Wide fit trainers (Velcro) and walking shoes for size 7 DS?

[drspouse]

DS is 14 and definitely hasn't finished growing, he takes a size 7 and has fairly wide feet plus he has dyspraxia and hasn't mastered tying his shoes in any reliable way.
He needs walking shoes for Explorers (or boots but he's never really had boots and finds tight/close shoes really uncomfortable), ideally waterproof and ideally not too expensive as he's going to grow out of them not wear them out.
He could probably get away with laces or elastic laces for these, but he ALSO needs trainers, preferably with velcro.
Currently he's existing in his school shoes as that's all we could get that fit him with Velcro at the excellent independent children's shoe shop near us.
We tried a pair of Quechua walking shoes from Decathlon but he says they "squeeze" and we can obviously go and get him fitted at a good outdoors shop but I don't really want to spend £100s if he's going to grow out of the boots.
And for velcro trainers we are lost - Geox are wide but the boys sizes stop at 6.

Tbh Decathlon is your best bet or the sale rails in the outdoor shops.
Salomon sometimes do boots / shoes with quick laces, a bit like a pull tie on a bag.
Buy a size up a wear extra socks.

After an extensive search, I ordered some wide fit Velcro trainers from Shoezone, they were £10 with free delivery! My son’s feet are still growing too so the quality and longevity of them for that price didn’t matter to me.

I looked for years for my DS and although it sounds strange I've finally had success with adult diabetic shoes now he can fit in smaller adult sizes. There is quite a large market out there for velcro shoes for swollen feet. I started with cheap ones as it was such a long shot but DS is delighted with them.

Mountain Warehouse do walking boots in a wide fitting.

Walking boots - merrell Moab 3 mid gtx are excellent for wider feet, but they’re probably more expensive than you’d want for growing child. They’re less expensive than many more “expensive” ones though.

To help with lacing and fastening, mine had these https://amzn.eu/d/04bD9uUe for a while - helps to hold the laces tight while you do the last bit and knot them.

For trainers, how about the Skechers slip ins? My teen has some. Likely easier than Velcro even.

Fitville is an excellent wide fit make, best to buy on Amazon for far easier delivery and returns. They have slip ins ones too. My teen also has some of these.

And for other options look through the “wide fit shoes” website - they make it easier to search for width fitting and they have the extra wide new balance ones too, which I found it hard to find elsewhere.

No suggestions for actual shoes, but my adult DS uses toggles on his shoes and walking boots (he works outdoors and is also dyspraxic, he has never mastered laces completely but can do the criss-cross part of lacing boots just not the bow.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/YIKEDA-Elastic-Shoelace-Suitable-Disabled/dp/B0B9S4RFYN/ref=sxin_17_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?adgrpid=1184174921560251&content-id=amzn1.sym.76a45fff-1b4d-4d92-aa0d-4ea711ecd370%3Aamzn1.sym.76a45fff-1b4d-4d92-aa0d-4ea711ecd370&cv_ct_cx=shoelace%2Btoggles&gb=2&hvadid=74011211196060&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=131936&hvnetw=s&hvocijid=13678324434285460379--&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-74011067410451%3Aloc-188&hydadcr=9226_2371009&keywords=shoelace%2Btoggles&mcid=9a2efa8627f8300497bc57397a4de21c&pd_rd_i=B0B9S4RFYN&pd_rd_r=a1b9478a-1c28-4b6e-862a-e2d8fde5ab6c&pd_rd_w=sGdLO&pd_rd_wg=xowJk&pf_rd_p=76a45fff-1b4d-4d92-aa0d-4ea711ecd370&pf_rd_r=QPKB36YKD5JFFB7HJ88Y&qid=1784707881&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sr=1-2-76163601-3bc5-4bd6-b454-ded14c50366a-spons&aref=NoTHkFUqzQ&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1

Vivobarefoot tracker with elastic toggle laces.

My 5 year old has quite wide feet and he has Superfit Rush, which might be worth a try as they do go up to size 7. We saw the size 7s on display when we were buying his 13.5s and they looked enormous!

We have had Superfit before - good call.
I am not sure if we've tried Sketchers, I have a feeling they were also a bit narrow but I'll add them to the list.
I don't think he's supposed to have barefoot shoes as he previously had orthotics due to hypermobility.
We are a bit limited in shops but we do have a Mountain Warehouse so we'll take him down and see about the wide fit walking boots/shoes. Bonus points as there's a 15% Scout discount!

Just looked at Superfit and the high-top one (Free Ride) is waterproof so that potentially could solve the Scouts issue as well!

Op it might be worth looking on vinted too. Must be loads of kids who end up with boots for DoE etc and who out grow them.

Skechers sell “normal” width, wide fit and extra wide fit. You can filter for them on their website. There obv isn’t as much choice as the normal width fitting but they’ve been a good option for my H+++ width boy. He likes the extra wide arch fit ones.

I thought about that but we might end up buying 4 or 5 pairs that are two narrow which is going to be more expensive than one that fits!