Another Shoe Thread

My 15 month olds wore soft soled mini-stars last year. Once summer hit they wore hard soled sandals. Their physical therapist said to get them into hard soled shoes. I don't even know where to start because I just hit payless and Rogan's and I found squat that I liked. My girl is in a size 2 but Id get her a size 3 and my boy is a 4 but id get him a 5, they are just both that close to outgrowing their current size.

Where do you recommend buying toddler shoes from!? I want something reasonably price but also cute!

 

Do they walk yet? If so I swear by stride rite... definitely not cheap but I think it's important for them to have good shoes when they are still new walkers... plus they will measure their feet for you too.

 

This is interesting because my understanding of the most current view on this is that barefoot is the best, followed by soft soles, and then hard soles. I'm getting this info from a friend of mine, whose father is an expert at fitting orthotics and just retired and worked at the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic(I can't remember the actual name for that occupation right now.). Anyways, this is interesting because I still physical therapists recommending hard soles, so what's the real deal here?

I guess maybe there's some confusion over what hard means. I bought some Robeez treads for $16 at the Stride Rite outlet, and I would consider those shoes to be softer soles, but they are not hard and they are not hte leather bottom shoes like the Ministarz.

My friend was telling me that you should be able to double them over into a U, and if you can't do that they are too hard.

If you want really hard ones that barely bend, I found some I thought were pretty hard at Payless. However, my boys also wore a 5.5 at the time.

 

I could be totally off base here but I thought that the soft sole vs. hard sole thing had to do with what stage they were at for walking?
While my guys were really learning to walk, I stuck with Stride Rite for the fit/correct support/more flexible soles but now that they're steady on their feet I'm considering a less expensive shoe. I've heard good things about the Payless SmartFit brand. I think I might try those.
Even if you don't buy shoes from Stride Rite, I would recommend stopping in and getting their feet measured there so you can be sure to get the right size (in both length and width).

 

I'd agree with the pp. (previous posts) barefoot even now during warmer months, robeez prior to walking. My one daughter has sketcher brand running shoes and she is running. My other daughter has balance issues/ not sure yet what the problem is... but she works best with more flat bottom shoes like a tennis shoe. She has a very small foot too size 3 and I find these shoes give her a larger base for balance. I do give her lots of barefoot walking as well. I try to get her either barefoot or into shoes (depending on the temperature in the mornings) as soon as I can in the AM. Her p.j. feet are too slippery and makes her more unstable.

 

Good lord, my grammar was awful and and and

 

We had good luck at the outlet mall. We got sandals and beach sandals at the Stride Rite outlet and tennis shoes at the New Balance outlet. 6 pairs for under $100. We've found shoes at Payless, Rack Room Shoes, and the Ross/TJ Maxx/Marshall's stores as well. The outlets were by far the best prices and best selection.

 

I would think that a physical therapist is recommending hard soled shoes due to the specific issues of the child and the support they particularly need. As for where to get shoes, I still swear by stride rites. I found that they last the longest, hold up the best, and fit the best. Every time I have gotten my boys a pair if "cheap" shoes, they are truly cheap and either don't fit well after a few weeks or just fall apart.

 

Stride Rite! There is a reason that they've been the "go to shoe" for like 100 yrs! I know they were the first pair of shoes I had!

 

My kids are usually barefoot as we stay in the house a lot. We also have a pair of childrens place crocs that we love, and were fairly cheap. We bought the kids the soft motion stride rite shoes at $45 dollars a pair, they out grow them soo fast, I find it hard to spend that much on a pair of shoes every couple of months... I have a pair of shoes that I have had since HS (6 years ago) that were that much, and they still look pretty good. I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of money every couple of months on shoes. I too went to Payless, and found diddly squat. I am thinking ebay will be the best bet, we just got some jumping bean shoes from Kohls normally 26 dollars ea. They were on sale 2/19.99, and I had 10 Kohls cash, so I got two pair of shoes for 10 bucks! Can't beat that.

 

I found some of these Robeez Treads (w/the hard but bendable sole) at Ross for $6 or 7 ... retail was $30-40... they were in a baby section, not in the shoe section. they seem to bend as much as the Stride Rite ones I've got... ours wear shoes so rarely that I can't see spending much on shoes yet... but when they do start wearing more, I think I'll be getting quality ones and just having them wear the one or two pairs all the time... and not worry about them being a fashion statement...

 

At this age, we get all our shoes at Stride Rite. They have a sole for new walkers that is hard but flexible, and then a firmer sole for good walkers. They are expensive (in the $35-45 range) but you can find good sales. We just got ours buy one get one half off last weekend.

We've had some of these too, and I find them very comparable to the Stride Rites. You can find good sales online sometimes.

 

This is my understanding of what you want at this age - but it's still a "hard-soled" shoe in my mind - as opposed to the leather soles?

 

If there is a stride rite outlet around you it might be worth it... I bought two pairs of $50 shoes at $30 each two days ago (might be the labor day sale though). The good thing with stride rite is that they sell pretty well on ebay once the kids outgrow them. The only time I bought shoes at payless it cist $24 and they fell apart after a month (it was Champion sneakers).