I've had a mental block - how longafter starting to walk are you supposed to wait before getting their feet measured and buying 1st shoes???

[FAQ]

I know it's too soon yet, DS3 only took his first steps about 3 weeks ago (or was it 2?) but it occurred to me today as he's been walking more confidently that I couldn't remember how long you're supposed to leave it

No idea......

Sorry.....

In my defence, it was 7 years ago....

I left it months He started walking in winter, and where it was raining lots and he was always bundled up in buggy, I didn't see the point of getting him shoes to walk inside.

It did cause a problem though - where he was so used to being barefoot, proper shoes were too heavy and he couldn't walk properly , we ended up buying those cruiser shoes as his first shoes because they were lighter, but still decent enough on the soles for summer weather!

well I'm not sure that the barefoot on the grass is going to work too well.

Stood him up on the grass at DS2's "sports" day at nursery the other day and he froze with a look of absolute panic on his face. As soon as I lifted him onto the concerete he was ok lol.

And given that DS1 and 2 both HATED walking on sand until they were over 3yrs old not sure that's going to be a safe bet either (although I guess it would save me a lot of money LOL).

6-8 weeks, but i would put it off as long as possible

ok so got another couple of weeks yet then - don't think I'll be able to leave it too long, although when I do let him loose outside he still wants to crawl the longer distances, he's absolutely desperate to go and join his brother's when they're running around lol.

the lady in john lewis said when they could take twenty unaided steps

mazzy - that would be about now then LOL.

He did 15 last week, and I'm pretty sure would do more than that if he had the space in the house

I was actually sent away by manager in Clarks who told me to wait til ds was walking unaided - took him back and she was still sceptical as he was clingy (clingy child!) but soon as he saw the Bob the Builder ride, he was off. Only when she saw that she was ready to give him shoes, love her.

FWIW, John Lewis told me recently that it was important not to miss the cruising around furniture stage because they would have a harder time walking in "normal" shoes if they hadn't had cruiser type shoes first. Woman said "Lots of parents miss that stage". Although maybe she was just trying to sell me shoes we don't need ...

DS is just starting to cruise around in his cot but not on the actual floor yet, so I was planning to wait a couple of weeks and reassess.

Aha PhDlife, that is interesting. So maybe I can save twenty quid and wait for unaided steps after all .

Russell and Bromley wanted to see how confident DD2 was, before deciding whether to give her pre-walkers or normal shoes. She's been walking for weeks and cruising for months, but they got her to toddle round the shop to be sure.

none of mine fitted in cruising shoes as their feet were too big,
they all walked at around 10 and half months and had there first shoes at 1 year ds and dd2 size 6 and dd1 6.5

I think she was trying to sell you shoes paperdoll! Cruiser shoes weren't around 10 years ago (when my DS1 was a baby!)

Can someone show me some research? I'm trying to hold off as long as possible but DS is walking pretty much everywhere now and every time mum sees him she threatens to buy him shoes!

we just got ds first proper shoes and he started doing a few steps about two months ago. on shoeshop lady's advice when he was waddling a few steps we got him those very soft not-really-shoes-at-all type and only got him proper shoes when he could walk across the room confidently. a good shoeshop will tell you to go away if you try and buy them before they're ready - real shoes do slow them down a bit until they get used to the extra weight/inflexibility on their feet. but even now i only put shoes on him for outdoor surfaces where his feet need protection, indoors and on the lawn its barefoot.