To think that buying half sizes shoes for toddlers is silly

[SweetSally]

Am I the only person who thinks that buying half size shoes for toddlers is just silly? Especially for winter shoes when naturally they wear thicker socks?

*Preparing to be slaughtered by other moms

TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince I’m exactly the same. I need the half size to be comfortable.

What annoys me more about children’s shoes is the lack of width fittings. My eldest has wide feet and we have to go to Clarks or Startrite to get a good fit. I’ve seen lovely shoes elsewhere that I know won’t fit her. Even startrite don’t always do the width fittings. A lot of their boots and canvas shoes are F only which bugs me greatly.

I think some PP have worked out what OP means. It seems OP thinks you have to buy every size as the child's feet grow, so she thinks the half sizes are 'extra' shoes. When actually you just buy the size that fits best and half sizes just make the range of choice bigger.

If you're wearing thicker socks, shoes need to be wider, not longer.

I wear half sizes when I can.

No of course it's not silly if that's the size they need. What a strange statement. DD2 has extra wide feet so often has to go up half a size so they aren't too tight. Going up a full size shed be tripping over. A size is quite a difference on tiny feet although I often still buy half sizes where they are available as an adult. Surely you buy the shoes that for best

*fit the best

We always bought the size that fitted as she was measured. If it was a half size then that's what we bought.

As an adult I wear a half size if I can get it - I am a perfect size 5.5 but depending on the brand and the shape of the shoe I might be a 5 or a 6. I don't think that's silly at all!

I also buy whatever fits!

Especially with toddlers as half a size is not that big a proportion. With dd 11 not so much!

And also surely using your logic, if your DC was measured as a 6, you’d be better off buying the 6.5 to allow some room for growth?

@Jenpop234 - Have never bought half sizes. I just buy the next size up when he grows out of the current shoes. Simple. Never had any falling over incidents here.

Not necessarily the best strategy. One of mine went from a 4.5 to a 7 in 3 months. I did feel like a bad parent when we had him measured for the new ones. He was 13, so at that stage I wasn't expecting to have to change shoes more frequently than that, particularly as he hadn't had a massive height spurt over the same period.

But this means that, for at least some of the time, your child is wearing shoes that don’t fit properly? If it is important that they are in the right size then you need to be getting them measured more frequently.

I’m usually buying more shoes because the weather has changed (ie too cold for sandals), not because DS has grown out of them. So sometimes the shoes are the same size as his old pair, and sometimes they are bigger.

Depends a lot on the brand too, so it’s not always easy to tell if you’ve gone up a size or not - DS was in size 5s for about all of last year, because he switched from a SeeKaiRun 5 (small) to a Nike 5 (probably true to size) then a H&M 5 (massive, probably more like a 6-6.5). Went straight from the H&M 5 to a Clark’s 6.5, and there was very little difference in length between the two pairs of shoes.

This has to be the weirdest OP in a long time

Why on earth would you choose to put your toddler (or anyone else for that matter) in shows that didn't fit them ?

*shoes, not shows

Just buy what they measure as. DD had to have start-rite because she was an H fitting; if a G had to go up 1/2 a size. Two styles available closed toe sandals and bloody Alexandra none of the pretty colours in wider than F She's 21 now and hates buying shoes. Still v wide and only a 3.5. Yep still a half size.

I preferred to look after my children's feet in the best possible way, and that meant correct fitting docks and footwear, be it half or full size.
As adults they all have good, problem free feet.
Correct sizing and quality is everything.

Docks?? Socks!!

@DancingPyjamas - Correct sizing and quality is everything

While ensuring your children are wearing properly fitting shoes won't cause problems, it's no guarantee of anything.

My mother was obsessive about us having proper shoes as she has bad feet. I was exactly the same with my three dc. However, I have ferocious bunions and one hammer toe and another one heading that direction. Dd, who is only 19, has bunions. Ds22 has no problems while ds16 looks like he is likely to get bunions too.

With us, it's genetic. I over-pronate (or suppinate - I can never remember which), and so put pressure on my feet. My dc all have varying degrees of hypermobility, which causes problems too.

I honestly think that what the OP was asking is perfectly valid. I don’t think she was saying “if my kids measures a size 5.5 I’ll just buy them a 6 (because half sizes are ridiculous) whadya think?!” but rather “do you have to buy your kid a new pair of shoes every single time their feet grow half a size?” And tbh I’m wondering the same thing!

My daughter is a 7.5 and my son a 9.5

My mum bought him a pair of size 10s a few days ago for pe and they're too big.

Surely you just buy what size they are?lol

Gaaaah posted on the wrong thread. Sorry. There are loads of these on MN to be fair! I’ll take my assumptions elsewhere!

Still buy my nearly 12 year old half sizes if that's the size he is. Growing feet need decent support and a shoe that is too big is not going to do that. Can't say he's ever worn thicker socks with anything other than wellies.

But they are different sizes!! I’m a 5.5. Sometimes I can wear a 5, but a 6 is always, always too big for me.

What a bizarre thread!