been told "but dont get this pair they dont fit".

Ideally you'd just take them and do it properly though...

Original poster
deemented · 08/08/2010 22:19

Grin Hello stranger!

I know i probably ABU, but i just want a quiet life! Blush

OP posts:
bulby · 08/08/2010 22:19

Clarks at the outlets still do proper fitting , I'd be tempted to do another visit and get them fitted properly when you can be arsed. I know where you are coming from but think shoes and foot comfort are too important to take a chance on

sayithowitis · 08/08/2010 22:21

I wouldn't do it. But then my two had awful, awkward feet when it came to shoes. Both had very wide feet and one also had a problem with a low ankle bone which meant he was restricted to certain types of shoe. Also, when I say wide feet, I mean so wide that whenever we bought new shoes, almost invariably they had to be sent back to the manufacturers to be stretched to fit as their feet were wider than the widest fitting.

I remember reading once that up to about age 16, childrens' feet bones were more like a gristle and that even if a shoe didn't fit properly, the foot would adjust to accommodate the badly fitting shoe. It would not be until the children were adults, when the bones have hardened, that many problems caused by ill fitting shoes would become apparent. By which time of course, it is too late to correct it.

The only way I would contemplate what you are planning, would be if I could be certain that the exact style and size shoe would be available at the outlet, as even different styles often fit differently.

onimolap · 08/08/2010 22:21

Even with a perfect fit, according to the measuriing device, a child might find a certain style uncomfortable (height of heel tab, fit over arches etc). So I'd say it's a bad idea, though YANBU to dream of child-free shopping

HollyGoHeavily · 08/08/2010 22:22

I think you are being unreasonable here - uncomfortable shoes are horrid and it doesn't really take that long to get them fitted properly.

mumeeee · 08/08/2010 22:26

You really do need to get thier shoes properly fitted. Differeny styles often fit slightly differently.

Original poster
deemented · 08/08/2010 22:29

See, i thought as much.

I will take them with me and bribe them to be good with promises of sweets

OP posts:
Leslaki · 08/08/2010 22:31

sorry - wouldn't do it. DD has c width shoes - she neds to egt fitted. Whentheyare adults and can choose forthemselvs, fair enogh, buit until then I'm responnsible for them and don't want to wreck their feet as sayit said!!!

listenandlearn · 08/08/2010 22:38

ok i say go shopping with no kids and enjoy it,id take them to clarks day before like you said and get them measured

strange ????? in all these years that we have shoe meausring i dont recall anybody having feet problems due to them not having feet measured everytime,only person i knew that had problems was my mum and that was due to the swinging sixities and winkle-pickers,does anybody know someone that has through lack of meausering

Fibilou · 08/08/2010 22:45

DH says that his mum always got properly fitted shoes for him which cost her a fortune. He has terrible feet with gigantic bunions.

So I would say it's a waste of time - and so would my MIL

StealthPolarBear · 08/08/2010 23:04

Can you not all go together and then send them all home and you get the bus back?

edam · 08/08/2010 23:11

Children need shoes that are properly fitted. Everyone's body is different, you can't just rely on measurements - they are merely a starting point.

Fib - are you sure dh didn't get his bunions as a result of shoe-buying choices he made as an adult?

listenandlearn - I imagine you would have to ask a chiropodist. How often do you have conversations with friends and acquaintances about the state of their feet and whether they had their shoes fitted properly as children?

Original poster
deemented · 08/08/2010 23:14

No, SPB, it's far too far away - we're a 45 min drive away and it's not on a bus route.

No, i'll brave it after a vallium or two

OP posts:
Fibilou · 08/08/2010 23:14

edam, he's had them since he was in his teens

ivykaty44 · 08/08/2010 23:19

YANBU - he chiropodist will certainly agree - last time I looked it was £25 per pop

If you have that typ of money to fix your dc feet go right ahead

But if you want your dc to have feet that don't hurt like hell or nails that go thick - then get them fitted properly

if you want to see how ill fitting shoes can hurt - ask an ole man that was in the army to look at his feet - the nails will be thick and hard to cut as the boots are given by size of foot and not fitted properly

tracktion on young pliavble feets can take place really quickly and a pair of shoes that rubin or pinch can do this within 6-9 weeks

edam · 08/08/2010 23:20

And was he REALLY wearing sensible shoes all the time and not slipping into something more fashionable the minute his mother's back was turned?

If not, then I guess he's just unlucky - like the breastfed child who develops allergies. Sometimes feet are weird. Years ago one of my toes decided to start growing another toe. (Yes, I am a freak, I know.) More recently, some bones have shifted and now I keep getting a bump on the sole of my foot. My chiropodist says there's no reason, as such, it's just feet being funny...

GeekyGirl · 08/08/2010 23:24

I went to see a chiropodist in my mid-forties (I had a verucca) and she said "someone looked after your feet when you were young" and it made me cry. My mother is very old fashioned and reserved so I can't say we're close, but every now and then I'm reminded that she loves me.

ivykaty44 · 08/08/2010 23:31

bunions are less common in men - due to fashion shoes usually being more bunion creating for ladies rather than mens fashion shoes - though mens winkle pickers are really ideal for creating bunions

tom57 · 08/08/2010 23:35

I see you're in Wales,if you are talking about Chester and Cheshire oaks you will be fine.

I always used to get DD shoes at Clarkes in the outlet but then when having them checked in Clarkes in Chester some months later was asked more than once who fitted these shoes,both times they were too big/wide!

Maybe not all Clarkes outlets are so shoddyWink but I would'nt use them again.

melpomene · 09/08/2010 00:34

I think it would be okay to do this, but only if you check the fit of the shoes yourself after you have bought them, and are prepared to make the trip to return/exchange them if they don't fit.

My dds had blisters/ bleeding feet on two separate occasions after buying 'properly fitted' shoes from Clarkes, and TBH I think that I can do better than that at recognising whether a shoe fits. We often order shoes from Next online; that way you can order two different sizes without having to pay in advance, and see which one fits better.