another shoe question

kknapp25 · January 2012

just seeing sarapick99's post on baby shoes made me think of another ?. we don't normally put p in shoes, just because he likes to curl his toes up when you touch his feet so shoes are sometimes difficult to get on him. but now that he's standing/scaling things we would like to get him a pair for when we go out somewhere.

what type of shoe are you guys using on lo right now? hard soles, soft soles? isn't that a debate that changes periodically? and if you went with a hard sole, how do you know if it fits them? p's headed to the pedi this friday for his 1yr well visit so i was going to ask the dr then but figured i'd get other mommy's opinions too!

debperdoo · January 2012

K is walking and has been so he had hard sole shoes now. We bought a kind at walmart - they have a see through section on the bottom that shows the shoe has room to grow, perfect fit and too small. I am not positive what the brand is though.

MarSamWhitney · January 2012

an honest question, what is the debate on hard/ soft shoes? I have never given it a thought. She wears tennis shoes from walmart when we go out, but they never stay on long. So I guess mostly her shoes are for looks right now anyways.

SweetHurricane · January 2012

DD only has one pair right now. I didn't want to buy a bunch just to have her outgrow them. They're soft soled, from Carter's. After she outgrows these, we will probably switch the flexible rubber soles.

This site has a pretty good selection of leather and rubber soled shoes:

https://shooshoosusa.com/products.php?cPath=51&osCsid=c55167ec87c2360b6575c5cfef152d93

kknapp25 · January 2012

thanks debperdoo & sweet h for the shoe suggestions! like you, we're just kind of looking for something to protect his feet/socks when we're out, keep him from getting dirty, etc. so we need to do some experimenting.

and marsamwhit- i don't exactly know the whole shoe debate thing, i've just heard there's a lot of back & forth between hard/soft soles. here's a clip from a website: ( i personally think it'd be impossible to get a hard sole shoe on p right now, they seem so stiff & he's a fighter. maybe once he's standing better & can actually put pressure on his feet to help get each foot in a shoe.)

Soft sole vs. hard sole

There are two opposing opinions regarding soft sole and hard sole shoes. Soft sole enthusiasts argue that there is such thing as a shoe with too much structure. If a child wears a shoe with built in arch support, a heavy solid sole, and lots of structure, the need for the child?s own muscles to work to find balance and strength is diminished. Their feet rely on the strength of the shoe, which impedes the development of muscles in the foot and ankle. Soft sole supporters also argue that a child should be able to feel the ground under his or her feet, as this allows for better balance and grip.

Supporters of hard sole shoes say that shoes with structure help to prevent foot problems such as flat feet, pronated feet (the falling in of an ankle) and the turning in our out of feet. They also argue that a hard sole serves as more protection from harmful objects like glass or sharp rocks, especially if the child is outside or on the playground. Both sides of the debate have valid points, but choosing a side may not be necessary, as many shoe companies have designed shoes that are a happy medium.

MarSamWhitney · January 2012

Gotcha. thats interesting. I never considered it.

pixieprincss · January 2012

We are in the soft-soled shoe camp for now. We'll rethink it when he's running. I am in love with Robeez--the real ones made of leather. Many of the knock-offs are made from synthetics which don't breathe and don't have the same degree of protection on the soles. Also, the elastic that is around the tops is good quality and gives enough to get the shoe on easily, even for my little toe-curler. Because Robeez aren't cheap, we get ours on consignment.

Mom2Mack1 · January 2012

She's been walking for a while, started with soft sole. Like pp, I LOVE Robeez, bought a used pair on eBay cheap. We also have two mary jane style soft soles from Target, they are fine but in the beginning she wouldn't leave them on. Now she mostly wears a pair of tennis shoes, I have some hard soles in the next size up that I bought on eBay.

I like the soft soles because it was easier for her to walk in them and get up after she fell down. It seemed with the hard soles her feet got tangled around each other when she tried to get up.

mommajen8 · January 2012

She has 2 pair of Robeez and 2 pairs of Skidders. I like both of them.

ffejsGirl · January 2012

We have all different pairs, soft & hard soles. I'm in the what looks cutest with her outfit camp. I love those from Wal-mart that you can see the sizing on through the clear cut out. Em still wears a size 2 and looks like she will be for awhile. I get a lot of her shoes at consignment because they are in such great shape at that size. She's walking now so I always put shoes on when we are going somewhere.

jcole32444 · January 2012

We are using stride rite, step2 shoes. They have a soft, flexible rubber sole. Jay can walk well in them and they are very easy to get on. Probably the easiest shoes I have ever put on him. We wont be doing hard soles for a while.

freeatlast2014 · January 2012

We have Robeez, sneakers from Stride Rite, and of course Daddy bought a pair of Timberlands. The Tims are not my favorite as I think they are quite heavy...Robeez are soft sole and to me seem like a slipper, but I love the Stride Rite ones. They are more in the middle.

However, he hates having shoes on so I really don't put them on all that much. I can't tell you how many times I've had to go searching around the store for the shoe that fell off while he was sitting in the cart. When he starts walking I will definitely need to rethink this.

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