Question about shoes

leslieb923

Silly question so forgive me..... 

LO is cruising around the furniture and the pack n play, but not walking unassisted yet.  Do I get shoes now or wait until he takes those "first" steps?

When I went to the Striderite store to look around the salesman said either now or then, it didn't matter.  He also said he would put him in a sneaker, not those cute little white shoes.  Did anyone start off in a sneaker?

TIA! 

BrideBuddies

The main thing is that you want "early walker" type shoes.  They have a very flexible soft sole of plastic or rubber and it's much better for beginners.   Not the super-soft leather/Robeez type of sole for pre-walkers--these have a little more structure to them.  

StrideRite is good, but expensive considering you might get a few months out of them.   I found some soft soled shoes at Target on sale for about $11.  C's worn the crap outta them and they're just about done.. just in time for a bigger size, anyway.

Oh.. and velcro is your friend.

fiazo

I got PediPeds as her first shoes. They were like $29 at Buy Buy Baby. Not stiff, but not like the Robeez.

peeper72

Ada had some soft-soled shoes to start with. We decided we needed them when she was cruising all around the airport in her socks. Gross. So she started wearing shoes when we were out. At home, no shoes usually. 

 

God, I loved those shoes: 

https://thefirstwalkerssell.blogspot.com/2011/04/robeez-mini-shoez-kids-3d-mouse-mary.html 

JKohio

We did soft soled Robeez. I bought most of them on sale at the local Stride Rite Outlet store, but also bought some online thru Amazon, IIRC. My kid (age 2) still wears soft Robeez as slippers around the house.

stever

We went to Stride Rite after he started walking while holding hands and got him their early walker sneaker.It looked a lot like a rock climbing shoe and worked out well.

Pesky

Both of mine started off in Stride Rite sneakers, the early walker ones that have a bit more flex but are still hard-soled in comparison to Robeez and the like.  Honestly I think that helped both of them walk more and feel a bit more secure, although DD preferred low-tops and DS preferred a bit more ankle support.  I just watched how they moved in the shoe after it was on -- if they were taking off, that was the right shoe.

Peppernut

Until yesterday, Margaux has only had sneakers.  Getting the sneaks now means you can let the baby cruise around even when you're outside!

Piranha54

we have saucony sneakers from the local shoe place that my family has now officially bought shoes at for 4 generations!  They recommend these and I think they're comparable to the stride rites people have mentioned.  And they have baby dansko's just waiting for when she gets a little older!  We have also gone through several pairs of robeez and will probably get a few more.