School shoes for very narrow feet

[Feeling83]

Hi,
DS4 starts reception in September and I’m starting to think about school shoes as he has very narrow and small feet. Can anyone recommend any brands to start looking at? He has worn some Bobux styles but not convinced they are fitting him well and currently wearing some Geox trainers which need a lot of tightening up to fit securely. Thanks for any advice!

Best thing you can do is teach him to tie laces. Laced shoes can be pulled in much tighter than Velcro strapped ones so are better for narrow feet. You still have to be careful that the shoe itself isn’t too wide, but it’s easier to adjust with laces. My eldest learned in nursery school because we had no other choice. The three younger ones all
learned by the end of P1 (Reception yr).

All my DC have narrow feet - and my two eldest have very shallow feet too (both now wear orthotics which just adds to the fun), so buying shoes has never been a joyful experience. My DS has D width feet (D width does not exist for boys/men -
I am ever so glad that he is now an adult
and I never have to buy him shoes again.)

European brands tend to be narrower fitting - Ricosta, Richter, Garvalin were all brands we bought regularly when my DC were
small. This year we’ve had success with my teens who are still at school with Froddo. Geox have definitely got wider in recent years - we used to be able to buy them, but now they are far too wide.

Go to an independent shop that stocks a few brands. Their fitters will be used to this

Thank you, will take a look at the brands you’ve mentioned.
There was a really good independent shoe shop near us which closed down so only chains like next m&s and Clark’s which all way too wide.
not looking forward to hunting for these black shoes that’s for sure 😟

Start rites are good for narrow feet.

I am so stressed about my DS(12) with the same problem (narrow E/F not shallow feet thankfortunately he actually has quite high arches) but it’s always a struggle to find fitting shoes and trainers. Geox have worked in the past tied tight. But he is now getting rather self conscious about them!

You used to be able to order Clark's shoes in narrower fitting on line

If you can find an independent shop that sells European makes that’s your best bet. Start Rite also used to go down into narrower sizes.
I was a C fitting as a child. Once I hit secondary my dm resorted to buying anything that fitted and dyeing it black as there were so few options.

Startrite is the brand you want for narrow feet.

Not Clarks.

do u have experience of boys with this problem though?

Start rite in an E fitting and buy some insoles as they may help too.

Also Clarks used to do a D fitting which is for very very narrow fit, I'm not sure they still do that size though.

do you have experiences with boys with narrow feet?

If you look at boys shoes on Amazon, you can specify narrow in the search options. I've just had a look and quite a few came up. There is a lovely pair of boys black leather Clarks shoes listed, but I don't know how to share the link!

These ones! But there are lots more...

thx I can look! Wondering if you or anyone has experience specifically with boys who have this problem

I don't have children so no experience sorry. I just have very narrow feet myself, so I always look to Amazon when I need new shoes.

Hi, in the end I found Bobux Leap shoes, fit well enough. Also just bought some Froddo lace up boots which are pretty good too.

for a boy?

@natscott my ds was a d fitting. We got him shoes in independent shops as the continental styles were usually narrower. He is 24 now though but I am assuming not much has changed

Geox is good as are Nike’s lower profile shoes.

My ultra-narrow footed one is a girl, but Ricosta and Froddo have been good for us – our local independent is always warning people who want to buy without being fitted about just how small-fitting Froddo is.

If school is flexible on colour for PE shoes, our greatest success with trainers so far is Decathlon's own brand trail shoes. Superfit are supposed to be narrow, but were not really narrow enough, although an extra insole could probably have just about got us there.

thankyou really appreciate this!! did he have highish arches also?