To not understand why people buy non-fitted shoes for toddlers?

[user1480954406]

How do people feel about this? I've seen babies get converse etc for their first shoes, but I was always led to believe kids needed width fitted shoes until they were at least two? All the clothes shops from Tesco to marks&spencer do kids shoes from size 3/4 but I just wouldn't feel right if they weren't properly fitted by somebody trained in shoe fitting? Aibu?

[allowlsthinkalot]

Barefoot shoes or none at all are much better for developing feet if you want the best.

I do buy Clarks but I'm not impressed with their fitting.

[BettyOBarley]

I buy Clarks for DD as she had positional talipes at birth and has some issues still but I once had her measured at two different stores in the space of two days and the sizes and width given were different, so I think the sizing is only as good as the person doing the measuring.

[NickyEds]

I always get my kids shoes fitted, either at Clarks or local independent. I'll carry on until they're able to tell me exactly how they feel and fit- an 18 month old can't! Dd is on her fourth pair so far so we've spent about £160 and she's only 19 months. Shudder to think what we've spent on ds (3). Maybe I am just a mug as my nephew has had most of ds's old shoes and his feet seem fine.

[Ploppymoodypants]

I have had converse and Doc martins for my DD as well as hand made shoes to fit. I hate Clarks and their ugly gender stereotypes, and the shoes are not hard wearing at all. I am lucky as I can still afford good quality shoes for DD. However I was pleasantly surprised to go into Shuh and have a specialist fitter come out for my DD (as opposed to bored looking teenager in clarks) who measured width and length of DD feet before bringing a selection of brands and deciding the doc martins were the best fit. They were still cheaper than the clarks winter boots and look fab and will last!

Kids converse have extra support in the heel and again are sold in Russel and Bromley and John Lewis and can be fitted by someone trained. They advise against buying them if your child has too wide feet an offer alternatives.

I personally wouldn't buy cheap shoes from Tesco or primark for example, due to the synthetic materials and I would want them properly fitted. But then I am lucky enough to be able to afford good ones and so have choice.

I feel like other parents have judged me now for being uncaring over my child's feet due to doc martins instead of clarks!

[FannyDeFuzz]

You've fallen for the shoe myth.

I have bought Clarks before, but not for ages. They are very hit and miss, and overrated. I kept DD in barefoot /soft leather for as long as possible.

[SomewhatIdiosyncratic]

I got fed up of Clarkes. My DCs have slow growing feet so wore shoes out long before they grew out of them. I've switched to an independent shop. They tend to pull the insoles out and look at the way the foot spreads on it in addition to using the gauge.

My DCs are only one size apart and similar width, so as DS1 grows out of a pair, DS2 is usually ready to wear it. I don't pass on heavily worn shoes, but if the shoe is in good condition, it tends to fit DS2 well as their feet are similar.

I'll buy cheaper sandals or trainers for occasional use, but a better quality brand like Geox as the main school/ everyday shoe.

[BarryTheKestrel]

My DD has some clarks shoes, however they have been gifts as I refuse to pay their prices. I bought a measurer and measure her feet myself and buy shoes that fit and have decent support, I can buy these for £10 rather than the £35 clarks want for almost identical shoes. At almost 2 her shoes are still practically brand new by the time she out grows them, no need to waste so much money especially not when we don't have much disposable income.

[Sirzy]

I gave up on Clarks after getting fed up of badly fitted shoes. One pair I could literally get a finger in the back yet they insisted they were fine!

[FannyDeFuzz]

Anyone else have Clarks adverts following them around the Internet?

[glueandstick]

I had my 11 month old fitted for shoes this weekend. Decided not to buy when I was told it was so important to have shoes on at all times to support the foot. Barefoot is supposed to be best isn't it?!

Why are kids shoes so expensive?!

[NataliaOsipova]

I did a little experiment with clarks - I took ds to 3 different stores to get his feet measured and they all told me something slightly different!

I agree with this - have had a dubious experience with the fitters in John Lewis as well! I've had a Clarks fitter tell me that my DD needed shoes in half a size smaller than the ones that she was wearing, which were themselves clearly too small for her (think sandals with her toes right at the end).

[Ginmakesitallok]

Working out whether or not shoes fit isn't rocket science- I don't need someone from clarks to tell me whether or not my kids shows fit.

[bananapuddles]

I didn't find it that difficult to measure my son's feet at home and he's mostly barefoot or in barefoot friendly shoes. Converse are very flat, flexible and wide so are a good choice imo.

Clarks shoes are so expensive and feel stiff and uncomfortable.

[NellysKnickers]

YABU. I only purchased fitted shoes for ds1 up until he was about 8. Ds2 was badly fitted twice and Ive done it myself since. Don't worry, he has perfectly formed feet. Fitted shoes is not the law and sometimes, especially Clarks you pay a fortune for shite.

[yearofthehorse]

I once went to Clarks, got DS feet measured but they didn't have the shoes he wanted in that size. So we went to the Clarks on the other side of town where they measured his feet again and came up with a different size. I stopped going to Clarks.

[rachmack]

The less support and closer to not wearing shoes the better. The problem with shoes that offer "support" is the weight of them altering the biomechanics of walking. The shoes that annoy me and make me feel judgemental (of the shop selling them) are shoes with a heel for kids (and not just girls but all shoes that are profiled) and that's having worked in paediatrics and seeing loads of kids with shortened calf, altered biomechanics and subsequent biomechanical and pain issues. Mind you sitting for prolonged periods is also to blame for that. Go barefoot as much as possible.

[belleandsnowwhite]

I measure my kids feet at home. I buy their shoes from tk maxx as they often have start rite and geox shoes in stock.

[Rinceoir]

My DD has tiny narrow feet (she's 2.9, size 4.5 Narrow fitting). It's hard to find any shoes that fit her so I buy mostly from our local independent shoe shop or from happylittlesoles online. I've been very unhappy with clarks fittings- they don't stock many narrow fit so always try to convince is that the narrowest in their range fits when DD is clomping around, feet falling out. I'd be quite happy to buy on the high street if narrow and good fit for her.

[MimiTheWonderGoat]

If the "fitters" in Clarks could actually measure feet then we'd shop there, but they have been terrible so many times that we gave up. Took DD in for her first shoes after she'd been walking for a good 2 months. They measured her as a 3.5F and sold us what looked like clown's shoes on her. A second opinion in an independent shoe shop measured her as a 2. A year later, tried Clarks again (different branch) and they sold us a 3.5 H. They kept falling off her so we went back and the store manager measured her as a 3F!!....so the clown shoes we were sold 12 months before then were the right fit a year later! Go figure! If that's what "fitted" shoes are like then best not bother!

[Crumbs1]

Shoe fitting has to be the biggest con going. It was always quite a fun activity for wet winter afternoons but I think I realised quite quickly that I was more capable than a spotty adolescent of working out whether shoes fitted or not.

[5moreminutes]

Clarkes measure wrongly half the time - I used to go to Clarke's each time we went back to the UK til I realised they were saying that the kids had grown even when they hadn't in order to make sales. That and the fact clarkes shoes disintegrate on contact with a bit of water and mud or a football...

Aldi toddlers shoes have the fitting guide on the bottom of the sole - too small/ just right/ too big.

For older kids clarkes disintegrate before they are outgrown so are useless unless you have a child who never goes outside unless it's dry and never kicks a ball at school break time.

[feesh]

What geekaMaxima said, exactly. Kids should be in barefoot shoes with a WIDE TOE BOX - not supportive or fitted. Everything else is just marketing guff. And I speak as someone with extensive childhood orthopaedic issues.

[CharlieDimmocksbosoms]

A goodway to measure a child's feet for shoes is at home. Take a piece of thin cardboard ( cereal packet or similar) and a thin out line pen. ( a ballpoint is fine) Using hard floor , and extra help, if the child is small, stand him on the cardboard and draw around his foot keeping the pen vertical. Then cut out the shape carefully. Do both feet as they will be a little different in size. These cardboard shapes can then be tried in potential new shoes. Allow for a little wiggle room forward and back and side to side and if your child has deep top to arch make sure shoe is adjustable - laces, buckle etc. This way is also great if you can't have child with you when buying shoes.

[Sweets101]

DD has had many pairs of fitted shoes. She will only wear wellies