To get shoes for newly walking 10-month-olds?

[Linguaphile]

I've got twin girls who have been cruising round the furniture for about two months. They play on their feet quite a lot now, and have been taking unaided steps for about two weeks. I've been leaving them barefoot up until now, but last week at crèche, they both came home with little black feet from the dirty floor! :(

If you were me, would you get them some cruiser/crawler shoes to protect their feet and keep them clean when they're toddling about at playgroups? As the big sales are on, I went out yesterday to get them some baby shoes, but they still worked out to be a fortune at half price (£16/pair... which seems a lot for babies that are just learning to walk). DH wasn't pleased.

So... what do you think? Just let their feet get dirty for a few months when they're walking in public play spaces/outside, or keep the shoes?

Save your money! There is plenty of time to put them in shoes so don't rush. I waited 6 weeks with both twins before buying them shoes. They wore socks, even in the middle of winter.

In the beginning they needed shoes every 6/8 weeks so I was spending £55 every couple of months!

Agree it's best to go barefoot as much as poss. It angers me that Clarks say to wear shoes as soon as you can walk - stupid advice based on making sales.

Do you bathe them every night? If yes then what's the problem with dirty feet anyway?

DS is 17 months and barefoot most days, if your group is in a hall with a wood floor I find he can walk about much better barefoot, and his feet get dirty but that's fine.

Take them back I would, and get them a pair around winter time when they will be walking outside and it's cold.

If you find you need something for outside, then Stonz are warm, waterproof and completely soft. And you can add thick socks or even the soft leather shoo-shoo style things under them for warmth - they did dd2 for her whole first walking winter. Theyre a bit pricey, but worth it.

My 10 month old can do about 10 steps unaided and his feet are generally filthy by the end of the day. I've got some dotty fish soft leather shoes for baby groups but don't intend getting proper shoes until he's walking well.

Keep them barefoot as much as possible, far better for them. To protect them from dirt there is nothing wrong with just socks - easily washed or moccasins provided they have plenty of space. Once they have been walking a few more weeks and are walking outside more they Mothercare 'crawling' shoes are excellent. Really soft soles and wide fitting (clarks tend to fit shoes far to tightly for growing feet). Only £12 too.

Well, I hear dirt and grime helps build their immune systems. So you could argue that keeping their shoes off is good for them.

I personally hate putting socks on DD (because it's a lost cause and they disappear and show up in odd places). I'd rather her just be barefoot. Like ikeaismylocal my family keeps getting DD socks and putting them on when they're at my house. They even have their own stash of house socks to put on her barefeet when I bring her by.

I waited until they were actually desperate to walk outside on the filthy, painful pavements. Can't remember the specific date, but I'm thinking maybe 14 months?

We have just got almost 12 month Ds measured in Clarks as he is confidently walking. They had a sale
rail with last seasons shoes and we got a pair for a tenner reduced from 26. He is a size 4g