Leather Shoes

I kept my son in leather shoes until he was 2 years old because he kept standing up on his toes and walking. He needed the heel weight to walk right. Once he started walking right, we put him in sneakers that fit him perfectly. He had a double wide foot, and his foot is still wide. Hope this helps.
S. T.

My son LOVES to wear shoes -- he would clomp around all day in them if I let him. He's been in baby Merrell's since he started to walk and those shoes are great! They even have waterproof baby snow boots! You can get those shoes online or at Track N Trail (Lakeside Mall). My doc said my son was just fine in those, so do what you like and what you think is best. I refuse to put my child (and myself even) in cheap shoes. I honestly believe that is where a lot of problem lie when people complain about their feet. I've bought nothing but good branded shoes for myself and do not have problems any longer. So in following my own advice, I won't put my son in cheap shoes either. Yes, they grow out of them quickly, but I feel quality is more important. Go with what you like -- that's when you'll feel you're making the best decision.

I'm a mother of three daughters, all grown now, but my pediatrician suggested sneakers rather than hard shoes when they need to wear shoes. Otherwise, he said "let them go barefoot". With my granddaughters, they wear sneakers or those little socks with the non-skid soles. Hope this helps.

A.-
As my uncle would tell us (and he's an orthopedic surgeon, so I figure that he ought to know), if your child is walking, protect their feet with socks or soft leather shoes, but something that will allow the foot to correctly flex as naturally as possible. They won't really need hard-soled shoes until they're running around outside, where the need to protect their feet is greater. I raised all three of mine this way, and my daughter ran cross country practice barefoot (much to the chagrin of the coach!), and came in as rookie of the year for her freshman year of high school!
If you're looking for good supportive shoes, try Stride-Right or Buster Brown (I don't know if any shoe stores still carry Buster Browns, that's an 'old-time' brand!) Just make sure that the sales person is fitting the shoe correctly. (In fact Nieman Marcus is famous for their children's shoe department, and their sales are always great!) Good luck
L. M in Almont

Hi A., Mix it up! Sneakers, harder soles, soft leather and tons of bare foot time. Bare feet are the best developmentally for a new walkers strength and coordination with feet, ankles and leg muscles, but time in all soles helps with accepting difference and change. Your little person will become comfortable walking in anything. She'll also let you know what she likes best by removing the ones she doesn't like! But introducing a variety early will expand her tolerance horizon. Have fun....remember, girls love shoes! Brin

Both my husband and I have flat feet. I had to have special order shoes as a child and we always went to stride right. When I noticed that tendency in our boys along with their extra wide feet, I went to stride right. I actually took my 18 month old to see a podiatrist because he is pigeon toed. I told him I have always kept him in stride right shoes. The doctor said that is great-those are the same shoes he puts his boys in. They don't really do anyhting for the pigeon toedness anymore-just keep them in supportive shoes.
Not the exact same situation as your but for what its worth!
A. E.

Hi, As a mom of 3, I would say make sure she is a solid walker, those sneakers can be heavy!! Try the lightest hard sole you can find, maybe even try a shoe specialty store, however, just practice with her small doses at a time until she gains walking confidence in them. The worst thing which is almost unavoidable is a goose egg, but prolonging will always make a Mom feel better! I do know this for sure. Good Luck and do remember that she will be in sneakers for the rest of her life!! As a teen she will not wear boots to keep her feet warm, she will want the sneaker that looks cool!! Everything with kids is just slowly but surely!

My daughyrt wore robeez forever then I switched to stride rites because I thought it would be better well it kinda is their shoes are good quality but their expensive and because they grow so much you buy them alot. With summer coming along alot of the stores have those little canvas shoes which are light weight and that shoe would be a good transitioning shoes necause shes so use to wearing lighter shoes to jump right into a heavy shoe may make it hard for her to either walk or want to try. Good Luck

M.
www.4parents.biz

As soon as my son started walking at 13 months he wore all kinds of shoes. Mainly tennis shoes, hiking boots and snow boots in the winter. I actually never put either kids in soft leather shoes, I'm a tennis shoe kind of girl:-)

My pediatrician told us that when our boys got the hanging of walking down it was time for regular shoes.

My youngest still wears those wonderful soft leather shoes and she'll be two next month. However, our pediatrician has always said: No shoes before they're walking. Regular shoes once they are walking. Our daughter also has been wearing regular shoes. Especially boots for winter.

My daughter wore leather shoes until about 16 months when I went to Stride Rite and bought her a pair of flexible soled shoes. It took her a few minutes to adjust, but she does very well with them. I found a pair I liked on the clearance rack for about $25, which was a bit much, but not too bad. The full price was $45. She has been walking since 11 months old, and I figured now was a good time to get the rubber soled shoes since it is winter and she will soon not want to be carried everywhere.

my kids wore shoes only if neccessary..

as soon as my daughter could walk. she wore shoes outside- of course with hard soles.

they generally dont wear shoes inside.

shoes worn inside just make lots of noise wehn they tromp through the house.

Personally, if she is walking fine I would think that it is okay to switch her over. I would go for the tennis shoe as they are more stable and will support her ankles more. Besides, at almost 2 years old, she is going to be running a lot outside and she is going to need the padding from the ground. You can feel the rocks and hard ground through the soft leather. Protect her feet--that's as good an argument as any.

I went to stride rite because my daughter has wide feet and I couldn't find shoes anywhere to fit her. It is a bit pricey, but the shoes are made really well. They do have sandals there that offer support as well, but my daughter isn't walking by herself yet. Once I put the tennis shoes on her, she really started working on walking. I could tell that she was more stable standing up and I'm sure she feels the same way too. My son could fit into everything but I always put him in tennis shoes as well. My theory is: if I'm not going to buy crappie shoes for myself, why would I buy them for my children, especially when they are growing and learning to walk?" I don't buy super expensive shoes-can't afford that. However, I buy something that will last and that I can pass along to someone else or save for my daughter.

Good luck with the debate.

I only buy Stride Rite and we switched my son over once he was an accomplished walker and been doing it for a while (24 months or so).
End the arguement easy. Robeez now makes "Tredz" with a rubber sole. I went to Stride Rite because I love their shoe quality (price is great if you can find outlet store for them in your area) and they measure your children's feet to make sure they get EXACTLY what they need width and length.
Good Luck,
C.

as soon as they start running i put mine in nike thet all have great feet

My Dad used to sell shoes. He told me to put my boys in quality shoes as soon as they started to walk. On the flip side, I was also told by others to let them walk barefoot as much as possible so their feet wouldn't be confined as much. I'd go with your gut and see what's out there in quality shoes that fit your daughter.

Good luck - S.

My children are all grown, but at the time I was having the same dilemma, all the moms in my Le Leche League group said that barefoot/soft shoes/just socks are fine. Shoes are to protect their little feet. Whatever change you make, be sure the shoes fit properly...no toe crunching, heel rubbing etc.. and be ready for a few little stumbles as she gets used to something more solid on her feet.

Hi A.~ I guess I never realized there was controversy with putting hard soled shoes on your children. My boys 5 and 4 were wearing hard soled shoes by the time they were 6 months old. I feel these really helped them learn to walk. They both were walking at 10 months. So I say put them in hard soled shoes whenever, but you need to do what you feel is right for you!

Check the stride rite website - http://www.striderite.com/custserv/whystrideritemain.jsp?...

My daughter is 9 now, but I remember relying on the stride rite system to know when it was time to transition my daughter from one stage of shoe to the next.

Hope this helps!

Any time!!!! Our daugther was in sandals, tennis shoes, etc. as soon as she could start walking well on her own. Our Ped. told me it didn't matter what kind of shoes that she wore (I was concerned about arch development), that he arch would develop on it's own. He said we didn't need to buy expensive shoes - the cheap ones work just fine so we bought most of her shoes at Walmart and Target.

J.

I believe it's when they are walking that you can put hard soles on.

Some stores even call the soft shoes "pre-walkers".

I found excellent shoes at Target (in the shoe dept. on an end cap) that have firmer/hard soles, but they are still very flexible (my husband really wanted the flexible shoes so I was so excited to find these). They range in price from $6.99 - $13.99. My daughter started walking when it was starting to get cooler outside so I wanted her to have more of a protective shoe and these were perfect. If you want a more expensive shoe, Robeeze now has a line called "Treads" which is the same idea. Good luck! :)

my twin girls are 6 months and i put them in hard sole shoes just a few weeks ago. i did the same with my 7 year old and it helped them walk a lot easier.

We asked our doc when our daughter started walking (around 11 months) and she said put her in hard soled shoes but only on unfamiliar territory (i.e. outside, different houses). She also said to make sure there is about a half an inch in the toes because babies will curl up their toes, this makes sure they always have extra room. Another tip I got from my aunt is to tap on the bottom of the shoes if she's curling up her toes when you put them on. You could also call your doc and see what they recommend...

Hope this helps!!