Second-hand shoes - OK? Or will it affect DD's feet?

[toomanytoys]

Boring, and probably stupid, question.

DD is 13 months and cruising, about to walk any day. I bought her a pair of cruising shoes at Clarks the other day and almost fell over at the cost, even more so when the shop assistant cheerily told me to get her re-measured in 6 weeks.

eBay have some great looking shoes, and I'm figuring that they probably won't have had much wear, at this age.
But I just wondered if wearing shoes that other kids had worn might affect the development of her feet? If I put someone else's shoes on, even if they are same size, they feel odd, as they have moulded to the other person's feet. But then I guess adults are a fair bit heavier than toddlers!

Sorry, I'm sure I'm worrying over nothing, please tell me I can buy the eBay shoes for £3!!!
Thanks

Up to you. I personally wouldn't but it's a personal choice. As you've found with trying other people's shoes,everyone walks differently and wears down different parts of the shoe depending on how their gait is, so I would be concerned that I might be moulding my dc's feet in a certain way by using a pair of second hand shoes at such a young age.
Only my opinion...

But I have sold my boys' shoes on e-bay - so if you're buying a boys pair of Thomas Tank slippers for your dd anytime - be my guest!

I would rather buy cheap new cruising shoes than second hand clarks. At home bare feet or socks are fine - so how long do they really wear them for?

I don't buy my girls pre-worn shoes, or let them wear hand-me-downs, apart from wellies, jellies, doodles etc.

But then I also don't think non-walkers need shoes, let alone cruisers - I think they are a gimmick invented by shoemakers

Barefoot is best. They only need shoes when they are walking outside.

Hmmm - this probably isn't going to be what you want to hear, I'm afraid. Adult's are a fair bit heavier than toddlers - they also tend to wear shoes for a lot more of the day, and keep each pair of shoes for much longer. However, their feet are also much more robust. Baby's feet are very maleable, and in consequence I tend to buy the softest leather shoes that I can find. I WANT the shoes to wear to DD's feet rather than forcing her feet into their shape. Shoes that are so rigid they still look perfect after 2 months worry me! For the same reason, I wouldn't use 2nd hand shoes.

That said, if I found some soft leather shoes in Sainsbury's for £5 that fit, I'd be happy to use them....

Thanks for the replies
I thought I would be laughed at for worrying, but looks like I'm not alone in thinking it might affect her feet/walking.

She's been cruising for ages and I've not bothered with shoes til now. We went on holiday and wanted to "walk" (i.e. hold our fingers and drag us along!) everywhere, so needed something on her feet. Also, I wanted her to get used to wearing them. But she only has them on a few times a week, and that's when she's pootling round in the garden

why not just get wellies to begin with if she's outdoors?
ds4 has ankles so chubby that shoes wouldn't fit on his feet when he first got measured, so we just bought wellies for when he was outside and bare feet or socks for inside.
They're cheap and if she's only just tottering about, will be fine until she's ready for proper shoes (I also think cruisers waste of money)

Our kids don't generally wear shoes inside the house (and are often barefoot outside in the garden in the summer as well). I don't buy secondhand shoes, but only because I'm perfectly happy buying new shoes that are inexpensive. You don't need to spend a fortune on shoes at this age. I know there's a lot of stuff out there saying "oh you need these shoes for this age, they're the best" but kids have been doing fine for years in less expensive shoes without developing major foot problems.

Only my first had all new shoes - the others wear handed down shoes if they fit & are ok. They don't wear them all day & go barefoot in the house

It depends on whether it is your 1st, 2nd or 3rd child.

1st - no way on earth would you risk your pfb feet like that - I mean just what sort of excuse for a mother are you?

2nd - well you shouldn't really, but these ones have hardly been worn and are very soft and surely they won't do any harm for a few months?

3rd - well given that dc1 has the flattest feet in the world even though they have always worn brand new Clarks or Start-Rite's which have turned out to be a complete waste of money, of course 2nd hand shoes are fine, should have realised years ago.

Just to cheer you up a bit - the first pair of shoes I bought for DS have lasted 6 whole months!! When he grew out of them his feet went up a whole size in just a fortnight (which is why they tell you to get them measured so often).

Until DD is walking properly, and walking outside you won't need shoes anyway, but I would buy proper shoes (being PFB, obviously )

Thanks everyone
I did wonder if I was being a bit pfbish
Out of interest, where is a good place to go for good-enough-but-cheaper-than-Clarks shoes? All new to me And I'm not much of a shoe-girl anyway (I know, the shame!)