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

[smeeinit]

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.

I think on balance, that id your children have standard sized feet - at an F fitting for instance, then it is possible to buy shoes that fit correctly without having to lay out for Clarks/ Start Rite etc but, many children do not have 'standard fit' feet and then shoes bought without width measurements will probably not fit correctly and can lead to problems.

Of course you can check your children's feet yourself for correct fit but as an aside, Clark's Start Rite and other more expensive shoes will generally last longer, so I feel they are more economical in the long run anyway.

I pay out probably £60 per year per child for school shoes but I know that my dd2's BF has at least 6 pairs of cheaper shoes within the same time frame which will cost more than £60.

I do only but my kids properly fitted shoes. ds is a d fitting so it's hard to get hom things that fit well.
However, my mother always also insisted buying me shoes that were fitted from Clarks etc - and I have still grown up with bunions and flat feet! Unfortunately some foot conditions seem to be hereditory so there's not a lot you can do.
(poor ds and dd - their feet will be awful when they grow up)

I only wore clarks shoes until I was about 13 when I refused point blank to go in the shop anymore! luckily in retrospect this was when girls started wearing dr marten type shoes. so i went from one 'sensible' style of shoe to another albeit slightly more fashionable .

my mum insisted on decent shoes for us as she had to cram her size 9s into 8s or even 7s as she grew up. she couldn't source nice shoes in her size until relatively recently so she always wore sandals, winter and summer. she had to buy men's latin dance shoes in lieu of ladies line dance shoes in supadance since they do not make ladies dance shoes that big (I told her that she ought to buy the boxes instead)!! both our feet are fine. I think bad feet can be as heriditary as high blood pressure or asthma but on the other hand, why take a chance? feet have to last us a lifetime.

Hmm - I must admit I'm another skeptic about all the 'proper fitting' Clarks/ Startrite marketing messages.

If you watch what the assistant does, it's not that difficult to copy/ and correctly 'fit' a shoe yourself for your children.

• In terms of length, there are various places where you can get a paper measuring chart - I keep the one from the back of the Next directory handy at home to check how quickly the kids feet are growing.

• Look at how the shoe looks when it's put on (and look at how easy/hard the 'putting on' process is) High insteps/ wide feet will strain the tongue area/ velcro etc.

• Squeezing either side of the shoe will help you feel if it is tight/ loose across the front

• Get child to wiggle toe to check 'room for growth' etc at the front - anymore than about 1.5 cm is too big

• check position of heel at the back - if you can slide your finger down, or is it slips about when the child walks etc it is too big.

• Does the child report that the shoe presses, or that they can 'feel it' anywhere (i.e. there may be a pressure point somewhere)

Interestingly I also saw recently there was some research that highlighted the importance of children wearing a VARIETY of shoes throughout the week e.g. school shoes/ trainers/ sandals/ weekend shoes, as it gives the foot a chance to 'relax' in different styles?

I always get dd's feet measured but like a lot of other people I don't think it's particularly accurate. The last time she was fitted for Startrite shoes in John Lewis there was only one style narrow enough for her feet. She liked them so we bought them. The cost a fortune! After one outing she was limping and I couldn't believe how they'd rubbed her little feet. That really put me off so I tend to rely more on myself these days. I figure that if they're definitely not too small and they don't wobble around when she walks / runs, they'll probably be ok.

marmaduke - I think Clarks and Startrite DO operate slightly different sizing.

However I've had the DC's feet measured in two different clarks shops on the same day and they've come up different sizes E.g 10G/ 11F - so that doesn't make me very confident.

In one shop the assistant brought out a size bigger, but a narrower width than she'd measured, and said 'this might fit, they're more or less the same'

Start rite and clarks are sized different you usually get a half to one size difference betwwen them.

Clarks do 2 styles of shoes in my son's size and they never have them in stock. He has to wear shoes one size too big because his feet are wide and the correct length pinches if it's not in an 'H' width. I have argued with Clarks about this countless times.

Yes but that's precisely why it is better to buy from a proper children's shoe supplier - they have a variety of different fits precisely because childrens' feet differ so greatly - for instance a 4C might fit my dd1 but a 2c not dd2, even though their width fittings are the same, because dd1's instep is higher so she needs a more close fit on the heel etc - whereas if you go to Woolies or Johnathan james all the shoes are precisely the same and do not cater for the individual.

Of course you can fit shoes yourself - but if you do buy from a cheaper shop, take your time over it and ensure you understand that if they do not have a leather upper then you are buying plastic shoes and as such not healthy for your childrens' feet - leather is a must for everyday / eg school use but I agree a variety of shoes need to be worn through the week - that's why it's easier to have the rule 'only proper shoes for school'. Again, they last longer anyway so it actually works out cheaper IME and IMO

leather isn't a 'must'. Nove of my kids have ever worn leather or posh shoes and they are now teenagers (the 3 oldest) and have perfectly normal feet.
Its all a con to make the worried classes fork out.

I can't agree with you but will agree to differ needmorecoffee - my orthopaedic surgeon says he sees people with problems in their hips and backs later on in life because of the fact they didn't wear properly fitted shoes - unfortunately it's not something you realise until you're much older...(not saying your kids will though obv - they'll probably be the lucky ones)

I still think it's false economy to buy cheap shoes and I ain't budging on this one

I think the other thing to bear in mind is how much money do you spend on your own shoes? Most people I know have loads of shoes and don't seem to bat an eylid about spending even hundreds of pounds in them. Given how much more time children spend in their shoes, and how much more wear they get out of them (all that running, climbing etc) it just feels a bit mean to skimp on them. I wish there were all those fittings for adult shoes though - I don't understand how when you are a child there are all those width fittings etc, and then when you are an adult suddently your foot apparently becomes standard. My feeling may be influenced by the fact that I hate shoe shopping of course! I have high insteps and finding anything even vaguely comfortable is a nightmare!

I own a pair of vegan boots I bought for about 30 quid 10 years ago. And a pair of crocs. Not interested in shoes at alll. Only criteria is they must be non-leather.

Wisteria, the sugeon an't prove its shoes though. Think about how small children sit in those ghastly plastic school chairs and how heavy school bags are and tell me its not that.

I think it's to do with the fact that - for instance if your shoes slip when you walk you compensate by tensing up to keep them on and that creates long term problems with the tendons and muscular development - that is then compensated for by not walking as nature intended, leading to orthopaedic problems later in life.

I am sure he knows what he is talking about needmore......- if you doubt me then ask a podiatrist or orthopaedic specialist and see what they say.

nooka - I agree - I have high insteps and slim feet and often find it hard to find shoes that fit me correctly - the difference is that my feet grew properly from the word go and unlike my friends who have toes that haven't grown straight because they wore shoes that were inappropriate for their age.

But Wisteria is that tensing to keep them on your feet not exactly why Scholl sandals are supposed to be so good for you??

I do agree that proper fitting shoes are a must whether you are an adult or a child but have to disagree that leather is a must. No one will argue that your feet need to breathe and ok fair enough that plastic is maybe not the best for that but any breathable material should be suitable.

No tensing your feet all the time is very bad for them - causes dropped arches for example - one of the reasons I have to have very well fitting shoes - if I wear court type shoes I get shooting pains through my feet.

I also don't agree that leather is a 'must'. 'Not leather' doesn't have to equal 'cheap plastic' - there are lots of man-made materials which can offer comfort and a quality shoe e.g. Gortex in trainers.

Do people really not have the ability and confidence to spot a poor-fitting shoe on their child better than a spotty adolescent on Saturday in Clarks?

It's a good habit to get into - learning about your children's feet and being able to 'fit' their shoes yourself, because when they suddenly get to Size 2-3 and start needing football boots/ hiking boots/ snow boots/ ski boots etc you'll be traipsing round lots of shops without any fitting assistants!

There seems to be a lot of 'snobbery' about 'proper shoes' in the UK? In Europe and the US it simply doens't exist in the same way. A 'proper' shoe is one that is reasonable quality, fit-for-purpose, and provides appropriate comfort and support, surely?

When we were in the US last summer I bought several pairs of shoes for the DCs - suede & Gortex OshKosh trainers, white Champion trainers, GAP sandals. They were all good quality, fitted well and cost about 1/3 to 1/2 the price of the UK equivalents. None of them were 'fitted' by an assistant though.

I think too many Mums have been brain-washed by the Clarks/ Start-Rite Marketing Mafia!

I live in Australia, came here with a 4year old 3 years ago. I arrived with the Clarks brainwashing in place and freaked out because buying decent shoes was impossible. One chain of shops does sell Clarks shoes - extremely limited range of styles, and width doesn't come into it. I'm now over it, children's feet seem perfectly OK here, no one seems to worry too much.

Have we been brainwashed in the UK, or do people from other countries in the world have terrible problems with their feet? Is this a global issue!!

This is a subject close to my heart.

We took dd1 to get some new shoes on Saturday. She's 2 1/2, but off the scale widthwise. So she's got a pair of size 3s (which the fitter recommended). When I asked what happens to other children whose feet go off the scale, I was told they have their shoes made!

How much would that cost?

No sorry - didn't make myself clear really - for me leather is a must for school shoes because they last longer and can be polished to help them last etc. The only alternative as far as I know is plastic for those type of shoes, although of course there might be something available that I am not aware of.

Of course trainers and canvas are also suitable for children to wear but not all the time - as others have discussed, a range of shoes is the best but non leather shoes for everyday use at school (in Britain) is just not what I would be happy with.

2sugars- You can have them made through concer. They are expensive but you can have then streched up a size and re-soled, for a small amount. This means they work out to as much as start-rite. They can look really funkie but a bit clumpie with partie dresses maybe.

so who actually polishes shoes then?

me..... I thought everyone did