Toddler Shoe Recs

sundaesprinkles

Logan started walking over the weekend! Yay! Now we need to buy him some shoes.

I have looked around a little bit on stride rite and pedipeds websites. I saw some really cute ones on stride rite's website. I was looking in particular at their shoes for new walkers. Well I printed out their size guide and measured his foot. (He was not in the best mood at the time so I'm going to try again in the morning.) He seems to be a 6.5 or maybe 7. And the stride rite shoes for new walkers only go up to size 6. So I guess if we go with stride rite we will have to get the ones for confident walkers. I'm not really sure how much this all matters though. 

Anyway, does anybody want to recommend their toddler shoes? Did you buy just one pair or two? I'm excited to buy him real shoes but I know those little feet grow fast...

bumpuser3155624

I think they recommend the early walkers so that the soft sole helps their feet develop. I'd think if you did barefoot time at home you'd be fine being in the confident walker to start.

FmrAFBrat

I like going to both Stride Rite & Payless since they measure their feet. It's really hard to measure their feet on your own & get the right size.

Stride Rite (in store) should have some options with a thinner sole. Payless has a Smart Fit line that's great for early walkers, and has the same shoes as their Teeny Toes line in sizes 4 & under.

ALP514

I agree with going into the store to measure. We tried measuring at home and got a way off size lol. We started with the early walkers from stride rite. She had about 2 pairs of those and then we started to get regular shoes. 

For the summer my favorite ones for her are the nike sunday protect. They are water proof and super comfy. We also got really cute sandals from payless. 

smg2302

We just went to Stride Rite over the weekend to get DD some sandals.  They measure and show you what works based on watching them walk.  When DD first started walking, I just used what shoes I thought fit her but she was getting a rub.  Definitely go get measured.

jedimindtrick

Ditto Stride Rite. Their early walker shoes are great. They will measure them and said that once they have been walking for 2 months then you can put them in hard soled shoes. But they should be in the flexibile early walkers til then. Their shoes aren't cheap but they're good. I have J in stride rite early walkers now. Once he's in regular, harder soled shoes I'll prob buy shoes at target and what not.
I also like that stride rite has half sizes. I would buy one pair of the current size and a pair half size up. You could prob buy harder soled shoes for the half size up bc they told me they size up every 2-3 months

BananaLettuce

Stride rite or Pedi peds. 

PumpkinAndThePeanut

I love See Kai Run shoes and i know they make sizes 6-7 and up. My current problem is finding half sizes. E is between a 5 and a 6 right now. I just ordered her a pair of Pumas and a pair of Pedipeds and I hope they fit well!

Edit - if you buy See Kai Run shoes from their website they always have a sale page and you can get some great deals.

PumpkinAndThePeanut

Early UO - maybe it's because I am looking for girls shoes, but I never like any of the Stride Rite styles. Anyone else?

sundaesprinkles

Thanks guys. I will definitely go in and get him measured. Maybe I measured incorrectly and his foot isn't so big after all!

@jedimindtrick Good tip about buying two pairs, one being a half size up. I will probably do that, especially if we decide on Stride Rite since they are having a sale right now. 

sundaesprinkles

PumpkinAndThePeanut said:

Early UO - maybe it's because I am looking for girls shoes, but I never like any of the Stride Rite styles. Anyone else?

So just for fun I decided to look at the girl stride rites (early walkers). Whoa, there is a lot of pink. But I thought these were cute:

ETA: Ok I just checked out See Kai Run and they have lots of cute ones for girls in a bunch of different colors, so I see why you like them!

tee18

We have found stride rite at Marshall's and Burlington for really good prices. The soles are removable so you can have LO stand on it to see if it's the right size if you don't have a stride rite near you. It has a line on it that their toe shouldn't pass when you buy them.

memcgee1

Just out of curiosity, why is Stride Rite such a preferred brand of children's shoes?  Do they facilitate walking better than other brands?  DD just started walking, and so far I've only had her in a couple of different pairs of shoes I picked up at Target.  I guess I didn't realize there was a big difference. 

PumpkinAndThePeanut

Some shoes are better and that's why they're expensive. Certain brands are recommended by the American academy of podiatrists and Stride Rite probably are (so are See Kai Run). I think Stride Rites are usually just very accessible and easy to find in stores and that contributes to their popularity.

memcgee1

PumpkinAndThePeanut said:

Some shoes are better and that's why they're expensive. Certain brands are recommended by the American academy of podiatrists and Stride Rite probably are (so are See Kai Run). I think Stride Rites are usually just very accessible and easy to find in stores and that contributes to their popularity.

Gotcha.  I've tried looking for both Stride Rite and See Kai Run locally, but I live in the middle of nowhere, and the nearest stores with both of those brands are 70+ miles away.  I'm not confident enough to accurately measure DD's feet and buy online, so we've just had her in cheap shoes for now. 

tee18

memcgee1 said:

PumpkinAndThePeanut said:

Some shoes are better and that's why they're expensive. Certain brands are recommended by the American academy of podiatrists and Stride Rite probably are (so are See Kai Run). I think Stride Rites are usually just very accessible and easy to find in stores and that contributes to their popularity.

Gotcha.  I've tried looking for both Stride Rite and See Kai Run locally, but I live in the middle of nowhere, and the nearest stores with both of those brands are 70+ miles away.  I'm not confident enough to accurately measure DD's feet and buy online, so we've just had her in cheap shoes for now. 


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I mainly prefer them because they're so flexible. He has an easier time with them. He has a pair of nikes from his uncle that he can barely walk in since they're so stiff. He does ok in a pair of sandals from payless, but not as good as in the early walkers from stride rite. I search for them at discount though ($20 at marshals).

snowgirl427

I'm another Stride Rite fan. J never liked shoes, but he really loves the stride rite shoes, so that is what we are sticking with. I would only buy one pair though. Getting them measured is a huge part of it. J was so much bigger than we knew!

BabyChickpea

Pumpkin- I totally agree!

I'm a big fan of Pedipeds. They are more of a foot protector as opposed to shoes that are more "fitted". My little guy is barefoot unless we are playing outside. I also love See Kai Run once they are older. Check out tinysoles.com They sells lots of brands and are wonderful to work with. They frequently have 20% off sales too. The shoes ship fast and come wrapped up cute with an organic lollipop to use as a distraction when trying the shoes on your child. (little guy doesn't know that last part because mama enjoys it during nap time!) I have no affiliation with Tiny Soles just a really happy customer

HZ2012

You also want to get him measured to see if he needs a wider shoe. LO has pedipeds that aren't wide and fit him fine. But when I went to stride rite for sandals, he needed the wide because the leather is hard and doesn't give at all.
The woman at Olly gave me a helpful tip: whenever you leave the house, even if he's just gonna be in his car seat or stroller, put his shoes on so he gets used to wearing them whenever he goes outside of the home. She said some kids go through an adjustment with shoes.

MAdams728

L did really well in a pair of Keds when she first started walking. Plain, old school white Keds. Now she has a pair of Stride Rite and also Champion tennis shoes from Target, and I honestly don't see a difference between them, except for the price.

john5111

I had him measured at stride rite and then found them online for half the price:) I want to say 6pm.com or something..

BananaLettuce

I also have a hard time finding stride rites in stores around here. I have gotten lucky with finding some good prices on Amazon and Zulily. My sister ordered HC pedipeds online. they are expensive but a good early walker shoe.

rebaann

sundaesprinkles said:

So just for fun I decided to look at the girl stride rites (early walkers). Whoa, there is a lot of pink. But I thought these were cute:

I just got that pair (and two more) this weekend!  I love Stride Rite.  We have/had the opposite problem; she started walking early and it was hard to find anything other than a crib shoe in her size at the beginning. 

I did what someone else suggested and got two pairs for now and one a size up for the day I wake up and none of her shoes fit.

rebaann

We had some Pedipeds early on that we also loved.  Got them at BRU.

babyo52

LO just started walking over the weekend, the problem we are having is that her feet are so small the only thing we can find are crib shoes. Her feet are measuring at a 2.5/3. Last weekend we did pick up some Stride rites that fit well. we had pedipeds as well and really like them. they seem very durable.

Shelenec

Pedipeds are on zulily today. It looks like they have some bigger sizes in the soft sole.

BananaLettuce

Pediped is on Zulily today. I also saw some Stride Rites (use the search option).

sundaesprinkles

Ok we have a complication. We drove all the way to the Stride rite store about 40 miles away today. We ended up not buying anything yet because they have cuter styles online, and also because of another issue. As I expected, he is too big for the early walker shoes. He's a 6 1/2, and the early walkers only go up to size 6. 

First we tried the stage 3 for confident walkers in his size 6 1/2. He just stood there I guess too afraid to move and then he just started crawling down the aisles. He wouldn't walk in them. We tried the sixes in the early walkers anyway because he's kind of in between sizes just to see if he would walk in them, but he still wouldn't. I'm sure they will take some getting used to. But I'm wondering if I should go with a different brand that has an early walker shoe in his size? 

I just checked pedipeds website and they seem to have 6 1/2s in the early walkers, but I'm not sure if they come in wide, which he needs. 

flyliceandcoffee

i think not wanting to walk when they have shoes on is normal because they can't feel the ground as well. When S started walking she did the same thing so we just randomly put shoes on her feet just to get her used to it and eventually she got up the confidence to walk with shoes on and now loves them. 

We actually have the opposite problem of you all where S has itty bitty feet and we can't find shoes that actually fit her for walkers. We're in between size 2 and 3 and almost all early walker and even confident walker shoes are from size 4 on.

FmrAFBrat

@sundaesprinkles‌ Check out Payless. They have SmartFit & Champion shoes that are thinner and similar to Stride Rite. You may also want to see if there's a local children's shoe store that can help you.

Not trying on shoes usually ends with having shoes you aren't able to use. Or at least that has been my luck.

PumpkinAndThePeanut

I agree with @flyliceandcoffee‌ in that at first having shoes on their feet throws them off and they usually get used to them pretty fast. However since Logan JUST started walking, I would probably find him some early walkers in his size.