To have still not put my DS in shoes?

[luckiestgirlintheworld]

DS is almost 18 months and has never worn a pair of shoes. He's been walking since about his first birthday.
When in the park or garden he either goes barefoot if it's wet out, or sometimes he wears just socks.

When I spoke to the guy in the shoe shop he said it's really important to spend the extra money and buy properly fitting and properly made shoes, or the next best thing is no shoes at all. So I just decided not to bother.

I get a lot of odd looks from other mums and wondered if I'm being disapproved of. Do you think I'm BU?

It's bloody irresponsible to have kids running about a cafe with no shoes. tea coffee hot chocolate steak knifes dropped glasses. accident waiting to happen.

Well this is MN, it's not actually RL

Of course, they were running free with no table manners, weren't they usual?

Do they have drones delivering things to tables in London? Or maybe they apparate from kitchen to table, like in Harry Potter.

And they never get dropped/knocked off waiters falling over shoeless children ?

I'm sure the last families chips squished between your toes is a wonderful feeling

The OP is talking about an 18 month old baby. Table manners will be somewhat limited I would have thought.

For the record it was the risk of broken glass which was given to us.

I was very but he was right enough.

The Op was talking about the park anyway. I'm sure she keeps her DS strapped into his evil buggy in the cafe. Or maybe she uses a highchair so he can wriggle his toes all he likes.

Sitting at the table is the best place to start.

Under table nuggets Means you don't have to pay for their food!

Don't ever move to Germany OP.

Social services would have been onto you by now for endangering your child's life due to needless foot exposure. Causes pneumonia, cold, kidney problems and DEATH*.

• insert any other factual or fictitious illness.

This thread is getting abit nasty, unnecessarily so

Lj- I think a lot of it is in jest.

(I can't shake the image of cold chip between my toes. Ugh!)

Yes a lot of it is, but there does seem to be some nastiness too or Maybe I'm just tired!

Mine walks barefoot a lot including on gravel and around the the dogs (and their poo) which i think is fine he knows where his shoes are so he can choose.
Does your kid have a choice?

By 18 months our lad was romping around a cricket club, had been vycle touring camping , and did bus & train rides with out the buggy.
A couple of pairs of soft slippers got thoroughly trashed, as he liked to sit n ride out doors and brake with his feet. Got him cruiser shoes for the camping trip, that was good move as they kept him dryer. We were waiting for his feet to be big enough to fit proper shoes.

Not forgetting the pleasure that is puddle jumping!!! they need wellies for that though

fyi always check the depth of the big ones effort befire they get so excited and fall over in them

I used to work in a bar... Having seen the amount of times safety glass gets shattered and ends up everywhere i really wouldnt condone bare foot

Mine were the same...but you have to be a bloody strong person to cope with the criticism/advice/scandalised reactions. In Germany you get hassled ten times a day I kid you not (unless it is a proper Barfuss path, everyone is as to why your kids prefer bare feet .New Zealand would be less shocked apparently.
Tis better for their foot development though.
You can also buy expensive but natural shoes for them, vivo barefoot do some.

yy beth

I've done alot of bar work/catering work.

floors at the very least get sticky.

occasionally people even throw up on the floor. when sauces come in sachets it's not unusual to find some squished on the floor.

If a place is frequented by families there's often food sauce drink etc on the floor and inevitably small children can knock cups or glasses flying.

even ice can be sharp.

staff aren't allowed to wear open toed shoes for this exact reason I don't know why people think it's bonkers to point it out. who really wants to have to buckle up or carry a child capable of walking to the toilets. you don't want to put a child bare foot on the toilet floors. and toilets aren't always buggy access able

Just get him a pair of those soft leather slipper type ones. They're like a thick sock, the best of both worlds. They'll protect his feet from broken glass in the pub, bee stings, dog shit and hot pavements and they look enough like a shoe that the restaurant/café authorities will be fooled. They're soft enough to be not much more restrictive than a sock and significantly cheaper than proper shoes.

I was going to say YANBU, as babies don't need proper shoes when small, but if you're going to go to the park at 18 months you absolutely, definitely need shoes! Mine didn't wear shoes (just soft little bootees) until they were properly toddling. Then we went off to Clarks to get their feet measured and some cool soft 'cruising shoes.'
No way can you guarantee that there's not going to be any small shards of glass at your local park, however 'naice.'
Definitely some form of shoes for outdoor play.

Is this post some kind of joke?

So 99.9% population are 'damaging' or whatever the theory is their kids feet by making them wear shoes. It's just this one mum who wheels a 18 month old around, allows them to walk in cafes risking injury & won't consider getting shoes till its convienient for her during pregnancy.

And we don't think this is bat shit crazy!