Questions about Preschoolians

My twins are 14 months and they recently started walking pretty well. So far they've been wearing Robees, but I want to get them shoes that they can wear outside. I saw that Preschoolians has a twin discount so I've been thinking of buying them, but I've only seen these shoes on the internet, never in person. I was hoping that I could get some feedback, both positive and negative, from people who have tried these shoes. Are there any styles you would recommend over others? What's the difference between the Preschoolains for walkers and the Preschoolians for runners? Also, can you buy them in stores, or only on the internet? My last question, my DS has wide feet, have any of you used Preschoolians on kids with wide feet? Thanks so much!

thea
misha and cyan

 

My twins are 14 months and they recently started walking pretty well. So far they've been wearing Robees, but I want to get them shoes that they can wear outside. I saw that Preschoolians has a twin discount so I've been thinking of buying them, but I've only seen these shoes on the internet, never in person. I was hoping that I could get some feedback, both positive and negative, from people who have tried these shoes. Are there any styles you would recommend over others? What's the difference between the Preschoolains for walkers and the Preschoolians for runners? Also, can you buy them in stores, or only on the internet? My last question, my DS has wide feet, have any of you used Preschoolians on kids with wide feet? Thanks so much!

thea
misha and cyan

 

I ordered them once. They are only available online. Overall I didn't like them because they had horrible customer service. One of my sons shoes fell apart shortly after we got them and they didn't do anything about it. They do come with different inserts for the foot widths. If your kids have wide feet go with a model that has elastic on them. For us we decided to switch to stride rite since we can get the locally and they hold up to wear and tear better.

 

I might look really stupid when I say this, but I have never heard of them... from the time mine began walking I just bought them regular shoes from walmart and they walked just fine in those.

 

Mine wear Preschoolians. I love everything about them. We're going to be ordering their second pair in a few weeks.

The measuring device makes it so easy to get the right size. The boys bring it to me and sit in my lap holding a foot out to be measured because they think it's fun It's also reassuring to me to have the peek-a-boo window so I can easily tell that they fit.

I went with the design your own sneakers. They've been worn outside regularly for 4 months now, put though the paces by busy climber boys, and even chewed on -- they're scuffed but otherwise look brand new. They are very well made.

My boys wear the shoes for walkers. They started walking very early and they do run a little now but I don't think they need the extra cushioning of the running/jumping shoe yet.

 

I've never heard of these shoes. I bought the cutest little shoes at Osh Kosh but had a bad experience the other day. One of my boys just started crying on the way home from an appt. He cried all the way home! I tried drinks, snacks, clean diaper, etc. when I got home, I took him in his room and snuggled him on the rocking chair as I started to take off his shoes. He whimpered loudly. I examined his toes and found that he had curled them in the shoe. My daughter had put them on for me and hadn't noticed. There was a crease along 3 toes. OUCH!!! The little preschoolians look interesting. I like the idea of the window underneith the shoe.

 

Thanks for all your responses. Preschoolians offers a 40% discount off the entire order for twins, so I wanted to give them a try. But I've never ordered something like shoes before without at least looking at them first.

thea

 

We love Preschoolians. When the girls were still crawling a little bit, I did have some problems with the toes on the shoes getting worn out but they company always replaced them. My girls were in different sizes so I only got one pair in each size and then handed them down to Sierra when Ainsley was done with them. Each pair of shoes lasted through both girls and some are still in good enough shape for another kid. At that age they really go through sizes quickly so it doesn't bother me to hand down shoes.

The "running" soles are a little thicker than the "walkers" and have a little more tread in the toe area. For new walkers, the walking shoes are better and really allow the babies to bend their feed correctly. While I have been able to find some flexible shoes at shoe stores, but none of them are a flexible as the Preschoolians. My girls have even gone hiking in them and it protects their feet well while still allowing proper muscle development. Preschoolians has a pretty good return policy so you may want to order a couple of pairs and try them out inside for a day or so. You can return them if you don't like them.

One of the best things about Preschoolians is the view window on the bottom. It allows you to see exactly where the baby's toe is in relation to the end of the shoe so you never have a kid growing out of shoes without you knowing it. Pushing on a kid's toe in a regular shoe is a pretty inadequate way to find out if the shoes are too small and it's extremely common for young kids to be wearing shoes that don't fit because their parents just don't know that they've grown. We have some normal pairs of shoes that other people have bought and I've been caught off guard by the girls growing out of them a few times. Wearing shoes that are too small is so bad for their feet.

 

THea - how do you get the 40% of discount? Thanks, Mary

 

To get the 40% discount just email them a picture of your twins and ask for the discount. Here's their website with the info:

http://preschoolians.com/faq.asp

thanks again for all the responses.

thea

 

I have a couple pairs. Honestly I am not to fond of them. I prefer Pedoodles or Pedipeds. I just ordered two new pairs of pedipeds to try out, but I would have ordered more pedoodles if they came in more styles. Everyone is always complimenting the girls' shoes, and they took to walking in them right away. Pedipeds offer free shipping on two or more pairs, I'm not sure if pedoodles offers a twin discount, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

 

For the most part we've loved our Preschoolians. I had a little trouble with a pair of the pull-on sneakers (they had elastic "laces") - they were really hard to get on. Now I buy the styles with velcro closures. We do have one pair that has such a tiny piece of velcro that they didn't stay closed at first - once the leather broke in and softened up it was fine.

Now that their walking is more established I'm starting to buy some less expensive shoes (even with the twin discount the Preschoolians are pretty pricey) but with the early walking I felt that good soft shoes were very important.

-Rachel

 

I love them! We are on our 3rd pairs now. I really like the viewing window on the bottom. I read that some huge percentage of adults have feet problems because they wore shoes that were too small when their feet were developing. This window takes out the guesswork. The shoes are really cute too! If your kids have wide feet, that's not a problem because each pair comes with 3 different insoles that will accomodate different widths. The shoes are made of soft leather and they look really comfortable.

Our first pairs had laces, which I wasn't crazy about because who has time to be tying four shoes (plus your own) before leaving the house? The velcro ones are much more convenient. These are the ones my boys are wearing now.

I haven't had any trouble with the customer service. In fact, I thought it's been pretty good.

Michelle

 

I have been buying Preschoolians for my girls and they have wide feet. I use the wide footboard and they fit fine. I also have twins in different size shoes, so after I bought them each a pair using the twins discount, I have only been buying one pair at a time. I hand Bea's shoes down to Ainsley. I found someone on eBay that sells what I am guessing are returns or discountinued styles. The shoes are all brand new, but you can get them for like $15 a pair. I think the eBay seller is "Preschoolians_barefoot_is_best", something like that. The first pair I bought was the Design Your Own. Expensive, but I really liked those best. I think the leather they use is softer or something. The subseguent shoes I have gotten in the "sport slip-on" style, the leather seems to be stiffer and it takes several wears before I can get the shoes on easy.
I am also still getting the "Walking" shoes, haven't moved up to "Running/Jumping" yet. Figure I might get those in the spring when they are walking outside more.