Babies and shoes!

[Nancyclancy]

My dd is 17 months and bum shuffles. If I pull her to stand, she weight bears and will walk with me if I hold her hands. Her balance isn't good, so I don't think she'll be walking anytime soon.
She loves being outside, I was tempted to buy her some wellies but I think it would be a struggle to get her feet in. Shoes would also give her more support. I'm worried if I go into clarkes they'll think I'm mad, would they damage her feet as she's not walking? Should I just leave it?

If she's not walking yet, then you definitely don't want to put her into proper shoes or wellies.

The best would be to get pre-walkers, which have more flexible soles, so are better for balance etc. Ideally go to somewhere that sells more than just one make though.

Yes, I agree with above poster, she needs shoes that are very flexible and you can feel her toes through the sole. Babies/toddlers learning to walk shouldn't be put into boots as they restrict the movement of ankles.

If you can, encourage her to 'cruise' around the house barefoot/in socks to help strengthen her arches, toes, balance etc.

My ds used the side of the sofa/peoples' legs/bookcase etc to pull himself up and dining chairs and the coffee table to push around and start walking - whereas ds' 3-month-older cousin can't pull herself up yet, doesn't shuffle and is helped to walk by holding her torso/hands.

(we have ceramic floors so things were easy to push around; ds broke the coffee table!!)

Yup. Pre walkers or crawlers. Dd1 bum shuffled and walked at 18 months. I have only ever seen one other child do it
I'm secretly hoping dd2 does it too - bum shufflers are unusual and special

If she is walking indoors then don't put anything on her feet. Walking barefoot develops the muscles and ligaments of the foot, increases the strength of the foot's arch and contributes to good posture.

No reputable shoe shop would sell proper shoes for a baby that hasn't been walking for several weeks as they are so restricting for the feet.

Thanks for your replies, I think I'll leave the shoes for a bit then. crackcrackcrak I love bum shufflers too! My ds' all crawled and out of all of her friends she's the only shuffler! She's got lots of shuffling styles!

Definitely not shoes for a while, she won't need anything for indoors for a bit (in fact barefoot is always better) but both Spotty Otter and Togz do waterproof booties (fleece lined) that are great for outside in the winter. You can get them secondhand on ebay for a lot less than new. You can get all-in-one suits as well. DS got heaps of use out of his.

I don't think there's anything wrong with getting some of those soft clarks/startrite 'cruiser' shoes for walking outdoors holding your hands - they have waterproof soles. I can't see that the occasional 10 minutes walking in them is going to do any harm, it's leaving them on all day that causes problems.

I bought some for dd a few weeks before she walked independently as like your dd she loved being outside and walking holding my hands.

Quite expensive to buy shoes they're only going to use for 10 minutes a day!

I bought these for DD when she was wanting to walk all the time but needed to hold on.
They're not outdoor shoes but they were useful when out-and about to avoid splinters/old staples and other grot (church hall floors etc!). They're soft like slippers, and universally admired!

Second the waterproof booties. I used to let DS1 just toddle outside in his socks, but that was in the summer. We had the Togz booties for DS2 (learned to walk in the winter), and they were genius.