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Original poster

Shoe advice for 1 year old

37 replies

buffysummers4 · 27/09/2018 14:02

My just one year old is a fairly confident walker but doesn't do a lot of walking out of the house yet. Can anyone point me in the direction of advice on what to look for in a shoe for this age shoes that isn't from a shoe shop with a vested interest in getting me to spend £50 on shoes for a 1 year old.... It does seem that he has wide feet so also is there anywhere anyone would recommend that does wide fit shoes without costing the earth? All suggestions appreciated, I just feel a lot of the 'advice' out there is at least 50% marketing.... Also I'm hardly earning anything after childcare costs and if we really do need to spend that much then I need some good evidence to convince husband why it's necessary....

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Original poster
buffysummers4 · 27/09/2018 17:20

Ooh thank you - I had seen some like that but they were all too small as he's really big for his age - looks like those ones are available in bigger sizes though. Thank you!

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sleepismysuperpower1 · 27/09/2018 17:25

that's okay, glad i could help x

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cherrypiemay16 · 27/09/2018 18:39

Got most of my sons first year of Clark's shoes from eBay, after having him measured there. There's loads of barely worn, saves a fortune!

Original poster
buffysummers4 · 27/09/2018 19:53

That's a great tip thank you! I still wonder how I find impartial advice on which types of shoes are better - obviously the Clarks website will be geared to recommending their shoes and the minifeet website linked above will tell me theirs are best for baby's precious growing feet etc etc. So how do I decide?

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Namename86 · 27/09/2018 19:58

I got my daughter her first shoes at 15 months she'd only been walking a week or so. I got her the prewalker shoes from Clarks they were £26.00. They have a softer flexible sole than normal shoes. That was almost 2 months ago and they still fit (although she no longer wears them as I have other pairs of shoes now) so they lasted well.

Tigger001 · 27/09/2018 21:06

I went to Clarke and they gave advice but not geared to sell their shoes as such. My DS has a wide fit so it's vital they fit right for him
They gave general important advice such as you must not have a hard sole as this will hinder them walking, I think the knowledge they have and the importance of having the correct the shoe at that age, I just felt more comfortable buying from them as they fit them in the shop rather than me buying on line and they were only £28 and have lasted a while so far.

LoniceraJaponica · 27/09/2018 21:30

Unless you are an experienced children's shoe fitter please don't buy them online.

MN hates Clarks, but I have always had excellent service from them. I also used to take DD to Kids at Clinks, but any independent shoe shop with professional shoe fitters is fine. It is so very important to get them fitted properly.

Also, the general advice is for children to not wear shoes until they have been walking for about 6 weeks or so.

DrWhy · 27/09/2018 21:34

We started DS off with some soft leather shoes from a company called ‘kinderfeet’ for when he wasn’t walking outside much, they now do ones with a very flexible rubber sole too. It’s better for them to be as flexible as possible - you don’t want ‘supportive’ at this stage. He then went into Clark’s earliest stage walking shoes where you can still bend the soles round into a c-shape. Still on them now at 2.

butlerswharf · 27/09/2018 22:19

We got fitted in John Lewis. They were really good and sell lots of brands.There was no big push for a sale.

MammyCon · 27/09/2018 22:36

The advice I got from my daughters physio is if they are walking whatever their age they do need hard soled supportive boots (rather than shoes ideally) as ankle support is needed too.
They hate Soft shoes as offer no support and are basically just a covering for the foot. So no better than socks or bare feet-their advice not mine.
Every time we go to the physio's they are, looking at footwear wanting details to pass on to others if they like them.

Oohlaalaa81 · 27/09/2018 22:42

With dS1 we bought everything from Clark’s because we would get him fitted and the service is always great. After a while we started going there to check his size then buy elsewhere (other than school shoes which we find are best in Clarks). With DS2 we bought ‘nice/dressy’ shoes in Clark’s (for weddings etc) but day to day nursery shoes which get wrecked we buy George @ ASDA. Cheap and brilliant fit! Can literally buy 5 pairs for one pair of Clark’s shoes!

MrsMisstery · 27/09/2018 23:53

Mammycon - so is your physio saying that human feet are not good enough for walking and all children must wear boots?
That’s the opposite of the barefoot movement. Though I guess in Victorian times children did wear boots.

MammyCon · 28/09/2018 14:27

I think what they mean is barefoot is clearly normal and good inside BUT once start walking and are outside proper shoes that support feet/ankles is what's needed, if gonna put kids in shoes put them in good supportive shoes that are worth putting them in or leave them barefoot. Not soft soled shoes that do nothing other than look nice 🤷🏼‍♀️

DrWhy · 28/09/2018 18:40

Mammycon that’s interesting, it’s the total opposite of advice that I’ve been given. That shoes should just protect their feet from being hurt/cold/wet and otherwise be as close to barefoot as possible in order to let them develop properly and strengthen naturally.

teaandbiscuitsforme · 28/09/2018 21:30

Look into bare feet shoes.

The Happy Little Soles website is great. It explains how the measure their feet and you can order online. They don't do widths because all children should be in shoes with wide toe boxes which allow their feet to move naturally rather than the other approach of 'supportive' shoes. They also only stock shoes with flexible soles whereas Clark's etc are very rigid (other than their cruiser range).

NameChanged231 · 28/09/2018 21:49

Has anyone tried vivobarefoot minis? DH and I wear the adult ones for running and leisure but we weren't sure how suitable the toddler ones are.

We bought a vivobarefoot pair and also bobex and they seem lighter than the Clarks we tried on DS, but for the most part all the shoes seem to put DS off walking! He trips, stumbles, walks differently and ends up crawling again! Frustrating when he spends 90% of his time at home walking well. Is it a case of waiting for him to get used to them? Or should he just get slipper type shoes?

Mainly it's nursery who are asking for shoes so that DS can play outside when it's a bit damp. What would be suitable then?

llangennith · 28/09/2018 22:13

If your child has a wide foot and/or high instep then stick to Clark's shoes. Economise on clothes but not on good fitting shoes for growing feet.

teaandbiscuitsforme · 28/09/2018 22:18

Name looks like my reply has disappeared. How old is he?

My 19mo wears Pediped shoes and will wear Baby Bogs in the cold weather. We've not tried Vivos though.

NameChanged231 · 28/09/2018 22:38

@teaandbiscuitsforme he is 14mo, and has been walking well for at least 6w.

I've seen those brands in Happy Little Soles. They stock vivobarefoots which is reassuring. They are quite flexible, but I still feel like DS would prefer a thinner shoe!

Acorncat · 28/09/2018 22:49

I'm getting mine Tikki shoes from Happy Little Soles, her feet are really wide. I have the vivobarefoot primus mini for my 4 year old but they'd be too shallow for chubby feet. We've got baby bogs for winter. Some of the Mothercare first walkers are wide and flexible too.

NameChanged231 · 28/09/2018 23:49

Acorncat I was looking at the tikki shoes too but they don't have in his size!

Acorncat · 29/09/2018 16:18

I'm hoping they'll get more Tikki stock soon or I might just order from the original site instead, bigger choice of colours and sizes though they don't have any winter ones available yet.

Tigger001 · 29/09/2018 18:29

@DrWhy I have been given exactly the same advice as you, and told most definitely do not have solid, hard soles on new walkers shoes

Original poster
buffysummers4 · 29/09/2018 19:31

Hmmm thank you for all your thoughts - sounds like there is a bit of a barefoot vs Clarks style difference of opinion. One logical flaw in the 'natural barefoot' approach would seem to be that our feet have not evolved in an environment made of concrete and tarmac so it may be that out and about they do need a bit more support than they would if we were walking on grass or similar? But I can also see that completely rigid soles are probably not good either. He's got some shoes which are ok for now so I will have a look into some of these suggestions when he grows out of them. Over the winter he will have to wear wellies some of the time anyway and we don't wear shoes inside so the actual times he'll be wearing them will still be quite short for now. Thank you all, it's interesting to hear what everyone else has done.

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