toddler shoes

[Evita]

My dd's 18 months and since she was cruising / walking (about 11 months) I've been having her feet measured and getting her Clarks shoes. But they are v. limited in range and v. expensive. Does anyone know of any other type I could try? Also how important is it to get them properly fitted? Do other moms buy cheaper shoes from other shoe shops? I have some shoes passed down to me from a friend's daughter but they are wider than my dd's usual shoes. It seems a shame not to use them, do you think it would do any serious harm?

I've always bought fitted shoes for the boys - Clarks, Startrite or Elefanten. The last pair seemed to wear very badly, and I was cross as they cost £36. So I decided to try some cheaper ones. They looked just like the Clarks ones, but cost only £16. Within 24 hrs ds2 (nearly 5) had blisters This was 2 weeks ago, and his feet have still not healed up properly.

So my vote is for properly fitted shoes.

I think shoes alas are the thing you need to be really careful about. Yes to getting feet properly measured - Clarks are expensive, but for toddlers I think they are worth it. Startrite are even more expensive I think.

There is a problem using second hand shoes I think, because I believe they mould to the way a child walks, so if another child has used them then they won't fit your child properly.

i vote for fitted shoes too....but then ds has very wide and very chubby feet - so we don't have much choice!!

I agree with Musica. I had lots of problems with my feet as a child and you can't beat a decent pair of properly fitted shoes. My sister used to get our Mum to buy her DSs' shoes as birthday and Xmas presents - Evita, do you have anyone you could get to do that? Also, summer is nearly here (I hope!) and Clarks Doodles are cheaper than their regular shoes I think.

Thanks everyone. I was brought up in properly fitted shoes so wanted to do the same for dd, it's not worth risking her little feet. The opposite to your ds, popsycal, dd has v. small narrow feet, she's only a 4C so second hand shoes are all too wide.

Are the 3 main makes of properly fitted shoes Clarks, Startrite or Elafanten? I've never heard of the latter, where can you get those from?

Tommy, I'll put it to dd's grandma and see if she wants to be shoe fairy!

Hi Evita.....I don't know if this will help...depends on your geographical position.
In the north west...could be other places as well...we have a place called Tommy Balls...large warehouses stacked to the brim with shoes.....there is always the childrens selection....clarks,startrite etc....I used to go and get my little ones feet measured correctly...at a shop in town...they won't do it there for you.... then find the pairs I needed at TBs....you can pick them up for as little as £1.99!!!!...shoes that cost £30-£40...it actually paid a friend of mine to travel up, from London, for the weekend and she went back with loads of pairs...worth a thought!

israel - we're in the northwest (Barrow), but have never heard of Tommy Balls. Where are they?

Evita - if you find a good independent shoe shop they will sell various good makes of fitted shoes and you get more selection and choice. Russell & Bromley do kids shoes too.

I usually get all 3 kids fitted shoes. Have no choice but to with ds as he has very wide feet (4H).
Both dd's have fitted shoe for school and then several (far to many) pairs of shoes from lots of different places (next, woolworths, adams e.t.c.).

Luckily there is a Clarks factory shop opening not far from us soon, so i should be able to pick them up a bit cheaper.

Roisin.....its in Blackburn/Lancs...they even have coach trips to the place....there is a bottom shop...bargain basement...but be careful there...sometimes you can find a real bargain but other times they are shoes that have been returned for one reason or another...sometimes worn!!...With the childrens shoes though this isn't as common.....then further up from this shop is the large warehouse...about 3 floors full.As well there is another huge warehouse..winfields of accrington..
I don't know what it is around this area but there are loads of factory/mill shops with loads of bargains...I have never paid 30-40 pounds on a pair of childrens shoes...as well they are out of them so quickly...and they have always been in startrite and clarks...and the correct fittings!!!..my son was a h fitting ...Hope this helps..

Thanks israel - that's really helpful. Will definitely plan a trip.

Only clarks and startrite- very expensive when you have to buy wellies, school shoes, trainers and plimsols all at once

THe Clarks village in Street also has good bargains I think.

I've always had my lot fitted at Clarks - in fact last week all 3 of them needed new shoes and I blew £110 in one go and spent well over an hour in there. Several parents with 1 toddler in tow watched, and then declared that they would stick at 1 child

DD1 is now 8.5 but still has Clarks fitted - she has VERY narrow feet and a very high instep. Like Roisin, in the past I took her to have them measured then bought other shoes from different shops - but none of them have ever fitted her properly and they are uncomfortable or rub her feet.

I remember as a child, my cousin had to have operations on her feet (she must have been late teens) from wearing incorrectly fitted shoes - she had to have all her toes broken and then pins inserted at the tops to straighten them.

Reading your last comment re: friends shoes. It's recommended that you don't use second-hand shoes as they mould to fit the child wearing them and if they're too big for your DD, then they'll end up rubbing her skin.

Do you have any outlet shopping centres near you? Our local Macarthur Glen in Livingston has a Clarks, I can't afford to get their shoes in the ordinary Clarks. But I agree, their range is limited and sometimes quite ugly!

Thanks everyone.

That place israel mentions sounds great but I'm not sure I could travel that far from London without a car and with a v. untravel friendly dd! I haven't seen anything like a factory shop in or around here, any ideas how I could find out? By the way israel, are you called that because you're Israeli? My favourite country in all the world despite its problems.

Evita, you're in SE London aren't you? There's a Clark's factory shop at the Elephant & Castle. Will just go & ask dp for exact directions - he thinks it's great.

OK, it's on the ground floor of the big red shopping centre. It does have kids stuff, though apparently not masses. Worth looking at though.

Oh, thanks hoxtonchick, that's only about 15 minutes from me. I've never noticed it before and will definitely check it out. You in Hoxton then?! A bit better than Bermondsey ... though people keep pretending it's going to be 'the new Hoxton'.

Not any more - we lived in Hoxton pre-ds. Now just up the road in London Fields, much greener. And not nearly so cool, which is probably a good thing. Are you near the design museum, my brother lived around there for a while. I've been to the Clarks factory shop in Holloway which was great for me.... Good luck!

Oooo, I'm glad that you posted this, Evita, because I've been wondering about this too. I'll have to check out the Clarks factory that hoxtonchick mentioned. Hoxtonchick, how do you know where all these outlets are? Is there a website where I can look them up?

Urk, I think I will be the only one to confess this, but I am happy to buy shoes for my kids in ShoeZone or similar (ie, not supposed to be perfectly fitted, not expensive, not nice, not Clarks, etc.!). And I have sometimes used 2nd hand shoes, although only if they have virtually no wear on them.

My one experience of buying DD shoes in StartRite the only pair she would even consent to try on cost £37, she started to refuse to wear them 3 weeks later, by 4 weeks after that she had worn holes into both toes. They were good quality shoes, it's just that my kids are very very hard on shoes! Well, presumably the good quality fitted shoes aren't expected to last more than 6-8 weeks, anyway. For 3 kids that's something like +£90 every 2 months... ouch. I don't know many people who can really afford that. Nowadays DD only wants to wear her jellie sandals, although occasionally we can coax wellies onto her.

Also, once I bought DD shoes in Clarks; £22 and she wore them for a combined total of about 3 hours.

Not advocating that what I do is best... but given that there are a lot more branches of ShoeZone than Startrite, I suspect that most moms do like I do. There are a lot of stories about bad fittings/quality at Clarks/Start-rite/etc., too. I can partly get away with 'cheap' shoes because the kids are mostly barefoot (indoors and outdoors all summer, too, and have pretty standard width feet). I think it's weird the way most people virtually never let their kids go barefoot in this country. It's not like TB is rife, any more.

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I've just done a quick search on yell.com & apparently there are 4 in London. Definitely worth going to check out IMO.

Thanks hoxtonchick, that's really helpful, I'll check out that link. London Fields is good, I used to live close to there on the edge of Hackney. Well, you could say I'm close to the Design Museum but I'm sort of the seamy side of the Design Museum area if you see what I mean! maomao, are you London-based too?

My bro didn't live in the posh bit at all! Still nice to be close to the river though. London Fields is lovely, we spend A LOT of time there....

Thanks for the link hoxtonchick! Evita, yes, I'm in North London, and I, like you, I also have no car!

Maybe I'll hold out until the summer for the £12 ones that twiglett mentioned --- that's much more in my budget!

(Goodness, I think I shall have to cut down on exclaiming so much in the future. Sorry....)