Shoes for a walking almost 10 month old?

[Mumlife101]

My DD has just started walking a week shy of 10 months. Now she obviously wants to walk every where! She needs a pair of hard bottom shoes, just for outside... I had her measure at clarks & even the smallest hard sole shoes are too big for her. Does anyone know where I might be able to get smaller sizes? I'm in the UK... many thanks.

Pediped do little shoes by age so 9-12/12-18 etc. They are soft leather with a rubber but very thin and flexible sole. They would be fine now the weather is warmer and dryer. To be honest I did think Clarks went down to a 2 but maybe only online.

We went to John Lewis shoe department to get dd fitted for her first pair of shoes. We got a pair of Clark’s and they did go down to 2. Night he worth checking your nearest John Lewis baby department?

Why can't she have the softer style shoes?
What size do you actually need?

Cruising shoes?

My child was a size 2 at 9 months old.

They shouldn't be in hard bottomed shoes until they've been walking confidently for 6 weeks.

As others have said, try to avoid anything with a hard sole for as long as possible. Leather soled moccasins or cruisers with a v thin sole would be your best bet.

DD started walking at 11 months and had these. My HV recommended against shoes for a couple of months, as chikdre’s feet grown very quickly and muscles and bones begin to strengthen once the child starts walking. These rubber soled socks give ground protection without constraining the foot.

DS had Crocs for s similar reason when he started walking, but he is enormous and was a 4.5 at 12 months!

My eldest DC was fully walking at 8m and their feet were absolutely tiny, but we were told to keep them in the softer-soled cruiser shoes for several months. Actually, it was suggested that we let them be barefoot as much as possible, which we did and only used the little cruiser shoes when outdoors on hard surface.

Good luck - it's exhausting to have an early walker as they have no sense whatsoever! I used to envy my mummy friends who could relax and have a proper chat because their DC happily sat in one place, whilst I was always up following mine around.

She is smaller than a 2?

What are you trying to buy mountain walking boots? Just buy some little soft shoes- rigid shoes are not good for little feet

Clarks do "cruiser" style shoes which start at size 2 and would be perfect. Has she got smaller feet than that?

Mothercare also do size 2 shoes. My daughter walked at 10 months and was a size 2 until about 13 months.

My DD had cruisers for outside for the first couple of months of walking. They were hard enough for outside but soft enough for little feet.

Yes! She is smaller than a size 2 they were too big. She still fits in 3-6 months crib shoes. She obviously had small feet.. I will look into the leather soled shoes... they should do. Thanks.

What shoe size is she? My daughter was outdoor walking at just turned 8 months (after a month of indoor walking only). She was a size 4 (and very narrow) at the time.

Clarks do from Size 3 - which is a foot length of 10.5cm. Size 2 is a foot length of 9.5cm so for the sake if 1cm foot length, I'd just wait a little and stay in softer soles (or ideally barefoot). It'll be a matter of weeks for that amount of growth at under 12 months.

My 4 children were all early walkers. Mostly they were barefoot. Including on grass etc. It wasn't until we started walking the school run (rather than taking pushchair/car) that I got hard soled she's for them.

Be careful not to let your excitement at embracing this new developmental stage overtake what your child actually needs here.

My dd started walking at 8.5 months (and was a size 4.5 then, judging by this thread sounds like she's going to have massive feet!?) but we didn't get her any shoes until she was 10 months old and definitely confident enough to be walking outside. Even now at 15 mo she only wears shoes if we are actually going outside.

The recommendation is that they stay barefoot as long as possible even once they are walking.

My daughter also walked before she was a Clark’s (or mothercare) size 2... do you have any independent kids shoe shops nearby? We found her some very tiny shoes from the brand ‘petasil’ from the independent shop - the clarks size 2 were absolutely massive on her! Good luck

I'm guessing you are after the first walker which Clark's don't start until a size 4, you will definitely get away with cruisers for now even for walking around outside. You won't be walking very far for a couple of months yet with your child. I have this problem, my daughter walked at the same age but is now 17 months and still a size 3.5 and wanted to walk everywhere so I'm really really struggling.

Forgot to say, she was also in 3-6m shoes at the time! Her feet must grow slowly as we got the shoes at the end of Jan and they still fit fine now

Thanks for your replies everyone. I will look around. I think I will just have to settle for soft bottom shoes for now & keep a vigilant eye on where she's walking...