Recommend good shoes for little feet

cassoppea · June 2012

A is finally outgrowing her size 2's and needs a new pair of shoes. Since she is walking I'd like something with more support. I really like the Keens and Merrels for summer but these all start at size 4. Any suggestions for shoes like these (they are sandals with good support) for smaller feet? It seems like all the stores that carry anything less than size 4 sells just "prewalker" soft soled shoes. We already have sneakers for her but I'd prefer sandals because they are easier to get on and can get wet.

nfrtny · June 2012

I really like DS's Robeez. They are soft soles, but DS hates shoes that aren't soft soles and he walks the best in these.

LaRue86 · June 2012

We were having the same issues. I did find that the Sperry Crib Shoes have an actual Sole, rather than the completely soft sole with the Robeez. Avery is only a 3 in most things, except Nike, which runs small, so you may want to look at Nike Sandals in a size 4.

CarlaAndJames · June 2012

See Kai Run's regular line (we're still using the Smaller soft soled line) goes as small as size 3, maybe that's an option? (not all of them do, but i see some on that page that offer size 3s)

https://www.seekairun.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action&category=SKRN&keywords=Girls

AshleyPT · June 2012

What do you mean by support? As close to barefoot as possible is really the best for toddling babies. So soft flexible soles are good.

LauraOTR · June 2012

My LO has a pair of Osh Kosh sandals in size 3. They seem pretty supportive.

mamarazzi528 · June 2012

AshleyPT:
What do you mean by support? As close to barefoot as possible is really the best for toddling babies. So soft flexible soles are good.

I have heard that the best type of shoe once they are walking are Stride Rites:

https://www.striderite.com/store/SiteController/striderite/category?catId=cat1530399SR&

The "Step 2 - Early Walkers" line starts with size 3. My LO isn't walking yet, so we're still using Robeez soft soles. Once she's walking we're buying these.

I've heard good things about the See Kai Run brand too.

Joyfullnoise · June 2012

We got striderites. Styles are limited in the tiny sizes for super flexy soles for walkers. I like that his toes have a rubber bumper and decided fit and flexibilty over fashion?

gymnst1013 · June 2012

cassoppea:
A is finally outgrowing her size 2's and needs a new pair of shoes. Since she is walking I'd like something with more support. I really like the Keens and Merrels for summer but these all start at size 4. Any suggestions for shoes like these (they are sandals with good support) for smaller feet? It seems like all the stores that carry anything less than size 4 sells just "prewalker" soft soled shoes. We already have sneakers for her but I'd prefer sandals because they are easier to get on and can get wet.

*steps onto soapbox*

Babies (anyone really) don't need support for their feet. Supportive shoes actually hurt us more than help us. Our feet evolved to work perfectly without support and the support in shoes messes up foot development, alignment of various joints, etc. We are much better off going barefoot.

That said, there are situations where we need shoes. For those situations, in my opinion, it's best to use "barefoot" type shoes. Merrell does have some but not sure about baby sizes. However, Preschoolians offers custom made shoes (as well as non-custom) and you can get them in whatever size you need.

/soapbox

cassoppea · June 2012

(Yikes didn't mean to start anything.) By support I meant just hard soles because the soft shoes are not appropriate (IMO) for walking around outdoors. While I agree that barefoot is best, and I keep A barefoot as much as possible, sometimes she needs to wear shoes that will protect her feet from getting hurt. Yes our feet are made to be barefoot but in the world we live in its just obviously not safe to go around barefoot. Anyway thank you all for the responses! I will look into all of them.

ETA: Took a look at all of these shoes. Stride Rite early walkers are good but they aren't really good for getting wet unfortunately. I actually like the Preschoolians, but I'm trying to justify spending $40 (eek) on a pair of shoes for 3 months. I also need to check out the See Kai Run but they appear to be mostly leather.

AshleyPT · June 2012

cassoppea:
By support I meant just hard soles because the soft shoes are not appropriate (IMO) for walking around outdoors. While I agree that barefoot is best, and I keep A barefoot as much as possible, sometimes she needs to wear shoes that will protect her feet from getting hurt. Yes our feet are made to be barefoot but in the world we live in its just obviously not safe to go around barefoot. Anyway thank you all for the responses! I will look into all of them.

As a PT I'm in big time support of soft soles. So I'm honestly curious as to what a hard soled shoe protects against? When Zoe walks outdoors I feel like her foot is protected in just a sock (prevents scrapes on pavement).

cassoppea · June 2012

Ashley, I'm more worried about glass, rocks, sharper things, etc. What shoes do you recommend then?

CarlaAndJames · June 2012

Our soft soled shoes are pretty dang thick on the bottom. It would take a huge shard of glass to go through them. I feel very comfortable letting her walkou outside in them.

cassoppea · June 2012

CarlaAndJames:
Our soft soled shoes are pretty dang thick on the bottom. It would take a huge shard of glass to go through them. I feel very comfortable letting her walkou outside in them.

I will check them out. We do have soft soled Robeez - are these thicker than those? I can tell you honestly, I personally wouldn't want to walk around in Robeez shoes.

CarlaAndJames · June 2012

the pedipeds and see kai runs we have are a lot thicker than robeez! Robeez are kinda like moccasins on the bottom. The pedipeds have pretty firm, thick leather. it would be really hard to puncture them.

hollster8 · June 2012

If you don't want to pay $40 for baby shoes, I found some at Babies R Us that were really similar to Robeez/Pedipeds. They have a soft, flexible, thick leather sole and they're only $14. I got a pair for DD and she can walk really well in them. $14 is still kind of a lot for shoes that only last a couple months, but it's better than $40! They have some pretty cute styles, too.

cassoppea · June 2012

CarlaAndJames:
the pedipeds and see kai runs we have are a lot thicker than robeez! Robeez are kinda like moccasins on the bottom. The pedipeds have pretty firm, thick leather. it would be really hard to puncture them.

I'm going to get the See Kai Run shoes. They actually have a bunch on Amazon for a pretty decent price. The soft soled ones you are referring to - are they the "smaller" line? Do they run true to size?

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