First shoes - what do I need?

[WhoahThereCrazyHorse]

DD is 8.5mo. She's crawling well and pulling up on furniture - not to her feet yet, just knees, but I don't think it'll be too long now. She's spent 95% of her life so far barefoot as I can't keep socks on her, but as it's getting colder, think it's time she had some shoes. Could anyone give me some advice on what she needs? Are there specific shoes for this stage, and do I need to go to Clarks?

If she's not walking she doesn't need shoes as such, if it's just to keep her feet warm then it's just yon soft shoes you need, the kind that ate sold by age rather than shoe size

Go to any children's shoe shop. They will have 'cruisers'- a soft shoe that are designed for this age because the sole is very soft and bendy.

Actually cruisers might be for when they're actually walking round the furniture a bit. If it's just for warmth they might not be suitable.

She doesn't need proper shoes yet. Get her some padders. These are sort of booties with soft soles.

I just got some soft leather "shoes" from Inch Blue. My DD is almost 8 months and cruising but she slips in socks on the odd occasion they stay on for more than 3 minutes

DD is the same age, and I got her these really soft leather shoes with tiny flexible rubber soles on the bottom, as she is pulling herself up on everything to her feet. Just soft shoes or leather soles would make her slip and she could hurt herself. They do have special shoes for babies that age that are still soft, but have some grip. If she's pulling herself up to her knees, it'll be any day that she starts pulling herself to her feet. I found a brand called Tip Toey Joey that makes special shoes for babies that age.

My 11 month old is walking round the furniture and with the baby walker buy no steps on her own as yet.

For the life of me I can't keep socks on her, she'll keep them on outside in the cold for a max of 5 mins. What do you recommend? Are the inch blue shoes harderfor her to pull off or should I get some cruisers? Though mainly they'll be for keeping her feet warm!

Sorry for the slight hi-jack, Woahthere

thanks

Thick socks/slippersocks/. DS goes barefoot in the house (13 months and cruising) and I just pop socks on him in the pushchair. He has giant feet so I might get some very thick socks or soft slippers for winter.
This is a good place to learn about first shoes www.healthylittlefeet.com/

Here you go... www.snugglefeet.com/shoes-for-babies-6-12-months.html

They keep the socks on but don't restrict growth or movement.

i have an 8month old who just decided being on his feet is the only way to be. i only bought proper shoes for my older kids when they were walking confidently, on their own, outdoors. ds1 was 15months, ds2 was 11months and trampling all over the garden as it was summer. they had both been walking for a good few weeks before i splashed out on proper shoes.

until then they were in thick socks or slipper socks, booties or leather shoes. they never seemed bothered by what was or wasn't on their feet so if they felt a bit cool then i'd put something thicker on, otherwise left them to it!

I had the snuggle feet shoes for DS at this age as well. They aren't waterproof, so can only be used outside on dry days, but you probably won't be letting her cruise outside in the wet anyway as she will invariably drop to crawling when there's nothing to hold on to, and then her clothes would get all wet and muddy. (Wouldn't mind so much about the mud, but seems like wet would be uncomfy for them.)

Also worth bearing in mind DS cruised as soon as he could crawl at 8 or 9 months, was joint first in our NCT group (and struck terror into the hearts of the other mums ) I was convinced he was about to start walking too, and then he didn't until he was 16 months!

Advice (before Clarks hit on the money spinning idea of cruising shoes) used to be that they should be walking unaided for 6 weeks before buying "proper" hard soled shoes. I think this is about right, as when they first start walking, although they do that as much as they can because it's fun, crawling is still faster for a while and if they are in a particular rush they tend to choose that. So again you find you only really let them walk outside when it's dry. Once they get steadier and they can walk faster than they crawl, they don't tend to go back.