when do they need to start wearing shoes?

GeminiKMP-C

Lilly has a drawer full of shoes she recieved as baby shower gifts (seriously, like 15 pairs!) and she has never worn a single pair.  I'm sure she doesn't even fit into some of them anymore.  What she has now are more for cutsie looks, but when do they need to start wearing good shoes? 

She doesn't even roll over yet, so I'm sure she has a while, but I'd like to know for the future:)

ncsubride

Mine still don't wear shoes.

kelly&marty

A friend of ours called all baby shoes "sock holders," because that's all they're really good for. That's all we used them for until Oliver started walking. He wouldn't keep socks on his feet and it was winter, so if we went out, I'd put shoes on him. Also to daycare.

Now that he's walking, he wears shoes. Our ped said it was important that when they start walking to only wear soft soled shoes, very flexible ones like Robeez or Pedipeds because it's actually better for them to feel the ground. He said barefoot is actually best for learning to walk, but not practical if you're outside. 

Snugs99

DS wears the cutsy ones for now (and sometimes he even kicks those off).  I would think when they start walking??

SuzP

I put DS in shoes early, more for me than for him.  I think he started wearing them at six months.  With DD, I didn't put shoes on until October, so she would have been 10 months.  At that point I put her in Shoo Shoo's which are a lot like Robeez, once she really started walking and had a good grasp on it I switched her to Stride-Rite's.  She's been in those for about three months. 

bride2003

DD1 didn't wear them until over a year when she started walking and the weather turned colder.  As the pp said, soft soled shoes like robeez are preferred.  Shoes on little ones are not necessary, more for fashion than anything. I think they're a pain so rarely put them on unless they came with the outfit.