Do you buy expensive trainers…for your kids

[Faminhotcheetos]

Do you buy make trainers, trendy type ones for £50 or so for your little ones-5/6 year olds or go for a cheaper pair?
Is it ridiculous to spend that amount on a little one

Sketchers have been the best lasting trainer for my adventurous 6 year old.

Aged 5 no. Teens yes. Ds2 gets a trainer, an astro, adidas, white air force. Gazelles are lovely, Dh has loads, but too heavy for a little one.

No.

Ds1 and 2 (16 and 14) cost a fortune in clothes and shoes.

I'm thoroughly making the most of ds7 being thrilled with anything and unconcerned about brands. I reckon I have another 4-5 years left of that, with luck!

I bike sport branded ones but usually for between £15 and £30/pair for a 4, 6 and 7 year old. We have an outlet near us so Nike and Adidas are easy to get.

DS5 burns through trainers if I buy them new - but I'm a sucker for a branded trainer (and for us to 'match') and DS is now also excited by the brands so we do a lot of vinted. I normally spend around £30 total on 4 pairs of each size - 2x trainers (Nike/NB/addidas) 1x school appropriate (Clarks/sketchers) 1x Birkenstocks (if summer) or Hunter wellies (if winter). Works for us 🤷🏻‍♀️ but I probably spend too much time scrolling vinted.

The flip side is my mum never brought branded or quality, or enough of anything, which came with teaching me not to care about what I look like (at all) so I think I'm paranoid with making sure DS has plenty of nice clothes/shoes all the time.

A hundred percent this. He actually has a pair of Nikes that (rarely) fit most of this criteria.

I wouldn’t put him in sketchers or Clark’s because of their generally narrow toe boxes and unnecessary hard soles and padding but would if they actually made good shoes.

Basically it’s not about the brand but looking for certain attributes - good material, wide toe box, no heel rise, flexible sole, well fitted around ankle. Mostly that means I buy brands such as vivobarefoot for him which are unfortunately more expensive that Nike, adidas. Going to try a more budget option soon - saguaro but I’m not sure they’ll be ok for his super narrow feet! But I’m hoping!

At that age I'd buy trainers from Clarkes, Sketchers etc and occasionally cheap ones from Decathlon or the supermarket. Now they're older they want Nike.

When dd was younger- no I didn't.
We went to sports direct and she got branded trainers, but they were £20-£30 a pair.

I bought her a pair of vans when she was about 8 /9 and she hated how they fit.

Then I bought her a pink pair of gazelles they were lovely but the most impractical shoe for PE and if you got them wet they would have water marks cos they were suede.

Now shes 15 and has a sporty pair of black Nike mesh trainers for PE. (£60)
A couple of pairs of converse (£65 each) and a couple of pairs of Nike air force 1s (£110 each).

I think that its more about the quality of the shoe than trend. So its ok to spend more so they are wearing shoes that support them (its likely they might be a bit trendy). You can always sell them as they grow. They must get sore feet like us from cheapo shoes. The stupidly expensive ones that are just for the trend - maybe not until teenager

I tend to go to Diechman or Mountain Warehouse for trainers. DS2 has a pair of sketchers that still look perfect more than half a year later (they are a bit pinchy now, so I will donate them)

DS1 (8) ruins all shoes/trainers within a half term playing football in the playground and/or park. He's after airforce ones, I said no way!

I’d only buy Gazelles if I could afford to buy another pair of trainers suitable for sport alongside them.

No

I started to buy branded ones for my seven year old last year as the supermarket ones don't last at all.

Yea. They last longer than the cheap ones.

There's no need for branded fashion trainers but I'd make sure they were a good fit as their feet are developing and be happy to spend money on that. So Clarks etc.

My 18months old is in Nike trainers BUT that’s because (and no I’m not just saying this- I’m sure it’s the sizing) that anything else tends to rip my feet to shreds and I never want him to be uncomfortable. I also get them when on offer so sometimes he will have 2 bigger sizes in the cupboard.

Both mine had a mix of brands. They had (still do) difficult feet. Dd is wide, high instep, hypermobile, Ds is very narrow slightly flat footed so we had what fitted from either Clark’s or Sports Direct usually.

You should never wear cheap shoes always well fitted ones, if you have to cut back somewhere else do but never shoes and don't pass down shoes from siblings.

Until senior school i bought all my DSs trainers from H&M. They lived in those and crocs. They did have adidas football boots and astros.

You will be spending a fprtune on Nike etc trainers by teenage years so i dont see the point of starting before you have to!

we have a pair that can get ruined -next brand and a nicer pair- Nike, adidas etc

However my 12 year old is now wearing men’s sizes and his trainers just cost £110, honestly by the cheaper pair while you can and while they don’t care. lol

I think the most important consideration is whether they properly fit/support your child's feet and are suitable for the use you have in mind. That will depend on your child's feet - do they need specific width feelings/have a high arch or flatter feet? Is there room to move and grow?

At 5/6 I wouldn't have bought branded because they were branded. My kids didn't know what brands were at that age - they wanted the ones that flashed lights when they walked or cartoon characters, which Clarks did.
When they were older and fashion aware, I did buy brands but only if they were comfortable and fit nicely, not just because they wanted them.

I probably wouldn't spend £50 but I think shoes are one thing worth spending money on. I always try and get them in the sale.

When I bought DS cheap trainers one year they wore holes in the bottom, I wouldn't buy cheap shoes again.

No. I buy Clarks in her size (second hand but seek out the never/barely worn ones from Vinted/Ebay). She (5) doesn’t know what branded etc trainers are yet so I’m saving my money!

I've worn gazelles for years. As have my kids occasionally. They are great trainers, go with everything.

But they are not for P.E and they are not waterproof.

No- they are 5,7 and 9. They all wear Clarks.