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?

And leads reins are for animals...

Bit weird to be honest. Mine is just 20mths but owns trainers, wellies and proper leather shoes. We live in a nice area, with lots of Aussies who go barefoot, but seriously, barefoot outside the house is a bit manky. Dog piss, stones, cold, wet and who knows what else.

Put shoes on your kid and make them walk!

And reins are great...bit like having a dog but better that than lost or squashed

I don't think you are necessarily being U but I would get some kind of foot protection for him for the fall and winter weather. Though, where we live (Western U.S.) I see kids (older) all through winter with no shoes on: restaurants, on the streets, shops, everywhere. To me they look like ragamuffins whose parents can't afford to buy them shoes - I suppose the parents think it's somewhat cosmopolitan because they arrived at the restaurant in a 70K Lexus!

Both of mine were walking besides the buggy at 18 months / 2 years, and not needing to take it out at all for short trips. I don't understand why you would want to keep them in a buggy for longer than necessary.

Mine both wore soft leather Robeez moccasins/shoes at that age....best of both worlds IMO

Mine wore those soft leather shoes when first walking,daisy roots or bobux etc lots of different makes, offer a bit of protection but soft and flexible.

This is such a weird thread. Some of the scenarios being conjured up to justify having a go at the OP, who has in her more recent posts shown herself to be fairly open-minded and is now proposing to introduce shoes after giving birth in a few weeks, are quite frankly bizarre and irrelevant. Sticky floors covered in vomit, as mentioned by people who have worked in bars? I doubt she's taking him on a pub crawl with the hen and stag dos on a Saturday night. If your toddlers are ending up with sticky vomit-covered feet, then you're taking them to the wrong cafés.

Ridiculous to say an 18 month old should not be in the buggy!

Yabu to let him play in the park without shoes yes. He may have sat in his buggy on the way there but everybody else has walked there and the ground will be dirty. It must be a right faff to have to thoroughly wash his feet every time you get home! And his feet must get freezing in the winter.

My mum is a podiatrist and says children (and adults) should be barefoot as much as possible and to go as long as possible before toddlers start wearing proper shoes.
In an anthropological sense people shouldn't need to wear shoes at all. Feet will adapt to the environment and toughen accordingly. But I digress. ..
Apparently baby bones are soft and feet can be damaged by ill fitting shoes. My mum has a particular horror of the "baby designer trainers" worn as pram shoes by non walking babies. Learning to walk barefoot helps Co ordination and balance too.
Both my kids were spring babies who started walking just over a year. My son didn't wear proper shoes until late September. My daughter is toddling now and I plan to do the same. They did have soft bootees with the non slip bottoms for places like park where you're not sure what's on the grass but rest of the time and in or own garden they are barefoot as am I myself. Even out of the house I usually wear flip flops except in the dead of winter. (I'm not a hippy loon, honestly, I'm a solicitor, and yes I do wear heels to work!)

Sorry you're getting a bit of a bashing OP. Very over the top! Your thread has really helped me though so thanks. I'm an adult who is out of shoes whenever possible. My one year old is just starting to stand and toddle with help but shoes go against my instinct at this stage. Been wrestling her into soft sole shoes for the playground/cafés etc. But she hates them. Already getting judgy looks from some!

No water they shouldn't be in the buggy all the time.

there's a difference.

I get many won't walk to town but they should be free to wall around the toy shop or get out to walk to those rides you get in shopping centres.

out town center sometimes even have farm animals brought in and kids can feed a lamb or hold a chick.

by not having shoes with them there's an awful lot of spontaneous stiff teh child could miss out on.

and seriously? can no one really see the danger of a child walking shoe less in a coffee shop? a COFFEE shop. HOT drinks or plates that a child walking around could knock.off and hurt themselves?

it seems daft to restrict yourself so much. and the fact op is pregnant well surely she needs to go to the drs and our drs you had to leave the buggy in a designated space you couldn't take.it into.the waiting room. carrying a child about who could walk from. counter to table holding your hand is ridiculous.

What is wrong with baby reigns???? They've saved my back. I'm over 6 foot and stooping sideways to hold little ones hands is a killer. Reigns let me stand straight and let toddlers walk when they want to. Also great for saving faceplants on to thr pavement/shop floor/dirty ground/gravel etc.

They don't have to cost a fortune. Clarks and startrite do canvas ranges with flexible rubber soles.

Hmmm. My little one toddles barefoot in the doctor surgery and other indoor places.
Surely if you have hot tea/coffee with children around, including at home, you are just extra careful. But why are feet considered extra vulnerable compared to other body parts? ie head, face, hands (and arms/legs in summer).
Or are there an army of toddlers in full protection body suits that I haven't noticed?

I really don't have a reason for not letting him out of the buggy except I didn't realise he was old enough. I assumed he'd be running off all over the place, but I'm absolutely up for it. He has to learn to walk sensibly next to me, and won't learn any other way than practice. He never shows any sign of wanting to get out of the buggy, I suppose because he hasn't realised yet it's a possibility. And he knows he'll get a good run around every day in the park so I suppose he's not fussed.

However I'm definitely going to look into some of the brands some of you have mentioned because if he's going to be walking on pavements, I can't guarantee no glass around (it's very unlikely, though not as unlikely as in the park). Plus some pavement surfaces can be quite rough on the feet (I often pop into town with no shoes if I have on a maxi skirt and no one will notice).

However I'm still not convinced that being in the playground with no shoes is that bad. I know it's safe, and it's Summer so it's pretty pleasant. I just don't mind so much that his feet end up dirty. I always give his hands a wash after the park but I only baby wipe his feet. They don't go in his mouth so I don't really mind if they're germy. That probably won't go down well here.

My two have been walking round town on reins since they got their first shoes at 14 months. My son can walk half a mile or more and has been able to do that since about 16/17 months. My daughter was the same.

Op- should have clarified when I said properly fitted shoes I meant rather than off the rack fixed ones like trainers, or supermarket ones.
As for the age and your worry he'll run off, now is the best time, not just to get into the habit of walking and behaving, but because he won't be that fast yet!

became people are taking perfectly valid points and trying to make out they are ridiculous

when things that are dropped start levitating ad floating around in the air then i guess helmets would he a consideration but things fall down usually onto the floor.

I don't think pointing out that staff may occasionally miss a piece of glass or plate or that even ice can be sharp is ridiculous

If you fancy getting your da shies fur warmth in the the winter, and protection as he starts walking further and for long, do a little reading on "barefoot shoes" and look at Happy Little Soles. There's a barefoot FB group too.