Wanting to buy some "real" shoes...need a 5W

[sparkeze]

DS has been in Robeez this whole time doing great. He's been walking for 4 months now and seems more ready to wear real shoes. I went to Stride Rite and the woman is telling me all this jibberish about how when babies first learn to walk they need ankle support. Well, first of all did she not notice my DS running all over the store in his Robeez? He's not really learning how to walk. Also, if humans needed ankle support to walk correctly how did we become bipedal? But anyways, that's besides the point. So I guess DS is a 5W but I really don't want to get those natural motion shoes. The tops dig into my DS's ankles. What other brands are there that sell a 5W? Preferably not a high-top style? My ped told me to skip the Stride Rites and get DS cheap, thin canvas sneakers but I can't find a 5W in those anywhere.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

[August Mom]

How about Keds? Those are made by Stride Rite, so they may have similar sizing. Just a thought. I don't know for sure.

[egoldber]

Sarah is a 4.5 wide, so I feel your pain. Actually, StrideRite has a LOT of styles in the natural motion shoes, not just high type styles. But I also found several shoes for Sarah at Target. They carry a "BabySmart" line that is made by StrideRite and have softer soles. They also have their own brand and I have pair of those for Sarah too that we wear to the playground.

I also got a pair of Nikes for her at KidsFootlocker that are just adorable. They come in wide and are my absolute favorite shoes.

Old Navy and babyGap also both sell canvas shoes, but maybe not in wide.

Oh, and Nordstrom has a pretty good kid shoe section, not all of which are outrageously priced. :)

HTH,

[sugarsnappea]

I can sympathize, my daughter wears a 7W and has a high in-step, making t-strap shoes impossible. :( Added to that, she has tibial torsion and requires flat bottom shoes so pads can be affixed her shoe. Shoe buying can be a nightmare!

I agree about going to Nordstrom, if you have one near you. They carry stride Rites, Keds and Elefanten in wides. Right now they are having a kids shoe sale and Elefantens are on sale for $27. I have also found these brands for under $20 at a Nordstrom rack.

As for Stride Rites, there are many other styles in the natural motion system that are not hi-tops-- have you seen the cute fisherman style sandals?

Good Luck. :)

[cara1]

I agree, skip the ankle support. I would've suggested a great blue canvas sneaker that we bought in March in a 5W called Baby Sparky. It is part of the Natural Motion line, but it's a soft canvas sneaker and really cute. Now we need 5 1/2 W, and I can't find it. The company won't be making them anymore. So if you can still find it in Matthew's size, grab it! We tried Keds, and they didn't fit as well; I don't recall why. But I'm going back there this weekend because he's growing out of his shoes! Oh, and the Gap doesn't have Wide. Good luck, and please let me know what you pick!

[sparkeze]

Thanks for all the suggestions! The lady at the store told me that sandals and other low-top shoes are not a good "first" shoe. And she told me that Robeez are only good for pre-walkers. What does she know? I feel like I'm missing something - she kept referring to my DS as learning to walk, therefore I need a supportive shoe. Maybe I think he's a good walker but he's really not?

I'll have to check out Target's selection - no Nordstroms in town here. Although I did look at their website and everything was in the Stride Rite price range. But guess where I went today - Payless. They have a couple shoe styles that come in wide sizes and the prices are low. So I tried a couple pairs on DS there and the most flexible ones were hi-top style, which didn't work for DS's chubby ankles, but I did get him a pair of sandals (not wides though) that have velcro adjustable straps at the ankle and toe area (teva-style) so I fastened the toe one loosely and it fit great. And it was on sale for $3! So I had DS wear them at home to get used to them and he didn't want to walk. He just stood there. Is this normal? Later on he did walk a little but he kept tripping on them, which I'm sure didn't make him want to walk more. So I ended up putting the Robeez back on and off he went running. Are shoes just something that he has to get used to? He loves Robeez and I do too, but I wanted to get him something with a thicker sole. Maybe I'll try Soft Star shoes... or maybe it isn't necessary to get him real shoes yet? Or has anyone tried the rubber soled babyshoos?

I met a mom and her little girl at a park the other day and she had started walking a month ago and had on her Stride Rites. She walks really slow. Is that the shoes? My DS runs around so much that it was really strange to see him walk slowly...but maybe it's normal? I just don't know!! I mean, everyone says barefoot is best - but then why do babies need to wear real shoes?

[Melanie]

Nikes at Mervyn's/Kohl's etc. Wide/lowtop/flexible...

Now that I have 2 hands and not a sleeping baby...just to clarify, they seemed to only come in wide-widths in this style. They were white leather with either velcro or laces and the trimming in navy/white/pink.

They've worked well for Ds and seem more flexible than the stride-rite first walkers high-tops.

[LisaS]

Learning to walk in shoes takes a little while to get used to. My DD was walking great barefoot and in babyshoos, and when I put her in shoes, for the first few days, she did fall a little more and walked a little funny. But after the first 3 days, she was fine and has been running all over in her shoes ever since.

Oh, and babies need to wear real shoes for two reasons:
1) b/c there are lots of hard, sharp things on the street, in the park, at the mall that they could step on and potentially go right through their soft-soled robeez or babyshoos and hurt themselves. Once they are really running everywhere, they need protection.
I wouldn't walk everywhere in my bedroom slippers so I shouldn't expect my DD to do the same.

2) babies feet typically have raised arches before they start walking and even in robeez or babyshoos, they don't have a chance to really settle down as everytime they go over a bump or different textured surface, they grip their feet. In shoes with a real sole, their feet have something flat, even and harder to press down on and they can get more leverage in walking this way than they can when their arches are raised and toes are splaying over everything. Its important to have the barefoot experience at first so they can learn to get their balance and actually walk, but once they do so, its time to move into a real shoe.

[egoldber]

I leave Sarah barefoot at home, but when we go outside to play we wear shoes. Like LisaS says, there is lots of icky stuff out there. And it is perfectly normal for there to be an adjustment period where your child had to re-learn how to walk with shoes.

HTH,

[schums]

He might be having trouble with the sandles. My ped says to stick with closed toe shoes for a while. Apparently, when kids (and maybe adults) wear sandles, you unconciously change what your toes do when you walk, and this can cause some problems, even for kids that are already walking, like your DS.

Sarah