Shoes for first walkers?

[Missguidedsmiles]

What type of shoes did you buy when baby/toddler first walks? Heard so many contradictive things but I know they need to be supportive.. does trainers count? He's 13 months and walking (first time mum) little lost

Start rite pre- walkers. They have soft squishy soles so baby can feel the ground while they are finding their feet. My understanding is shoe soles should be as flat as possible. My LO is 16 months and still in the pre walkers, they work really well. Get baby measured in store, then purchase the shoes discounted in the sale or on a second hand website for cheaper.

Clarks do pre walkers. Have used them for both my kids. If you put them on every time you leave the house even if they're in the pushchair they get used to having them on their feet by the time they're ready to walk outside. DD is 17 months now and she's just moved to her first pair of walkers after two pairs of pre walkers as she's properly sturdy on her feet now

We also went for the start-rite pre walkers. DD had Clarks for nursery, but I don’t think they were as robust? They marked much more easily. DD is 19 months now and still barefoot at home as much as possible. The advice is to have their feet measured every six weeks, so you definitely don’t need more than one pair (unless you’re sentimental like me and don’t want the “official” first shoes getting trashed at nursery).

Left it as late as possible, babies learn to walk best without shoes. And their bones are very soft, so shoe wearing should be kept to a minimum.

Unfortunately the shoe industry preys on the parents enthusiasm for the exciting first shoe moment.

The pre walkers are better and can be used as long as your baby fits them,

Human beings don't need 'support' - our feet are built to work completely independently and fully. We use shoes to prevent injury to the soles of our feet,

Inch Blue are great pre walker and early walker shoes. I then moved on to Start Rite, which have a nice wide toe box and quite flexible soles. Asda shoes, particularly their canvas shoes, also have wide toe boxes and are also flexible.

We mainly had startrite pre walkers and bobux. Still use bobux now for school shoes and usually a pair of winter boots, and ds loves their sandals for summer (actually quite hard to find some that have a closed toe and back and are soft leather, with a flexible sole and wide toe box. Also startrite canvas shoes are good staples for summer when they get a bit older

Dotty fish, Clark’s (pre Walker only!), poco nido, bgreater, froddo pre Walker and my personal fav - Tikki

We got Clark’s pre-walkers. There was a Clark’s store in our nearest town, but there’s nothing special about Clark’s. Any decent shoe shop with experienced staff and a decent selection of flexible pre-walking shoes who can fit them properly will be fine. You want flexible soles so they can feel the ground, not support, and then only use them when they absolutely can’t be barefoot.