What age did your baby start wearing hard sole shoes??

[LifeAndSoulOfThe]

Hi, my baby is 8 months old his shoe size is 4, they don’t do size 5 in pram shoes. Is 9 months a little young to wear hard some shoes?

They shouldn’t wear hard soles shoes until they are walking well outdoors so around 15-18 months. Even then shoes should only be worn for the min time possible. Have a look at something like Dotty Fish for soft leather baby shoes

Have a look at happylittlesoles.co.uk and remember barefoot is best for little feet. Are you worried about his feet being cold or something?

Yes - I do a lot of walking with him & where we are the weather is pretty cold

When I started to put him in wellies in the first autumn after he started walking, so around 20 months.

Around 1. He was walking at 9mo and he is December-born, so needed hard soles and warm shoes. I don't remember the brands though, I'm afraid. He's just turned 8yo so it was a while ago

We never put anything on him before he walked, just socks.

You'd be best just getting some fluffy socks surely? Far more comfy and probably warmer than shoes.

The recommendation is something like no sooner than 6-8 weeks after they're walking confidently for shoes.

Not until he was walking confidently, which for him was closer to 18 months than 12. He had some little suede-soled moccasins from (I think) Sainsbury’s until then, they were quite good.

I used the suede soles moccasin sock things too; they have the advantage of not falling off too.

Mine never wore cute little soft soled shoes because her feet were too big for them by the time she started needing them (big baby, walked late). My podiatrist brother told me to let her go barefoot as much as possible and put well-fitted trainers on her when essential. Her (adult) feet are ruined, not because of the trainers but because of wearing really high heels, thus proving that Mother Was Right (again).

The Start Rite first walkers go up quite big sizes- you should be able to find something suitable. My DD was cruising at 9 months and definitely needed shoes as she couldn’t walk outside or even in restaurants (which she really wanted to do) in her socks without slipping or getting really dirty. Just leave him barefoot at home as it is better for their feet.

Only after both of mine had been walking confidently and independently for about 3-6 weeks. Honestly, there is no need for them to be outside walking in shoes unless they are at that point.

Both of mine went to a forest school outdoor nursery full days and they still didn’t need shoes. Nursery put them in layers of warm socks with a waterproof layer over the top. You just practice walking indoors for a few weeks until they are confident and ready for shoes.

For mine, that was between 15-17 months.

If you need to keep him warm in the pushchair, just use a thick footmuff.

It's really important that feet aren't constricted in any way.

Not until at least a month of proper, confident walking. So for mine that was 17 and 22 months.