Shoe Sizes

I see babies all the time when I'm out and about in cute little shoes. My babies hardly ever wear shoes. They have some that were given to us as gifts or as hand-me-downs, but I have not felt it necessary to spend the money buying two pairs of shoes for babies that don't walk yet. I guess I have shoe anxiety - am I a bad mom for not investing in shoes for my little ones?

They are just starting to crawl, so I think I have time before they need shoes for walking, but when I go to buy shoes - how do I know what size they are? Anytime I have looked at shoes in a store, I'm at such a loss as to what size they are. Parker has really rolly-polly fat feet and Abby's are fairly lean, but I think they are similar in length.

Any advice??

Thanks again!
Jessica

 

I just bought my boys both a pair of sandals. They are super cute. Anyway, they only wear a size 1 which the box said was for 6 weeks-3 months. Well my boys are almost 6 months. I guess they just have little feet. So my advice is don't go by what it says on the box. I would definitely try them on their feet before purchasing.

 

Babies really don't need shoes until they're walking -- to protect their feet. Even the shoe manufacturers say that barefoot is best! For what it's worth, I have one pair of shoes for my girls that we use to keep their socks on when we go out. They never wear shoes in the house, and they're starting to learn to walk right now.

If you want to buy some soft soled shoes like Robeez just because they're cute, you can usually pick by age. 0-6 months, 6-12 months, etc.

Whenever you do decide to get sized shoes you can get your kids feet measured. Stride Rite has in-store measurement and an online tool you can print out too. Preschoolians has a tool that you can print out or that they will mail you for free. They also give a 40% discount on all orders from families of twins.

 

We didn't wear shoes until they started walking. And even now we don't wear them every day because they are rarely walking around when we are out places. Sizing is totally confusing to me too. The girls finally fit into their 6-12 month size Robeez. I don't know what that translates into 'real size' but I know the shoes they got for their birthday from our friends are WAY too big (they say "size 6/12-18 months")- they might fit into them a year from now.

 

I'm kinda a shoe freak, but more so when we leave the house. My boys seem to have a thing against socks & constantly tear them off, so I will use the Robeez (I buy the generic Ministar brand) around the house, too. They wear the 6-12 mo Ministars & they have a pair of Size 3 shoes from Target (that don't stay on super well but by golly are they cute!) & I bought them sandals from Baby Gap to wear this summer in a Size 4. So, we'll see!

 

I loved Preschoolians for my son and they sent me the measurer thingie in the mail so I just measured his feet and then ordered. They are a little pricey so once I knew the size I would order off of ebay also. But the best bet is to just have them with you and try the shoe on. I also know Payless has a shoe measurer at their store too.

 

My DD wears size 1 and my DS wears size 2. But even then different shoes are too big or too small. I would recommend just trying them on. My DD has size 1 that are too small and one pair of size 2 taht fit. We usually wear them to church and once in a while when we go out to keep socks on. I do have some sandles now taht I will probably have them wear all summer. My DS likes these better than the other shoes.

 

Mine almost never wore shoes (they were barefoot even in the stroller) until they were both walking and they moved to the toddler room at daycare. There they are required to have "hard-soled shoes" (i.e. not Robeez).

I had no idea what size they were either, so I had them measured at a shoe store. Since then, I've just gotten them the next size up whenever their current shoes seemed too small. It did take me a few bad guesses before I figured out what type of shoes fit them best -- especially that Sarah needs shoes that open up very wide or they don't go on over her fat feet.

The "month" thing for shoes is just a rough estimate. The range can vary hugely -- my kids were a size 2 at 12 months, which is comparable to the 0-6 month Robeez.

 

I didn't get the boys shoes until they were close to walking--they were destroying their feet/socks crawling outside on the asphalt at about 11 months. We took them to Stride Rite. Their first shoes were something like a 4 XXW. I would recommend heading to Stride Rite--or any children's store that actually fits their feet. My friend couldn't figure out why her daughter refused to walk with her shoes on, turned out they were 1 1/2 sizes to small. It is really hard to fit little ones, unless you know what you are doing, and fitting them properly, especially at the beginning is very important!

 

We got our boys measured at Stride Rite recently. At 9 months, Jacob wears a 4 and Jackson, who has HUGE (long) feet, wears a 5. I think it really depends on the baby. Like others said though, Robeez are great and easy to choose the right size because it's easy to tell where their feet are in them (they are soft all around). They are pretty true to age measurements, too.

 

These shoes are Robeez style, cute, and affordable when you have to get 2 pairs. This is what my girls wore (if they wore any shoes) prior to walking. They hold up well and she ships fast. I found them to run big. You can also get these style shoes at Target, BRU, TRU.

http://stores.ebay.com/kids-garden_W0QQcol...0QQftidZ2QQtZkm

 

When my boys were about 3 weeks shy of a year, I bought them their first pair of Robeez and that was only to keep their socks on at daycare. Now that they are in a toddler 1 room at daycare and the other kiddos are walking, I put them in hard soled tennis shoes because I don't want them stomped on (they are cruising and trying to walk) plus my daycare requires it once they are in the toddler room. Otherwise I never put them in shoes before that and at home they never wear shoes.

My boys were wearing the 6-12 month Robeez and wear a size 3 in tennis shoes. I take them with me to try on shoes because there is such a huge variance in sizes/fits. I have a pair of size 4 for each that I bought at a consignment sale for later this summer...they are no where near that size yet.

 

I need shoes just for the fact that we are at the ice rink all the time with my older boys. The babies feet get so cold. Now that it's too warm outside for their buntings, I have to use jackets, thus the need for shoes. I found a really cute pair of soft soled shoes at The Children's Place. I ordered the 6-12 month size online with their sizing chart, but right now the 0-6 month size fits the twins. You can actually feel where their toes are in the shoe since they are soft. If you don't want to spend the money but still want to get a good size, I would go to someplace like Stride Rite. Then you can go look for shoes elswhere. But just like adult shoes one size in one brand isn't necessarily the same in another. Hope you enjoy your shoe shopping.

 

I have a ton of shoes that were given to me for Beau but he has yet to fit but one pair and he hated them. We just never put anyting but the Robeez on them and those were given to us as well. I have not bought any shoes just yet. I like the Robeez the best right now and size is insane to figure out. Oh i take that back i bought a pair of croc type mary janes for Savannah in size 3 and no way will they fit her. She has long slender feet and Beau has chunky wider feet like his dad. He wears a 3 i think... I know i have some sandals in size 4 and 5 and i bet there is no way he will wear them this summer...