When should I buy shoes for my daughter?

[shinyshilling]

DD is 14 months and is just building up confidence to walk around. She has spent the last couple of days wearing those rubber Jelly shoes. Other than that, she is barefoot most of the time. Are bare feet are the best option for the summer months in the garden/on grass at the beach etc? I'm loathed to buy her more serious shoes as I think she'll spend a lifetime in them and I'm happier with her feet being free to grow at the moment. My Mother in law is desperate for her to wear shoes and wants to take her to get her feet measured. What's the best option and are those Jelly shoes okay for babies to wear?

DS2 is the same age and doing the same thing - he's not having shoes till he's been walking confidently for 4-6 weeks.

I think it depends whether she is going to be walking on hard surfaces or not? Both my two did, so needed shoes.

I think that barefoot is best on safe surfaces like grass and paving stones in the garden. I believe children's feet and posture benefit from this.

When it comes to walking through grass-srewn streets in town, however, then I guess kids need shoes.

There are groups of hard-line barefoot enthusiasts who advocate going without shoes at every opportunity, though, they blame all ills on the fact we wear shoes.

Personally I loathe those jelly things (plastic and don't really fit or support) but that is probably just me dd had Daisy Roots leather slippers until she was walking confidently on hard surfaces outside otherwise bare feet. ds also barefeet and had Kooshies surf shoes(stretchy and flexible) until he was ready.

Bare feet definitely the best option most of the time, and keep her out of shoes for as long as possible.

She will need shoes when you start taking her to the playground, or walking out and about though. The parks and playgrounds near us have all sorts of rubbish on the ground!

I think that a properly fitted pair of leather shoes/sandals are much better for growing feet than plastic jelly shoes - though they will cost you a fortune... I've just bought my 2 year old her fourth pair - that's over £100 on shoes in less than a year!

Are those rubber Jelly type shoes bad for a baby's feet though? I've been given loads of pairs of them by friends, so I suppose they're happy enough with them. I think I'll be quite happy with those over the summer months but just want to check they won't damage or be bad for her feet in any way. I think they seem to protect from dirt, gravel etc. She walked around Keswick in them happily enough yesterday and obviously felt a bit of a fancy pants! But my Mother in law is insisting on buying proper shoes and I'm just not sure she needs them yet.

Your MIL is wrong - your DD doesn't need hard shoes yet. You can take her to be measured, but stress that she's not walking confidently unaided yet and they shouldn't sell you shoes. Ring the shoe shop to check they definitely won't first, maybe

If you are going down the fitted shoes route I would get closed toe sandals at this time of year. And if she is walking round Keswick sounds like she is getting to need them. I am not convince that those jellies are that flexible or breathable as main shoes TBH.

I would go for something like this

Oh btw take no notice of your MIL. Was the Keswick thing a one off?

Those startrite shoes are sooo cute
I like these

Sounds like she is walking confidently now so perhaps is the time. However, I only kept shoes for going out in, at home, in the garden, where I could be sure there was nothing for them horrible to walk in they were barefoot, and still are at 3 and 5.

Another recommendation for closed toe sandals, the closed toe provides just enough protection from grazed toes when they fall.

Saw on your other thread someone suggetsed Clarks Doodles which are cotton canvas (so breathable) flexible sole and can be washed. Also 1/2 the price of "proper" ones but also fitted and supportive. Startrite do similar. Definitely better than Jellies imho. Sadly they never seem to fit dd properly (narrow foot).

I think those Jellies are wholly inappropriate for a baby who's not walking confidently. DD (14 months) wore Inch Blue leather slippers and I only bought her a pair of shoes when she wanted to walk about in the muddy garden. I got her some "cruisers" from Clarks as the soles are still supple, not like the proper shopes. I have to say that I think the Cruisers are inappropriate for a cruising child though. When they're learning tohey have to be able to feel the floor and grip it with their toes. It took DD a few days to adjust towearing them and she was a confident walker.

sorry to stray off the thread slightly but has anyone got an opinion on footwear for crawling babies. My ds is 10 months and loves to crawl outside. In our garden he either wears socks or goes bear foot. However, he just loves to move about when we are out at the park or MIL paved garden. So what shall I do in the summer months - just keep him in socks or find something else. Never had this prob with DD because she learnt to walk in the winter and therefore was not out so much and because im out with dd he is probably out and about much more than she was at his age.

Yes I had wondered about recommending doodles. I just got DD two pairs from the outlet shop (one for indoor shoes for nursery) for £12 and she is made up with them.

I will be getting her sandals in a couple of weeks. Last year (when she was 2) she had those startrite sandals in red - they were lovely.