Wellies for toddler still learning to walk?

[wishIwasonholiday10]

Are there any wellies for toddlers that are supportive and easy to walk in for a toddler who is still learning to walk independently? The wet weather the other day made me wonder if I should get some as her shoes got soaked walking around the park. She can currently only walk with us holding her hands but I don’t want her to miss out on normal toddler activities like splashing through puddles. Last winter was really challenging as there wasn’t much I could do outdoors with an 18 month old who was nowhere close to walking. She is now 26 months and making progress but it might still be awhile multiple she can walk without assistance. I could also buy some proper waterproof hiking type shoes I guess although they would be quite expensive considering they might get limited use.

If she’s not properly walking yet, definitely no shoes of any sort. She needs to feel the ground barefoot to be able to learn to balance and walk independently. Just put nappy bags over socks. But it’s still summer. I’d leave her barefoot and worry about proper wellies if needed in November.

Search "waterproof booties toddlers". (sorry can't do links).

Im old so can't help on what's available to buy now but I always found mine loved wellies and they had no more problem walking in them than shoes, distinctly remember having to buy some in france for 13 mth old as it wouldn't stop raining 🙄 another advantage is they seem to be able to put them on themselves which they like and are cheap. Personally I wouldn't bother buying expensive hiking boots as they grow out of shoes so quickly at that stage.

They seem to be able to walk better in the shorter wellie ankle boots, like this from next:

I wouldn't worry about wellies yet for a walker who is only walking assisted!

Agreed that if she's still learning to walk you don't want her in structured shoes. H&M do these which are great for protecting their feet from the wet whilst letting them use their foot naturally.

such awful advice. Nappy bags?!

bare foot is great at home, but you need shoes outside! Try inch blue that have thin soles. For wet weather get some snow boots or some leather first walker types (little zip up startrite ones on Vinted!) they won’t get as wet as trainers. But get some cheap wellies if you’re specifically going out splashing in puddles! They’ll be fine holding hands.

I was advised by a child foot specialist not to get wellies until DC had been walking independently for several months.
We managed by getting her shoes that were more like boots, then just always having spare shoes and socks with her when we were out and about, so if her shoes got wet we’d just change them.

Bogs are great. They're completely waterproof, but soft and lower on the leg so much easier to walk in than hard wellies.

Maybe babybogs?

I'd imagine most of the fabric boots won't come in her size as they are for pre walkers. She's much older and I'm guessing bigger than most learning to walk so I think would need something tougher compared to a 9month old learning to walk.

Do you have a paeds physio or specialist helping you? Do they have any suggestions?

Bogs!

As it's not cold I'd look at jelly shoes or crocs or similar she can walk in when holding your hands and then dry her feet and put warm socks on.

Wellies are quite heavy and it's really difficult for a pre walker to figure out how to move in them.

Thanks all for the responses, I’ll look into all the suggestions.

As for the physio I’ve had different advice from the two physios that we’ve seen but they both want us to buy her shoes with ankle support generally rather than the soft pre-walker shoes. At the moment she has one set of high top trainers and one set of pre-walker shoes that she wears at nursery. One physio wants her in shoes all the time and the other one just outdoors. I haven’t had a chance to ask about what to buy for wet weather as we haven’t had an appointment recently.

We tried jelly shoes a few times over summer but she’s not a big fan.

Second the H&M over shoes. They are soft and waterproof. Also Bogs for when they’re walking but they come up huge I found and also not actually waterproof 😆