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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

When to buy first shoes? Early walker!

25 replies

Marne · 15/11/2006 10:30

DD2 (8 months) is cruising, i think by christmas she will be walking

When should i buy her shoes, i know shes ok till she is walking on her own but do i wait until she is running around outside?

Where can i buy first shoes for such little feet?

DD1 did'nt walk until 13 months, i bought her shoes for her 1st birthday.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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Nemo1977 · 15/11/2006 10:34

Marne would hold off until she is walking. Also sorry to say but DD was crusising from 7mths quite aptly..she is 11mths and still wont let go of the furniture although she will walk holding one hand...lol DS was cruising at 7mths and walking completely by himself..well almost running by 8.5mths. Would hold off just yet.

Original poster

Marne · 15/11/2006 10:36

Thanks nemo, i dont realy want to put her in nasty stiff shoes too early.

OP posts:

aliceband · 15/11/2006 10:38

Difficult question. The first shoes from Clarkes are lovely and when my dd now aged 9, had her first pair, they took a poloroid. She had her first for our wedding, in november, aged 18 months.

Nemo1977 · 15/11/2006 10:40

shes fine as she is as you wont be expecting her to walk along outside etc yet so to be honest the shoes are a waste of money.

flutterbee · 15/11/2006 10:41

I second Nemos advice, DS started cruising months and months ago, he turned one at the weekend and yesterday just took his first unaided steps he has however been runninmg up and down the hall with his baby walker for ages now but that doesn't count!!!

As soon as he is confident at walking I shall be off down to Clarks for his first shoes.

Save the money (about £30 a pair in Clarkes) and enjoy non shoe buying whilst you can.

Nemo1977 · 15/11/2006 10:54

aww flutterbee happy birthday to little G. Bless on his first steps too..DD can do about 3 but just blatantly refuses..lazy little minx!!

MerlinsBeard · 15/11/2006 10:56

DS2 walked at 10.5 months and thats when we got his foirst shoes. They were crawlers as he was spending majority of the time crawling but walking every so often. We only got them because we took him to DS1's toddler groups and tehre was a danger his feet would get run over or something. DS1 had his forst shoes at 18 months when he started walking outside more

Tutter · 15/11/2006 10:59

wait as long as you can!!

i was lucky - ds didn't walk til 14mo. he's 18mo tomorrow and is still in his first 'proper' (i.e. not cruising) shoes. quite a relief, given they cost £42

Miaou · 15/11/2006 11:03

She may be a while yet before she walks Marne - ds has been cruising for months now - at 15 months he has still taken no more than three steps!

You could get her a pair of Daisy Root type soft leather shoes if you wanted to put something on her feet - ds has a couple of pairs of these - they keep his feet warm but are soft and flexible enough for him to feel his balance (non-slip on our laminate floor too).

KathyMCMLXXII · 15/11/2006 11:10

Agree with Miaou about soft leather shoes - then if you take her somewhere, eg a shop or museum, where she would like to get down and walk for a few steps, she can do it without messing up socks, but you don't really need the proper ones till they're walking outside on uneven surfaces and need the protection.

Our dd had been cruising for months and in August we took her to Clarks as she was just doing her first few unaided steps. They tried to sell us cruising shoes, which we didn't get as they were too pink and they hadn't got the right size, and in retrospect we were v glad we saved our money as it's only now that we've decided we can't manage without proper ones.

aliceband · 15/11/2006 11:10

i think bare feet are good for muscles?

Cashncarry · 15/11/2006 11:14

I think the general advice is to wait until they've actually been walking for six weeks before you have them fitted for their first shoes and then only wear them outside - they should be in bare feet as much as poss until their feet are more "developed" (whatever that means - I guess they mean until ).

My DD was cruising quite early but didn't walk for another five months!! I didn't get her any proper shoes until she was well past a year.

KathyMCMLXXII · 15/11/2006 11:15

Funny how Clarks don't tell you the six weeks thing, Cashncarry

Cashncarry · 15/11/2006 11:17

oops - missed out a bit in the middle before I posted! What I meant to say was keep them in bare feet indoors as long as poss to give the foot a chance to re-shape itself to being flat on the floor (as opposed to be curled up in a more foetal position).

Sorry if it still doesn't make sense - hope it helps a bit

Cashncarry · 15/11/2006 11:22

No Kathy you're right. clarks tried to sell me the cruiser shoes and then I went into those funny one-off boutique style shoe shoes and the little old lady told me the "six week" thing. Not sure if it's real medical advice or anything but it made sense to me at the time!

Ellieorange · 15/11/2006 11:55

By bare feet, do you mean socks only? Our house is FREEZING! Tend to put him in 2 pairs of socks

Cashncarry · 15/11/2006 12:22

I did mean bare feet as in no socks and shoes Ellieorange as our house is quite warm most of the time but I do have those "slipper socks" for her - i.e. socks with non-slip bottoms for use on cold days.

Nemo1977 · 15/11/2006 12:47

I use those leather ones..very soft and they tend to form to your babies feet. Also one of the only shoes DD cant pull off!!

lemonaid · 15/11/2006 13:21

The official advice is to wait until they've been walking for six weeks, I think. That's what we did with DS -- he was walking at 9.5 months and we got his first shoes at 11 months almost exactly, just in time for family walks over Christmas last year.

Pitchounette · 15/11/2006 13:55

Message withdrawn

munz · 15/11/2006 14:01

marne - J's the same cruisuing about with his walker thingy, but DH and I have agreed no proper shoes till he's walking properly and even then when he's walking outside.

apparently once you have them fitted you have to get them remeasured every 6 weeks as well.

USAUKMum · 15/11/2006 14:06

My shoe shop here also says 6 wks post walking. We bought those soft leather shoes for DD & DS before their first shoes (which were 6 wks for DD and probably closer to 8wk for DS as he walked mid June so went barefoot)

It is easier to learn to walk in bare feet. Children start out with a completely flat foot and by walking barefoot it develops their muscles. And as someone who had to learn to walk again after an op, my drs and physios insisted on barefeet as it stimiulates the nerves and builds up the correct pathways for proper walking. So I assume that it works just as well for childrne

CS1753 · 15/11/2006 14:06

My father actually worked for Clarkes for many, many years so you can imagine the amount of advice I got on shoes, socks, babygrows etc - anything that can effect the feet!! In bullet point, to keep it a bit shorter than I got it!

Make sure babygrows are never to short as the will constrict the toes
Socks - may seem like they stretch but if too small can do alot of damage
unless the child is outside or something poses a danger to their feet keep shoes off. The longer their feet get to develope the better for the future.

hulababy · 15/11/2006 14:15

DD was an early cruiser (very!) and walked at 10 months. We did buy her some thin leather shoes, properly fitted before she was walking fully as she was outside cruising a lot. But she only wore them outside and when walking, not at other times. Got her her first walking shoes when she'd be walking a month or so. They were size 2.5E or something!

helenhismadwife · 15/11/2006 15:03

I did get my dd's cruisers from clarks (about £12) because we had really rough seagrass flooring my dd started cruising at 9 months and walked properly at 11 months when I went to clarks they didnt need proper shoes because they were not walking properly but cruisers were designed for babies who were not yet walking. Mine both prefer to have nothing on their feet though

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