Baby's first shoes?

[midori1999]

Is there anywhere to get them other than Clarkes?

Start rite. Or go to an independent childrens shoe shop and there will be more choice.

Thanks.

I've just seen John Lewis do Start Rite and a few others. I will need to wait until the older DC go back to school though, not doing the city centre with them aftert today's shopping trip for school uniform....

Ha ha, don't blame you. John Lewis should be a good option. I've just got DDs first pair of shoes and ended up getting Clarks, although fitted at our local independent shop, since the Clarks store hires young girls who appear to know nothing.

I was disappointed with the choice in start rite this time, although I was only looking at the softer soled shoes rather than the solid soled ones.

Russell and Bromley are excellent and not brand specific - I rate them so much I make special trips as they don't have a shop in my town. Lots of clued up boys as opposed to gormless girls and 99% of the time they get a second opinion on fit from a colleague to be sure - they take their time too. Dd loves going there

Are Russell &Bromley not hideously expensive? I despair whenever I buy school shoes for my boys: parting with £50 a pair for the fugliest footwear on the planet in Startrite/Clarks/John Lewis.

Agree with going to an independent children's shoe shop. They're more likely to measure your baby's feet well, certainly better than John Lewis or Clarks.

I didn't realise Russel and Bromley did children's shoes?

Lemonbreeland, I did like a pair of softer soled shoes in Clarkes, the only ones I liked that they had in DD's size, but the young girl assistant told me that basically, it was up to me, but they weren't ideal as DD has been walking for about a month. I'm not sure I agree with her, but want to get the correct type of shoes, obviously. It's not like she'd be walking loads in them, just so she can have a toddle around at the park etc, I probably wouldn't use them for indoor things, so would softer soles be suitable?

DD2 only fitted in Clarks Cruisers when we finally got around to getting her first shoes similar to these. They say they are pre-walkers/suitable for crawlers but they were absolutely fine for walking. She's been walking since 10m and we got the shoes a couple of months later as she wasn't really going outside until that point and was happy enough in those soft leather slip ons. At 18m I've just got her a larger pair of the same style. At this age I think softer rather than harder, more structured shoes are better for their feet (barefoot even better but not always practical!).

I can't say I'm particularly fond of Clarks but we live in the town of no shops and it is one of the few here. I'm looking at Amazon/Javari for her next shoes - they have loads of European brands on offer but I'll obviously get her measured in town first .

midori I got one of those soft sole ones for DD. I think it's from the first shoe range, which is what they say are cruising shoes. They have another range that have much harder soles for walkers. Is the sales assistant trying to sell you on the ones for walkers? She was trying to tell me a bunch of non-sense about having harder soles will help DD develop her ankle muscles. But I know what I want to buy so I ignored her. If you go to the shop, you can feel whether the first shoes are what you want. DD walks everywhere with them, including pavements, country lanes, parks. I'm determined to keep her in first shoes type of soles until they are not available in her sizes anymore.

Just followed mejon link, and yes that's the range I got DD. They are absolutely fine for walking outdoors, as tested by my LO. As mejon says, barefoot is actually the best, and that's why I want to stay with soft soles as long as possible. BTW, I didn't get DD shoes until she can walk outdoors. There aren't any need to walk indoors with slippers. (I know friends who buy LOs one pair of slippers indoor and one pair of outside shoes, for each size. It's madness).

As others have said Midori, the cruisers will be fine outdoors. All of my dc have walked outside in them as first shoes. It is better for them to have those first anyway. Best is bare feet but something flexible is a bit more forgiving when they are not used to wearing shoes.

Thanks, I'll get the cruisers then.

I do/will keep her barefoot as much as possible, but obviously for safety/hygene reasons little shoes are better for some places.

I wonder if the assistant was trying it on due to the price difference.

I think the sales lady who fitted DD shoes do actually believe the hard soles help develop walking muscles. I think this misinformation is common, and I bet it's what the brainwashing info the company teaches them. I can't see any reasons why friends buy their LO cruising shoes when they arent walking, other than being misguided. BTW my ILs gave DD a pair of crawling shoes. I never put it on DD.

I used to work for Clarks so I'll give my two pennies worth ....

If you have a bad experience in one store, try another - the training on fitting kids shoes is extensive however not everyone takes it on board. Whilst training, all shoes should be checked by an experienced member of staff.

The crawling shoes were introduced while I worked there and were, so I believe, a response to the popularity in laminated flooring - the shoes simply helped the babies gain a bit of grip on the flooring.

When learning to walk, bare foot is always best. Some parents wanted to put their children in hard soled 'proper' shoes far too early. They need to be able to flex their feet in order to develop the muscles under their feet. I cannot see any reason why a baby shouldn't stay in soft soled shoes (the cruising shoes) when they are walking. Once they have grown out of them the Doodles range could be a good substitute.

Re: measuring of feet - it can be difficult to measure a baby's feet - they have an amazing ability to change the shape of their feet. The measurement just gives the fitter a starting point so they know what to try first - what matters is the fit.

Thankyou, that's really helpful. I will try a different Clarks too then. The girl did say I could order online and that they didn't need to be checked once on, which I doubted and is obviously wrong, so I won't go back there, that's for sure!

DD is definitely walking well, she's been walking round the furniture since about 8 1/2 months and walking properly and not crawling at all for around a month now and she is almost 14 months. I do agree some people are too keen to get shoes on their babies, but I have been conscious to avoid this.

I'm not sure if they still have their sale on Midori but I got DD measured in Clarks then ordered the shoes online where they were half price (didn't have stock in the shop). You can have them delivered to a shop so they will check the fit for you if want.