Extremely wide fit trainers for a boy

[Fifi80]

Right, desperate mum here, utterly fed up with the trainer situation for my five-year-old. He's got proper wide feet with a high instep, and honestly, it's a nightmare finding anything that fits.

We've been through loads of brands over the years – Skechers, Gola, Clarks – but they all seem to be either far too narrow or can't handle his passion for kicking random things on the pavement or scooting and just fall apart after a few weeks. The Gola Harrier was the best for durability, but even going up a size, it was still ridiculously narrow.

So, please, does anyone know of any brands or specific models that do genuinely wide-fit trainers? I'm at my wits' end.

New Balance do some wider fit trainers. I don't know which ones though or whether they'd be wide enough.

Edited as I just noticed that he's just wee, sorry.

Do you have an independent shoe shop around? Imake boys with awkward feet and my oldest has very wide feet and his arch is so high his feet look ridiculous. A local indie place was amazing. Knew their brands, got to know my kids feet and what would fit. Look for someone who belongs to the Society of Shoe Fitters. If you are in the North East then Soled4Kids in Consett is wonderful.

@AgnesX Thank you, though, this might come in handy when he’s a bit older.

@OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea The thing is, we did take him to our local children's shoe shop where they fitted him with a pair of Gola trainers. They didn't carry any wide-fit shoes in the store. But despite sizing up, the shoe’s still quite tight—sometimes he refuses to wear it altogether.

We used to buy Geox in Tx Maxx. They were great.

For school shoes try the lee cooper models in sports direct or Kickers in the same style. https://www.sportsdirect.com/lee-cooper-waltham-lace-junior-093025

Doesn't sound great. Hush puppies have tended too be the best for my boys so nothing fancy brand wise but a really experienced fitter makes a difference

Have you tried something along the lines of barefoot shoes? A brand like vivo - not cheap but extremely good for wide feet and have great durability. I also second an independent shoe shop - I have a child with extremely narrow feet with high instep and one with extremely wide feet and an independent kids shop was the answer as they had Italian, Spanish and french brands of shoes that had a lovely spectrum. Sorry my two are now late teens (and force their feet into whatever they’ve decided is fashionable) and I can’t remember any of the brands that they used to wear. I know that vivo barefoot were great for my very active, wild, ADHD wide foot child and Doc Martens and kickers - wide fit and durable -were both amazing for school shoes (still use them, need to be worn in by wearing indoors with thick socks every night for a couple of weeks at least).

New Balance have been the best in this wide-footed house.

Not sure how small they go, and by the time you pick the widest, then you don't have much choice

Hoka
https://www.hoka.com/en/gb/men-road/clifton-10/1162030.html
I’ve got all sorts of problems with my knees and my feet. These are the best shoes I’ve ever owned.

Bgreater barefoot are really good for my 5yo wide footed tear away boy! The Clark’s shoes for school fell apart in weeks but after a successful trial of these trainers we also bought them in black for school and they are lasting well.

My ds was exactly the same - super high insteps and very wide feet. In junior sizes the only trainers that fitted properly were Geox and they were very hard wearing too.
He still has the same shape feet at 19, but wears Hoka wide fit

Barefoot Shoes are generally wider than high street shoes. Try Happy Little Soles website - you can filter the shoes to show extra wide ones. And I think their return policy is pretty good too.

@OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea Thank you. We may just need to try another independent shop in the area. Hush Puppies seem to offer some good options for school shoes. Thanks again.

@Frendcheeeeska * *Thank you — lots of great suggestions there.

@UpsideDownChairs The New Balance looks promising. 574 Core Hook & Loop seem to be starting from size 10, so that can work. Thank you!

@Profpudding Thank you. The Hoka online store doesn’t seem to show a wide fit option for kids, but I’ll have a closer look.

@Thursday5pmisginoclock Bgreat have a gorgeous selection of trainers — great to know they’re hard-wearing too. Thank you!

@CMOTDibbler Thank you. I was wondering where were you find wide-fit for Geox? I'm not seeing any on their GB website. Maybe because I'm looking at smaller sizes? Did you used to get day-to-day trainers or school shoes if you remember?

Not sure for his age if they exist but my son and I have side feet and Brookes are amazing

@MB34 Perfect — thank you! I’ve just ordered a pair from Happy Little Soles and look forward to trying them out on my son. Fingers crossed he manages to keep them intact for more than a couple of weeks!

We've just bought DS some Karrimor ones which seems much wider than most. Again not sure how small. There's a good selection at Sports Direct at very reasonable prices

Have a look at barefoot shoes
happylittlesoles.co.uk
you can filter by width and could also email for advice. My daughter has always been in barefoot shoes since her first pair

I would go to startrite. They have shoes for extra narrow and wide feet. Happy little soles v narrow even the wide ones are more of a regular width.

Geox are wide fit as standard really and BGreater are even more so. Our 3yr old is like this and just wears those brands now really.

I had the same problem with my son. We needed up using Sports Direct. They have a lot of variety (you do have try on about 100 shoes!) but the main thing is they’re cheap, so can take a battering.

I had extremely wide feet as a kid and always had to have Hush Puppies boys shoes. My son has pretty wide feet and we find the Adidas Tensaur 3 are both wide enough and durable - he’s very active and they’ve not scuffed yet!