to think that I should be able to buy shoes without a heel for a 5 year old

[SquongebobSparepants]

Girl, obviously. And yes, okay, she has mahooosive feet (size 12) but all the shoes we tried on (and in a big shoe shop, not fecking clarks, but have clarks shoes) had a 'wedge' of about half an inch. She couldn't walk in them properly and I hadn't even thought to look for heels.
They had those hugely impratical ballerina pumps with a gnats wings length over the toes which would fly off the second she decided to try out a ben 10 move in the playground so they were out too.

We ended up with some really dull boring black shoes, which are fine, and actually fit, but I was just shocked that shoes aimed at what I think woudl be year 3? weren't flat.

Oh, and don't START me on the HSM and Hannah Slutana glitter high heels...

I know who the he'll buys these shoes I was trying to buy my wee girl some schoo
Shoes what trouble I had

Half an inch is not really a heel, and I dont think it does ligaments much good to be in completely flat shoes either.

A shoe with a low heel is preferable.
Increased heel height, ultimately affects the entire body as there is an increase in load and force placed on the forefoot. This causes the body's centre of gravity to shift forward, calf muscles shorten, muscles and ligaments fatigue as they are forced to work overtime to keep you balanced. This leads to an increase of stress placed on the lower back and thus body posture is affected. A heel height of less then one inch or 25mm is appropriate

Completely flat shoes also have an adverse effect too.

guide to childs shoes

loads of suitable school schools in a size 12 from startright

www.startriteshoes.com/girls/school-shoes?p=1

I think a size 12 is roughly year 1/2 age so still Infants.

I am often agog with the number of very young girls in heels and make up. But then I have a boy so have never had to give in to the pressure.

I would say for school shoes Clarks, Startrite shops or small independents are better because they predominatly stock these this time of year.

But whatever YADNBU because shopping for school shoes is shit - full stop.

well quite, they were trying to say that for older children they are not oo bad, when I pointed out that she was 5 the manager came rushing over and told me not to buy them (I like this shop!) and that they are not appropriate for 5 year olds. Well DUR.
So why fucking sell them then?

Size 12 is quite large, but should be well catered for as it is relatively common. My 5yo going into Y1 is a size 13.5.

Maybe next time try Clarks again. I got really mad with them over the years for various reasons but have recently gone back and been pleasantly surprised. You might be too!

Saw a pair of boots in an infant size 9 (the size of my 3yo feet) the other day, (in peacocks) with a 1 1/2 inch heal. Thought wtf!!! cats bum mouth!!!

My 5yo is a nightmare to buy shoes for, needs ankle support, even Clarksville don't have anything even vaguely resembling supportable girly shoes/ankle boots. Have resorted to having them made by the orthotists. But they will only make us 2 pairs a year. And dd crawls around on the floor (grrr) or grows out of them in about 4 months. So generally spend the rest of the year trying to find her back-up shoes.

They do have clarks there, none fitted her properly anyway plus I can't afford Clarks shoes right now!

I think those startrite are high tbh, DD tried on some like that and couldn't walk in them, I am not saying no heel, obviously they need ot be raised a bit but an INCH? thats ridiculous, sorry, by saying 'anything under and inch is appropriate' they are saying that 23mm is okay. That's terribly high for a five year old, don't you think?

I've just bought a pair of Kickers t-bar shoes for my 6-year-old (size 13 feet) because I dislike the heels and often flimsy look of the 'school shoes' for girls. DD1 likes running around, doing cartwheels, playing football/on the climbing wall and I like shoes to look as though they are designed for being worn by a lively 6-year-old i.e. robust and with good grip.