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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that a pair of well fitting shoes is a neccesity (sp) for a child?

85 replies

smeeinit · 06/02/2008 18:14

because im really and that a child i know is always in a pair of shoes/boots that are waaaaaay to big.

surely well fitted shoes are a basic for every child.

OP posts:
TheDevilWearsPrimark · 06/02/2008 19:42

Smee that's fair enough, but there are those who 'can't' afford it yet, spend the money on vodka and doritos etc.
I hate to judge but some people say they can't afford such 'luxuries' (insert puzzled emoticon) as good shoes for their children, yet still run a car and go out drinking every weekend.

Then there are those that genuinely can't afford it and have to go without gas or electricity just to buy shoes.

Wisteria · 06/02/2008 19:45

Devil your post on Wed 06-Feb-08 18:55:22 reads as though you sympathise with the idea of not being 'able' to afford it but you seem to also be saying that you feel the same as smee and myself.....am confused!

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 06/02/2008 19:48

I confused myself. Some people can afford it , some can't but see it as a priority so manage, some can't afford and don't care.

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 06/02/2008 19:48

Oh and I'm sure somecan aford and don't care

melpomene · 06/02/2008 19:57

Of course it's important to have shoes that fit well, but that doesn't equate to always wearing 'professionally' fitted or expensive shoes IMO. My dds have both been left with bleeding feet/blisters after wearing 'properly fitted' shoes from Clarks. On the other hand they have also worn shoes & trainers from Next, summer pumps from catalogues and hand-me-downs and have not had any problems with those because I checked that they fitted before allowing them to wear them.

Checking that a pair of shoes fits is important, but it is not rocket science.

Heated · 06/02/2008 19:58

My children wear clothes bought in the sale or are 2nd hand, but I always pay decent money for decent shoes such as start-rite.

TheDevilWearsPrimark - I also got a lump on top of the big toe after wearing flat ballet shoes during the summer, assumed it was the start of elderly feet and bunions and swopped shoes! But your post has got me worried - have you got any more info on your friends DVT?

Shitemum · 06/02/2008 20:01

In Spain there doesn't appear to be any such thing as professionally fitted shoes. They don't come in different widths either as far as I can see. It's just a case of trying them on till you find a pair that seem to fit. Since they grow out of them fast my thinking is that if they are not a great fit it doesnt matter. MY DDs wear soft canvas shoes a lot of the year since it's warmer here.

Original poster
smeeinit · 06/02/2008 20:23

melpomene i agree, they dont have to be proffesionally fitted but just fitting correctly would be a good start!
this poor child is flapping around in shoes that are nowhere near a correct fitting!

OP posts:
Looby34 · 06/02/2008 20:50

My 2 year old DD is a C/D width fitting and so Clarks are too wide and we are forced to buy Start Rite which I find to be rather 'smart' shoes which really show the scrapes.. I much prefer Charks but am told by the assistants that there aren't many kids with feet that narrow ?? Her last pair were a smart pair of pink Kicker boots - £43 quid a pop !! Does anyone know of any other brands that do narrow width's ?? At a reasonable price....

gemprincess · 06/02/2008 21:03

I have 3 girls and am now expecting a boy, all my kids are c width fittings and i have no choice but to buy start rite or a french or german make... each pair costs around £45 to £55. We are certainly not rich but at the end of the day their feet are impotant. My eldest dd friend has so called fashion shoes and gets thru them at a rate, ends up spending just as much in a school term and damages her feet.

Looby34 · 06/02/2008 21:06

We in same position gem. Luckily my Mum paid for her last pair but even if she didn't we'd still have her properly fitted up and make sacrafices elsewhere. Do you get these foreign makes in independant shops ?

Wisteria · 06/02/2008 21:25

I don't know where you live but there's a superb specialist shop in Derby which stocks shoes in very narrow fittings - I'm trying to rack my brains to remember the make we bought when my daughter went to a B or C.....

MarmiteMe · 06/02/2008 21:34

takes cover
I don't buy clarks shoes for my DD, I did twice, once they gave her blisters, the next time she tripped over her feet since they were huge!
I'm not dim, I feel all around the shoe, make sure it fits and is comfy and I check on a regular basis to make sure she's not outgrown them.

gemprincess · 06/02/2008 21:34

My 3 yr old is in a french boot at the moment 'aster' and my 7 year old is in a german shoe. They seem to wear well. We get them from an independant shop called chic and showing in east yorkshire but are available other places.

Lizzylou · 06/02/2008 21:40

It's not hard to check if a pair of shoes is too big/small, I was 14 when I had a saturday job in Freeman Hardy Willis and was in charge of "fitting" kids shoes , just used to poke around and hope for the best tbh.

DS2 has really wide feet and only Clarks stock his size (and we only get the choice of , um, 1 shoe), aside from that, they don't check very much in Clarks anyway, just a handheld thingy the same as they use in other shoeshops when they are young, then when they are older they get to go on the "machine".

nooka · 06/02/2008 21:47

We get ours at an independant shop, as they seem to have a bigger range that fit the children. They don't cost that much more than Clarks, about £30 each (at the moment dd has Startright and ds has Hush Puppies). The children only have two pairs of shoes, one for school and one for weekends (trainers in winter and sandals in summer), and I guess we buy shoes about every six months. So I don't see it as a huge expense, although it does have to be budgeted for. Crappy shoes are a false economy IMO, and feet are precious!

bookwormmum · 06/02/2008 21:49

My dd has her shoes from Start-rite but apparently she's at the top size in this style.... I usually ask for the same again . I refuse to use Clarks since a disinterested sales girl tried to fob me off with shoes you could see where too big, let alone checking with your fingers. She was more interested in doing the end-of-day sales figures than actually serving customers ready to spend money .

Wisteria · 07/02/2008 08:07

Lizzylou - they do far more checks than that actually.

THe width is measured properly and then the sides, toes, and 'slippability' are checked, they are watched while walking, to ensure that the shoes aren't gapping too much at the sides or coming off the back.

It's unfortunate when people have had disinterested assistants, but complain - I have only had one bad experience at a fitting shop and said something. Clark's pride themselves on their fitting from what I have seen so am sure they would take steps to address any dissatisfaction.

bozza · 07/02/2008 08:57

I stopped going to Clarks when they didn't have a single pair of shoes that fitted DS. But I do go to a shop that stocks Clarks so DS and DD have both had Clarks on occasion but more Startrite and also some Umi. DS generally has Clarks trainers.

Re the OP - not only is this damaging to the girl's feet but also potentially dangerous for tripping etc. Rather like when DD insists on wandering around the house in my knee length boots.

Lizzylou · 07/02/2008 10:19

Wisteria, you obv never shop in Clarks in Burnley
I wouldn't recommend it!

Ineedacleaner · 07/02/2008 10:33

We have 2 Clarks here and they are both rubbish surly disinterested staff in both of them.

DD has narrow feet just like me and Clarks cannot fit her for shoes oh tell a lie they had one random pair of lovely shoes in a very narrow fot in their sale and I got a kind of perverse pleasure out of the fact that they were only £5 when they have never fitted her before at full price teehee. She generally wears start rite.

DS is a standard F fit which is what most shoes off the shelf so to speak are although the best fitting shoes I have ever got him were from mothercare fitted myself.

I always make sure that the main pair of shoes they have are proper fitted by my local independant shoe shop ie boots in winter, their sandals in summer that kind of thing. Any other shoes party shoes or whatever I still buy good fiting shoes for them but just try and get them from next or somewhere.

needmorecoffee · 07/02/2008 10:36

my dd is 4 and has never had shoes. Just big woolley socks. She can't walk so whats the point. My older kids all have fine feet and we couldn't afford posh Clarks when they were little so they had sandals all summer (free those toes) and trainers all winter. Didn't hurt their feet at all.
Seems to be a myth that not buying Clarks leads to hideously deformed feet and wheelchairs. Not true.

needmorecoffee · 07/02/2008 10:40

human feet don't need 'support'. They are designed for walking.

WorzselMummage · 07/02/2008 11:24

DDs always has a mix of Clarks and cheap shoes and she's never once had blisters or bleeding feet. being skint doesnt mean you buy your child ill fitting shoes, you just have to make sure they fit.. its brains that does that, not money.

violetsky · 07/02/2008 11:34

I agree, DH and I always had well fitting 'good' shoes as children so we brought well fitting 'good' shoes for our children. DS wears afo's and as 2shoes says they are better than clarks, but when he started school I trawled Kent for a good pair of school shoes which would fit over his splints. For the first TWO days he wore them to school, then the school wrote to me asking if I would put him in dark trainers instead, as the shoes were too difficult to put on over his afo's. I could get them on, why the hell couldn't they.

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