to expect to find 1 pair of shoes to fit my daughter in a reasonable sized city???

[imaginewittynamehere]

Spent the whole morning going from shop to shop.

DD is a 4 1/2H - surely not so unusual??

I started of with an ideal style - about an hour in I abandoned all attempts at style & asked for anything that fits..

So I was offered as they tried to cram her poor feet into them.. lots of 4 1/2 and 5G At one point a sales assistant clearly under pressure to get a sale said; of a pair of 5 1/2 G which weren't wide enough & were coming away at the heel - "I think those will be fine" they blatantly weren't

So what do I do now short of cutting some of her toes off cinderella style??

Any tips on good places for H fittings?

no

Fabulous thanks

Thinking that flipflops are the way to go - can you buy them for 14 month olds?

blimey it seems to be a national issue

thread from 'sheffield forum' - unless you are within strikes of sheffield the most useful looks like John lewis?

shoesforkids.co.uk as recommended on there looks quite good but they have shut their order book until 30 Nov!

Hey right with you....My DS is a H fitting and has been since he was 11 months old.

Basically, get used to it....I have found an independat shoe shop and it is quite expensive but if you find out what times of year they get thier orders in and then go in at these times they usually have loads of choice. Most of the shoes I get for DS come from Italy. DS is 8 and they cost around £50 but they last forever and ever they are so well made.

As for clarkes and H fitting ...forget it

Wow beeper - I had no idea that shoes were so difficult - so basically my best option is to get friendly with an independant shoeshop owner!!

What I'm going to do in the mean time though I don't know - plan a few visits to places further afield I suppose

I'm certain that this isn't meant to be so difficult!!

I'm wider than an H fitting, have problems getting shoes for myself, usually end up getting a 7 or even an 8, although I'm only a 5.5. But as an adult I can make that decision, though I wouldn't be so keen on applying the same technique to a child.

What I do remember from childhood is having the same style of shoes year after year because it was the only one that would fit. I was so upset, and got teased horribly. So I would recommend trying your best to find some element of choice, though I realise it won't be easy

H fitting - give up now - you are doomed!

I speak as the mother of a G fitting, a H fitting and a baby too small for shoes - but I bet she's going to be a H as well

Independent shoe shops can help - provided you give them your house and all your income for the next 15 years Having said that, last time I went to the bigger one in our locale they told me 'oh we don't stock wide fittings anymore' Suppressing the instinct to scream and/or set fire to the rows and rows and rows of F fittings......I left in high dudgeon.

This season dd1&2 are wearing boots from a well known chain store which were just wide enough and I am plotting my revenge on the whole shoe industry...

dont know if your allowed to post adverts on here but do a google on 'Ricosta' or 'elephanten' this will lead you onto some indpendant websites. Both these brands do H fittings and are excellent shoes.

Don't know where you live. But there are excellent independants around the North Cambs area.

But mostly stocked by independants amoungst other brands. I often and I know this sounds like i spend loads of money, but my ds who grows like crazy only ever seems to grow out of the ricosta shoes every 6-9 months sometimes longer so I buy 2 pairs just for variety.

Good hunting

I live in West Yorkshire and go to Kids at Clinks in either Meadowhall or Leeds for my children's shoes. DS was an H at that age/size but is quite often a G now that he is school age - but a wide G.

They both usually end up with Clarks trainers. DD (3) also has Startrite boots and Norvik patent mary janes. DS has Startrite school shoes (they are wider and solider than Clarks IME) and Freesby boots. So a range of brands as you can see.

Northern Lurker - your post made me & lol !!
I guess we'd better remortgage.

Bumper by medium sized city was Peterborough so I'll have to hunt out those independants.

We're off to Manchester this weekend so will see if we have any more luck there too.

Thanks all for your advice; you have given me some hope (& a small feeling of doom for the future also! )

lol imagine.....I shop in Peterborough try footprints in peterborough or Piggies in stamford.

I have the same problem except dd1 is a 'C' fitting and the clarks just said we don't do 'C' fitting shoes.

Most children shoes start at a 'D' fitting.

Message withdrawn

Have the same problem the other way around - my LO has very narrow feet. We go to the three shoe shops and usually come away empty handed!

i got a gorgeous pair of elephanten shoes from brantano. clarks are a heap of sh**. best to go to an independant shoe shop, excellent quality cost more but well worth it.

Did you go to the place on Queens Gate - Footprints or something like that? They usually have something for dd's massive paws.

I always go to independent places selling continental children's shoes. All mine have v. wide feet and high insteps, dd2 also has weak ankles, but our local indie shoe shop always comes up trumps.
Have found Russel & Bromley and Clarks to be absolutely rubbish.

Oops.

Westgate I meant.

They have brands like Ricosta, which I have always found much better for wide feet.

Yes lin fairness I must say that narrow feet are as tricky to fit. So why do all the shops and makers cater for the medium fit - it may be an average size but there must surely be a distinctly unaverage sector of the population with feet that size - I've never met anyone who was an E fitting!
(NL ducks in anticipation of 1000 posts from happy mnetters who have children with average feet)

Imaginewittynamehere - sorry to make you sad - but I had to tell it like it is - it's a tough world out there and if the shoe doesn't fit.......