When should I be buying my baby shoes?

When should I be buying my baby shoes?

As Oliver has started standing and has taken those first few steps (although he isn’t walking unaided yet) my mind instantly turns to shoes.  When should we be buying those first shoes?  Currently Oliver is wearing pram shoes, soft soled ones, when we are outside.  They’re scuffed to buggery now, but they work as a good intermediate.  He loves walking holding our hands when we are out and about.  And taking his walker outside is his favourite thing to do!  Recently I’ve noticed more and more people I know with babies younger than Oliver are buying their babies proper shoes. They’ve only just started crawling, not even attempting to walk.  And I wonder why?

Looking online the guidance seems to be when your child has been walking unassisted for at least 4-6 weeks.  Bare feet is best inside, as it helps their little feet develop properly.  Apparently putting them in shoes too early, before they’re walking properly can squash their feet and stop them developing properly.  When your baby starts walking, Made for Mums recommends that if you do feel you need a shoe an early, soft soled shoe is best, with a soft bendy sole.

What I often wonder is why certain shoe shops will fit shoes for babies that clearly aren’t walking?  And why would you spend thirty odd pounds on a pair of shoes that you just don’t need?  Your baby needs their feet measuring every 6-8 weeks, and their feet can grow 2 sizes a year.  Why not hold off on the expense for as long as possible?

For now we are going to stick with our pram shoes, until Oliver is walking confidently on his own.  Hopefully he can hang on until it gets a little warmer and we can get him a little pair of sandals!

When did you buy your baby their first shoes?  Were they walking unaided?  I would love to hear your stories!

 

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17 Comments

  1. April 12, 2017 / 4:05 pm

    I bought my son his first pair the moment he started standing up. I made sure they were light but provided the right amount of support when he’s walking outside.

  2. April 13, 2017 / 1:07 am

    I always found the non slip socks to be better than the shoes. They grow so fast we couldn’t keep up, with anything lol

  3. April 13, 2017 / 6:58 am

    The first shoes I bought my kids were cruising shoes, I don’t think they were really needed but I liked the idea of them, so I’d say they were around 9 months old – the first proper shoes came at 11-12 months once they had started walking. Sarah #SharingTheBlogLove
    Sarah Stockley recently posted…Moomoo ponchos for kidsMy Profile

  4. April 13, 2017 / 8:56 am

    I have this debate at the moment. Zach has just turned 1 and has cruised around the furniture for months. This week he has taken a couple of steps by himself (eeeeek!) so I’m thinking of getting him some shoes soon. #sharingthebloglove
    Musings of a tired mummy…zzz… recently posted…Five things I can’t live without!My Profile

    • April 13, 2017 / 9:28 pm

      This is my exact dilemma! Oliver has been cruising since he started crawling at 6 months, so we have held out for a long time!

  5. Like Sarah, the first pair of shoes I got were cruising shoes. I didn’t get them until she was taking independent steps regularly inside. She would always just have bare feet or wear grippy socks inside until then. She had two pairs of cruising shoes which lasted her 2 – 3 months in total. Then she was ready for the harder bottomed shoes.

    I would recommend waiting until he is toddling a bit inside and then taking him to a proper shoe shop to get his first pair of shoes fitted. Normally the assistants know the right type of shoes to give them based on how long they have been walking and you know the fit is good!

    Exciting times! I love buying my daughter her shoes. We only ever get one proper pair at a time (she’s 26 months now) because they aren’t cheap. Then we have a pair of wellies and some ‘garden’ shoes as well which are just ‘off the shelf’ because she wears them less.

    #SharingTheBlogLove
    Angela Watling (Life, Motherhood and Everything) recently posted…Memories I want my daughter to haveMy Profile

  6. April 15, 2017 / 6:18 pm

    I know my family considered me really late to buy Max shoes – I followed the same advice and didn’t buy any until he’d been walking confidently for a few weeks. He didn’t have pram shoes though, which wasn’t an issue for me, as he refused to walk outside at all until he’d been walking a while – I just never saw the point as he would just kick off any shoes I tried to put on him. Thanks for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
    Katy – Hot Pink Wellingtons recently posted…#SharingtheBlogLove #40My Profile

    • April 16, 2017 / 8:29 pm

      At least there’s someone else who didn’t buy them for a while, everyone I know with children seem to have bought them before they’re even walking! Oliver’s shoes are like moccasin ones, but he absolutely loves trying to put them on himself (and take them off in equal measures!)

  7. April 16, 2017 / 9:27 pm

    Barefeet all the way as long as possible. Not easy when it’s not warm enough to let hem out and walk on grass barefoot. Even Clarks (who I don’t rate for shoe fitting) state 6-8 weeks after they’ve been walking to get proper shoes.

    N was 11 months and it was winter, so only really walked inside/at nursery, so he just had socks until 6 weeks. We did buy Clarks (to get the first shoes picture), but then always had barefoot shoes because I worked with a company who made them.

    It makes me so sad to see babies in pushchairs with trendy trainers on. Ridiculous and they can damage children’s feet. I’m not a fan of pram shoes either, but each to their own.

    • April 17, 2017 / 8:07 am

      We have the leather soled pram shoes, so they’re like moccasin shoes really. He didn’t wear them before he decided he wanted to walk outside as I saw no point putting shoes on a baby who wasn’t walking! But they’re nice and flexible and protect his feet from getting sore on the concrete (the one time I let him walk without them on he ended up cutting his toe!) I’m not planning on going to Clarks as I don’t really rate them for sizing shoes, growing up they were always the worst! And their boys selection is pants as well! Thanks for reading!

  8. April 17, 2017 / 8:00 am

    We kinda had this problem solved for us in that when Baby Lighty started walking, his feet were too little for proper shoes! Clarkes advised that rubber soles cruisers would be a good idea until he got more confident and until his feet were big enough for proper shoes. These seemed to work well. It was summer when he started walking so we were outside a lot so I wanted something sturdier than pram shoes in case he stepped on something painful. Thanks so much for linking this up to #DreamTeam πŸ™‚
    Mrs Lighty recently posted…How to get your Toddler Involved with the GardeningMy Profile

  9. April 17, 2017 / 5:44 pm

    I followed the same advice and my girls didn’t wear shoes until they had been walking for 6 weeks. It was a big moment buying their first shoes and I’ve kept both my girls shoes. Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
    Laura – Dear Bear and Beany recently posted…Living Arrows 16/52 {2017}My Profile

  10. Katie swinburn
    April 21, 2017 / 8:12 am

    I didn’t buy Hugo ‘a shoes until he could walk the length of the room (about 15steps) himself for the very same reasons. I then also brought him cruisers as they are softer and he was still crawling a lot.

  11. April 25, 2017 / 1:38 pm

    I think we were a good 6-7 weeks after first steps. She took first steps then didn’t walk for 2 weeks! That was mid Sept and we waited til first week in Nov so I say wait until they are easy to walk outside lots x #SharingtheBlogLove

  12. April 26, 2017 / 8:59 pm

    I completely agree Kipper’s really cursing now and will walk with a walker although we are a little off walking unaided. I brought Monkey his first shoes when he started running around properly and I mean really properly. Until that point I kept him in soft shoes for as long as possible. I intend on doing the same, its only when the weather is bad and they get wet feet that it becomes an issue! Even then I think you can get covers for them! xx #sharingthebloglove

  13. April 29, 2017 / 3:33 pm

    I bought tonnes of shoes before we needed them and they were never used. We didn’t even use pram shoes. Just socks. Peachy seemed much more comfortable that way. Now she wears shoes when we go out because she wants to walk but she’s not used to shoes so they make her walk a bit funny. I’m sure she’ll adjust. She has only been walking on her own for a few months. Sorry for the late comment. #SharingtheBlogLove

  14. May 9, 2017 / 1:42 pm

    I bought my son his first pair before he born. πŸ˜€

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