First shoes cost shock!!!!!

[loopylou10]

I am a Mum to a 13 month old boy who has just started walking. I am about to go an get him fitted first pair of shoes today but am shocked to discover that i can expect to pay anywhere in region of £26-£40. How can these shoe shops justify charging that amount for first shoes, shoes that he is not going to be in for 5 minutes. I've bought shoes for myself cheaper then that. I know that once i know his size then i can get shoes from other places that are cheaper, but for his first shoes then they do obviously need to fit properly. What are your thoughts on the matter? do you think these shops are taking advantage of parents? or is there a real reason as to why they have to charge such extortionate prices?.

Yes, the prices for the little/tiny shoes are always ridiculous. May be because it is harder to make little shoes than bigger ones? I just try to imagine the reason.
Try them and then check on line. How about first shoes from Robeez? www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=robeez&tag=googhydr-21&index=shoes&hvadid=6108967093&ref=pd_sl_5hl3rygfn0_e

Are you looking for the indoor or outdoor shoes?

The extortionate price to my mind is because people will pay. From reading other treads I decided not to get branded first shoes. I went and felt the bendyness of the expensive first shoes and then went and looked in cheaper shops and compared. I've been paying £5 a pair. No point in buying shoes for inside, only uses outside shoes for, what, 15 min a day, at 13 months. I can't honestly think that the shoes ever really fit for more than a week, you buy them with 'growing room' and replace when to small.
My DS is now in his 3rd set of shoes in 6 months, as he has large feet we would have had to get a special brand which would have cost us over £40 a pair. No thank you

Shoe retailers do not take advantage of parents they make very little profit on a pair of shoes.
Get your child's feet measured and properly fitted every time he needs new shoes - you have no idea how much damage can be caused by ill fitting shoes.
The bones in children's feet are very malleable and soft and will not be properly formed until they are in their late teens. You cannot assume that all shoes of a size will fit the same they do not.
A good shoe shop will allow for a full size of growth room when fitting. This will not last 5 minutes - more like a good 6-8 weeks and often longer.
If you pay £26 that is a cost of just over £4 a week so that's about 60p a day even paying £40 will cost less than £1 a day. If they last as long as 10 or 12 weeks you are looking at 3p - 4p a day for the cheaper end. That is not extortionate by any means.
Children's shoes from the premium brands are usually made from soft leather, often leather lined to allow the feet to breathe and you'll also often discover they have internal arch supports, antiscuff toes or toe bumpers and removable footbeds too so you can see how growth is progressing.
Cheap off the peg unfitted shoes have none of these attributes - you will never know if they fit properly and damage can be done without you or your child noticing.
Please do not make false economies with children's feet. I work in a shoe shop and have seen children as young as 7 with various foot problems that have been caused by self fitted shoes.
For around the cost of a pint of milk a day it really isn't worth it.

I'm not sure I buy this badly fitted shoes causes foot problems thing. However I do like Clarks/Start rite shoes etc.

I would get him some soft leather soled shoes for now (snugglefeet.co.uk are good) - he won't be walking much outside when it's wet/muddy anyway in case he falls over, so not worth buying proper shoes until he is IMO.

ebay. Get measure in clarks/startrite and buy the same styles on ebay (BNIB - brand new in box). Either that or go to the Clarks outlet stores if you have one near you?

John Lewis can be excellent for fitting, and I've just seen some winter boots that I'll get for DS that are £26 (would be £35 - 40 in Clarks/SR) worth looking elsewhere if he's not on his feet all the time.

IMO it's only when they're in their shoes all day, every day that the fit is essential. If they're a tot barely walking they'll wear their shoes for a few hours a week so not a big deal :)

On the other hand first shoes for DS lasted 6mo. I'm lucky in that his feet grow very sporadically and I only need to get him new shoes twice a year. this 6-8 week thing is largely bollocks.

It's one thing I won't compromise on, getting good shoes for DS1 (and DS2 next year). Buy clothes and toys on eBay, charity shops etc, but get good quality shoes. I get geox ones, they are leather lined so very comfortable for a long time (i have to wrestle them off DS1 at the end of the day). Also consider how much corrective podiatry would cost you later!

Agree that 6-8 week thing is often a red herring, and my DD is considerably slower than that, so far I've managed by changing only when weather changes - I.e. Sandals for summer, closed toes when colder, boots/wellies and indoor slippers for the worst weather. I have been getting her measured roughly every couple of months but rarely needed to buy at time. Take advantage of sales and be clear to shop staff about budget - e.g. 'I can only afford £25 or whatever this time'

Agree that 6-8 week thing is often a red herring, and my DD is considerably slower than that, so far I've managed by changing only when weather changes - I.e. Sandals for summer, closed toes when colder, boots/wellies and indoor slippers for the worst weather. I have been getting her measured roughly every couple of months but rarely needed to buy at time. Take advantage of sales and be clear to shop staff about budget - e.g. 'I can only afford £25 or whatever this time'

For those who don't believe that ill fitting causes foot problems - here are just two websites with information about it.
www.shoe-shop.org.uk/
www.healthylittlefeet.com/news?page=3

KorrallKrabba and jareth you are right - as I have said in my first post very few children need new shoes every six to 8 weeks. 10-12 is far more like it but some manage to make 16-20 - it depends on the child. However it is prudent to get them checked every couple of months or so because they grow in fits and starts, not evenly and predictively.

By the time they are at school most children are growing around 1 to 2 shoe sizes a year and parents are changing shoes due to the weather or other factors rather than because of the size.

No decent shoe shop will tell you your child needs a new pair every 6-8 weeks. Also any shoe shop with integrity and which is trustworthy wil be open about it's measuring and show you as a parent where your child comes on a fitting gauge.

Also do not be fooled by the "They've gone up a half size" line. Half sizes are about 2mm and absolutely minimal. They usually have more of an impact on width than length. If your child has gone a half size up and you want to buy new shoes then that's a parental prerogative but, as any good shoe shop will leave a whole size of growth room in a new pair there is no need to do it as a matter of course.

Try here www.shoesforkids.co.uk too. They stock Clarks and Start Rite (last seaons styles I think, but who cares?!) as well as lots of other brands.

DS is nearly 3 and so far, we've got away with buying him two main pairs of shoes a year, one for winter, one for summer which are good quality ones and then wellies/slippers/sandals, which we get as cheap as possible! He was in his first shoes for a good few months, I think. So far, we're getting our money's worth out of the expensive shoes before he outgrows them.

Thanks for all your replies, i can see its really struck a cord for some. I have no problem buying a decent pair of shoes for my boy that fit properly, but i do think the market is being exploited especially when they grow out of them so quickly. Obviously for me being a first time Mum then this will be the first of many shock things to come throughout my childs life. Don't even get me started on school uniforms, my friends have been telling me all about the cost of those.