baby shoes

[lazymonkeyface]

When am I supposed to give my son his first pair of shoes? He's 7.5 months and I didn't think he needed them yet.

What has made me wonder is that a friend of mine who has a baby 2 weeks older, has just bought her daughter shoes. When I told her ds doesn't have any, she told me he should have some by now.

Any thoughts?

No! don't get shoes - crazy and can be damaging to feet.. what does he need them for ? Assume he can't walk ? Some people like to 'dress up' their babies in shoes and things - each to their own but no necessity.
Clarks do some 'crawling' shoes that I got dd when she was about 10months as she was starting to cruise but until that point don't think you need them

When they walk outside and actually need them.

DD2 walked at 9 months but it was during fall/winter so I didn't by shoes before the next spring (or when the snow melted) a about 15 months.

DD1 had hers at 6 months she was bum shuffling and managed to ripped all the skin off one foot, so we bought them as a protection.

Thanks Happy.

She got them from Clarks, so i assume they are the correct size?

My son is just starting to debate crawling, he kinda commando crawls backwards. Right now he's still wearing tights (socks just don't stay long on his feet) or he's bare foot all the time

ds3 is 14 months and not walking yet, i see no reason to buy him shoes (which are expensive and cumbersome) til he's walking outdoors.

I have a lovely hand knitted pair of woollen socks to put over his ordinary socks when we're out doors in pram or carrier.

My Mum and MIL both say that shoes help them to walk - my DD is 8.5 months and has started cruising - will it help her?

Autumn it might help some children (hypermobile) it won't change anything for others and may damage the growing feet. If you see her ankles at a weird angle you should talk to your GP about.

your DD is cruising because she is strong enough, practicing her walking, forming the proper muscle and finding her balance, shoes won't help her in that.
And as a mother of a 9 months walker I tell you, leave her to it, don't push the walking the later the better.

Thanks everyone! I'll wait a while :)

Still putting off buying and having shoes fitted til ds can walk outside. He's cruising now and learning to balance.

I'd much prefer he learn to walk barefoot so his feet can be as flexible as possible and he can feel whats under him and learn to adjust his balance naturally.

The way I see it, shoes are a barrier to that.

I got dd some soft leather shoes with suede soles (Starchild ones, like Daisy Roots etc.) for the sole purpose of keeping socks on as she was a monkey for pulling socks off and flinging them while we were out. A friend recommended Starchild ones for this purpose and they are very soft but also hard to get off (i don't work for them by the way!, just noting the name as some of the cheaper ones don't seem to stay on so well). They were handy when she started walking too, she even wore them outside a few times when it was dry, and they let her feel the ground and bend her feet properly. You can get really funky designs that are loads more individual and cuter (and better for baby feet) than the Clarks 'crawlers'.