When do I buy first shoes for dd?

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At what stage should I buy shoes for dd. She has had nothing but socks on her feet, barefoot over the summer as I wanted her feet to develop naturally. Hence hse hasn't had pram shoes or the like. She's been crawling for about 5 weeks and is now 7 1/2 months., We bought her a baby walker the other day as she has been cruising along the sofa. She walks quite well behind the walker. I am happy to leave her without shoes for longer but just wondered if maybe I should be putting shoes on her feet now or leave it till she's walking unaided.

Buy her shoes when she needs to walk outdoors. Not till then.

Cheers. That's what I'd hoped. It won't cause her problems that she doesn't get 'used' to the constriction of a shoe IYSWIM

Dont need shoes until walking outside. I hate to see babies with shoes on who cant even crawl ffs.

I agree. With ds1 & 2 we only bought them shoes when they were ready to walk outside. Otherwise they either had bare feet or just socks.

I hate to see shoes on babies- their poor little feet. Besides whish if they've got shoes on you can't kiss their beautiful little toes can you

Not until they can walk outside. Bought ds his first pair today, at 15 months. But I've defiitely had some funny looks before now when ds has been sitting in the buggy with just socks and no shoes, ffs!

I agree with everyone else. It's really bad for their feet to be wearing shoes or even socks that don't fit properly. When they start walking the first pair doesn't last longer than 6-8 weeks if you get them properly fitted and checked, so it's expensive and unnecessary to have them in shoes before they have been walking at least a couple of weeks.

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When dd1 was a baby she had to see a podiatrist as her ankles appeared to roll inwards. Her advice re:shoes was to wait at least 6 weeks after walking properly, i.e. more than a few steps. You will probably find that she will want to go outside as soon as she is up and walking.

you don't need Clarks or Start-Rite, who are the biggest rip-off of all. I really don't know how they can justify over £30 for a pair of shoes that they claim will need to be replaced in 6 - 8 weeks. As long as the shoes are long enough (you should be able to press a finger's breadth beyond the big toe), and wide enough (when the child is standing you should be able to "wrinkle" the top of the shoe a bit), and fits securely, so it doesn't fall off, then the shoe fits. Oh, and make sure shoes are as flexible as possible- feet do not need "support"- that is another load of bllcks propagated by C and S-R. Children in countries where shoe wear is less obsessive than the UK, have far fewer foot problems than here. By all means get the feet measured in a Clarks shop, but save your money and buy elsewhere!

Have you tried Daisy roots shoes?
I used those until a few months ago - Dd is now 2.

dd1 got her first pair of proper shoes when she was about 14 months old. We were told not to buy her any shoes until she'd been walking unaided for 6 weeks. She'd been walking round the furniture since she was 8 months old but always in socks or barefeet. She did have some soft shoes that I would put on her when she was in the pram but most of the time she took them off and when she was in the house we took them off and let her walk around in her bare feet/socks. She really only wore those soft shoes for show when she was in the pram. looked cute with little dresses.

when it was really hot DD just had her bare feet when lying in the pram but saw another baby her age with a coat on, socks and shoes and a blanket and it was about 28deg that day!

Tissy - really interested to hear your views. You sound knowledgeable in this shoe fitting lark...?

Bare feet, bare feet, bare feet! When a baby is walking outdoors is soon enough, I think. One way to see if shoes still fit is to sprinkle a little talc in them then put on and take a few steps. When you take them off again there will be an imprint of the foot inside. It's just a crude measure, of course, but useful.

I left ds the requisite 6 weeks after he started to walk without shoes inside. He had to wear shoes outside as it was the middle of winter, but they were very brief walks it being freezing cold and all...

He wears bobux shoes inside now as we have a cold tiled floor. He has recently started to walk around the house wearing our shoes though, definitely not the right size for him!

When you do start with the shoes look at the Robeez site. Those are the ones ds started with and it was the next best thing to bare feet.

I got laughed at when I came to NZ and asked where you could buy shoes that were 'fitted'! There is one shop that 'fits' shoes a la Clarks in the whole of Auckland. And their prices are extortionate.
Anyway ... as others say babies only need shoes 6 weeks after they can walk unaided. But really after that they only need shoes if they need to walk outside in winter surely?
Our local school prospectus says:
School Uniform:
All children must wear the school t-shirt and all children must wear a Sun Hat in the summer and Shoes in the winter.

Second Daisy roots - ds is 16 months and been walking for at least 2 months. Bare feet most of the time, daisy roots if outside (okay they won't last forever on concrete/pavements), are nice and flxible for little feet.....