Kids shoes..

s4uv3

I'm a bit clueless about kids shoes. Help!

My daughter will be 2 next week and I've always bought her Clarks shoes, because they're 'good shoes' and I'm scared witless of putting her in crappy shoes that will do damage.
Am I over-reacting? Are there cheaper brands that are just as good? Do we really need to fork out 50 quid every time she needs a new pair?

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If your in Dublin drive 45 minutes to Clarke's outlet store in Kildare villlage

s4uv3

Alexandria Uneven Memory wrote: »

If your in Dublin drive 45 minutes to Clarke's outlet store in Kildare villlage

Opposite end of the country, but thanks!

punisher5112

Nothing wrong with mixing it up a bit.

I kept the Clarks for school.

They are absolutely up there in my view with best shoes you can buy and very comfortable.

Runners and other shoes at that age will in my view be fine as there is no weight in the child.

They will wear anything to be honest.

School shoes is clarks for us.

Sundew

Most of my kids shoes are Clark’s/ start-rite with a mix of Penney’s, Next and Dunnes thrown in for good measure but I don’t pay 50€ for em. I shop ahead in the sales and have got several nice pairs of Start- rite in TK Max. Clark’s usually have good sales but you need to get in there early to get the sizes.

Hani Kosti

How about ordering them online or in sales? You can buy the foot gauge in Clarks for €12 so you know the size is right. I refuse to pay €40ish for pair of shoes that last 6-8 weeks (or 4 during some crazy growth spurt)!

borderlinemeath

I buy clarks but only in the sale! I get her measured in store and buy if they have decent reductions and if not I buy online or the outlet online and get them delivered through parcel wizard.



I'd buy her the odd pair of nike runners in the outlet and the one time I bought her a pair of boots in Zara the soles split far sooner than they should have. Crocs for the summer holidays in TKmaxx or online.


I wouldn't put her in shoes from penneys or dunnes purely cos I wouldn't wear them myself. I worked on my feet for 18 years and need decent footwear with good cushioning.



https://www.clarksoutlet.co.uk/c/all-girls-styles

Neyite

I found clarkes to be useless with my toddler, totally fell apart way before they should have. So I swapped over to StartRite and they are indestructible. I've just got him a new pair today and the old ones are WELL battered but still holding up, just grown out of them. For the price you pay for "good" shoes they should hold up until they grow out of them.

He's got wellies for mucky play and cheap runners / fake crocs from M&S, Pennys or Dunnes for spring/ summer.

cyning

Good shoes but not necessarily Clark’s: superfit are a better fit than Clark’s for my wide footed girl, Startrite for my narrower foot girl. We do Asics runners. For “pretty” shoes whatever they want. Normally something sparkly with as much glitter as possible and preferably pink!

Neyite

Oh, I should have said, there's a way you check the fit lengthwise in a child's shoe (I fitted children's shoes in a previous life):

Open up straps /laces as wide as they go, put the shoe on and push the foot down towards the toe so the baby's toes are at the top of the shoe. A man's pinky (or I use my middle finger) should fit down between the heel of the shoe and the baby's heel. That's the correct amount of room for growth and comfort. Any more than this then there's the potential for the arch support to be wrongly aligned or that they trip over their shoes, ìf you can't get your finger in it's time to start planning the next pair.

Kids and toddlers have a tendency to curl up their toes when you are trying to feel where their toe is using your thumb on the external upper so make them stand up when you do it so they can't curl those toes

Let them run around the shop in them as well to make sure you are happy with the fit.

The gauges have a built in growth allocation so the number they measure on the gauge should be the same number on their shoe. So for example if they are measuring 6 and a quarter, then going to a 6 and a half is fine, but 7 might be straying into clown shoe territory. I have experience of a shop trying to ensure a sale by telling me that he needed a size above what he was measuring because they didn't have his size in stock and I had to return them after he face planted at home a few times. Like clothes sizes, shoe sizes can vary between brands so use a Clarkes gauge for Clarkes shoes, Startrite for Startrite etc, and make sure they measure both feet as not all kids feet are equally sized.

To be honest, a cheaper pair of shoes usually don't do any harm if they are the correct size, but being barefoot as often as possible is healthiest of all. Long periods of time in a shoe can cause harm but that would be where the child is wearing them literally all their waking hours and are wearing shoes too small for them.

For sandal wear in the summer without socks I found a trick that works brilliantly at preventing blisters - rub the inside of the strap and the skin where it might rub with Vaseline, and repeat for the first few wears of the new shoes. It also works for grown up's and our stupid but gorgeous strappy sandals as well.

Digs

Clark’s in this house for a “good” pair too and always in the sale! After Christmas I got a pair each for my older two and only cost me €24.
Otherwise we get dressy shoes/plimsoles/wellies in Next or M&S

mirrorwall14

Startrite or Clark’s here, generally in the sales and usually only one pair at a time. So far we’ve avoided any other runners etc. (He’s four). And no shoes in the house. Nor in the back garden in the summer