Shoe tutorial?

[pritchettzoo]

DD is trying to stand on her own and is cruising around furniture. At what point should I get her some shoes (other than Jack & Lily...I seem to have a few pairs of those lying about for some strange reason...)? What brands do you like? Any tips on sales, etc.?
Does your child wear shoes in the house or only outdoors? I've heard conflicting opinions on this.

We might try Nordstrom tomorrow if their sale's still on...

Thanks!

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

[blnony]

Audrey didn't start wearing hard soled shoes until she was walking really well, meaning I let her walk around when we are out and about. Until then, Bobux, Robeez etc worked great.
We started with Stride Rite's natural motion shoes just in a basic white mary jane and we still wear Stride Rite, Keds or Elefanten. Her feet are too wide for many shoes at Target etc. But just look for very flexible soles, thats the real key. But they don't need the high topped, tight shoes like the "old days." :D

[parkersmama]

Amy Grace was wearing J&L type shoes until she started actually taking steps without holding on. She is still doing some crawling but she does want to get down and walk outside so she is now mainly wearing a pair of Elefanten closed toe sandals. When we are indoors, I take the shoes off and let her walk barefoot pretty much exclusively. I think walking without shoes (of any sort) helps them learn how to walk because they can actually feel the floor and use their toes for balance and gripping. Even if she were learning to walk in the winter, I'd probably have her shoeless and sockless indoors for that reason.

I can't believe Gracie is just movin' along so fast! What a big girl!

[kaitlinsmommy]

Kaitlin's a runner now but still goes barefoot inside. My favorite shoes are the Merrell jungle mocs (Nordstrom's) but I like Stride Rite too. She has Kid Smart sandles from Target that are made my Stride Rite & they're great & much cheaper. I compared them to her SR sandals & they are exactly the same footbed/strap, etc.

I think flexibility is key.

[heidi_timms]

My DD has been walking for about of month, but just now is walking (really running) 100% of the time. She was cruising for quite a while, and then taking steps, and then crawling and walking and finally just walking/running! We let her go barefoot or with socks in the house and hard soled shoes are a must just recently.

I have a pair of Baby Smart sandals made by Striderite at Target ($9.99) because I knew her feet would be growing out of them quickly (a size 3) before I invested the big bucks in the expensive Striderites.

I just picked up some Striderites on Thursday at Nordstrom's sale-just $17.90. I saw them for around $29-32 at the actual Striderite store in the mall. Nordstroms has a great return policy. I would pick up a pair while they are on sale and just return them if they don't work out. I passed up a sweet deal on a pair of Elefanten's at Marshall's before summer started and I could just kick myself now.

~Heidi
Mom to Kailey Ashlin
4/27/03

[houseof3boys]

What kind of stride rites did you get at Nordies? I might go to the sale tomorrow! Ryan takes a few steps here and there, but is not yet walking and he lives in J & L's pretty much.

[heidi_timms]

Hi Debbie,

We got these Lou Lou II white sandals for Kailey. They have flowers and sparkly diamond-like stones as the center of the flowers:

http://www.striderite.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=250&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=4&iSubCat=25&iProductID=250

In another post, Carolee mentioned getting these waves II sandals for her DS. I'm not sure if she got white or the brown:

http://www.striderite.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=248&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=4&iSubCat=25&iProductID=248

It's worth the trip for the price! Mine were $17.90!


~Heidi
Mom to Kailey Ashlin
4/27/03

[calebsmama03]

Caleb didn't wear shoes (of any kind) until he was really walking, just in the past 2 weeks or so. I really like the preschoolians "watch me stand" ones. THey are so flexible but still have some protection for outdoors. They are pricey, so if you see a sale stock up on them! There was a post about 20% off through June (I think the code was bypopulardemand )
Lynne
Mommy to Caleb 3/3/03

[squimp]

Glad to hear you like the Merrell jungle mocs. I saw them on sale at LLBean in Marlton NJ for $20 last week. I just thought they were so cute - and I hope I got the right size for next winter/spring. got purple, but now I wish I had gotten a red pair in a different size, too :)! It's clear that mommy's shoe fetish has another outlet in baby shoes!

[pamela mom of 3]

My kids got shoes when they were walking alone, 'cause once they got legs they wanted to use them alot LOL ;)


However sometimes we still used robeez for outdoors at home and indoors.

Brand wise, well all of mine started out in stride rite starter walkers, although as with most things probably depends on what is available to you, other brands are certainly out there. Really i find it depends on what you require, some kids need special widths which can narrow your brand options.

As to indoors wearing for shoes, depends my kids did sometimes, my son was very attached to his shoes we had a hard time getting him out of them sometimes, heck even now as a toddler it still happens the odd day :D

HTH


~Pamela Mom Of 3

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