Baby Shoes?

Stride Rite is very good, but there are others out there who make first walkers and are very good companies too. Baby Deer makes some and they are less expensive but still very good quality. In northeast Miami Dade, they can be found at a small childrens shop in Bay Harbor called ManyBabyThings.com

I would stick to the Stride Rite shoes you can find good deals on them but you need to shop around. I never put shoes on my daughter until she was well on her way to walking and then she only put them on when we would go out.

I was under the same impression about all that support issue, but also remember hearing barefoot was the best thing for new walkers, so I was confused. My daughter hated wearing the Stride Rite shoe because they had too much support and were too bulky. I stumbled upon these shoes called Pedipeds, she loves them and they are Pediatrician reccommended. They say are next best thing to barefeet. They are a little pricey, $30 but better than stride rite and I got mine on Ebay for about$22, brand new. Check out Pediped.com. Good Luck with your baby shoe search!

I guess I am the black sheep of the group because I have used all kinds of shoes and have never had any problem. My son is 26 months and he has worn sneakers, flip flops and sandals, NONE were Stride Rite, and he does not have any problems. In fact, he is very athletic and active. He started walking at 8.5 months. And, Stride Rites are so damn expensive, for something they'll only wear a few months.

I also have 2 nephews and they wear NON-Stride Rite shoes too. One is 6 and the other 3, they have never had a problem.

I like some of the Stride Rite styles, they have some cool looking shoes but not for that price. I guess if you are rich you can buy them. I, for one, am not. I have found very cool and cute shoes at Baby Gap, Old Navy and even Payless.

I have a friend who buys Stride Rite, but only because her son's feet are extraordinarily wide and it is very difficult to find shoes that fit. But she would prefer to not "have" to buy there because of the prices.

I guess if your doctor says there is a problem and you need special shoes then you have no choice, but the way I look at it is, children walked just fine before Stride Rite.

There are my 2 cents.

I vote stride rite- you can go & get him measured/fitted & then go online to buy the shoes
there's zappos.com
endless.com (I think they price match!)
shoebuy.com (ir you go to www.msn.com & scroll down to the bottom right hand corner, look for a box labled 'shopping' and then look under 'advertising' you'll see a link for 'shoe sale 20%off & free shipping' this brings you to shoebuy.com! click to get to their site & find the discount! check back often to find deals there!)

even amazon.com has deals on striderite

I *also* vote soft soled shoes LOL! these are good for indoors & shorter periods of time- bobuxusa.com, robeez & target has a line made by bobux!

I've heard rave reviews of pedipeds, tip toe joeys (sold at babystyle.com and more...

Hi Kristi,

My pediatrician says your mom is right (as was my mom!). You need to take your son to Stride Rite and have him properly measured and fit for the shoes. My son is 17 months old and if I think I will have a hard time, I take him when he is sleeping (during his nap time) and Stride Rite will measure him and try the shoes on while he is sleeping. You can't buy the shoes too big or they won't fit well now and will hurt his ability to walk and his developing feet.

Get on the Stride Rite mailing list and they will send you postcards of the sales. Also, buy the clearance shoes. Our first pair was $42.00 but we haven't paid more than $24.00 since then. Robbie is wearing a 4.5 double Wide now. Sometimes he can wear the shoes for 4 months, other times it is only 3.

If you try the shoes on at the store and have the time on your hands, you could look for them online at other locations to see if you can find them cheaper (outlets, discounters, etc.)

Good luck! C.

hi Kristy
I have recently moved here from England and the advice there is not to buy shoes until they have been walking for a week or two. But then you really should get his feet properly measured for both length and width as it is very important for the development of his feet at this stage to wear the correct size of shoe. I know the shoes are expensive, especially when they wear them for such a short time but I personally think it is worth investing in them. And sometimes you don't get the really cute ones that you like because they don't fit his feet properly- I had that all the time with my eldest daughter.
Anyway,thats just my feelings on it - hope it helps. A.

I took advice from my sister on this one... she's a physical therapist that specializes in pediatric gait correction. (She has focused her masters degree on correcting club foot in non-surgical techniques and worked with many pediatric orthopedic surgeons, too!)
I asked her about the necessity of buying Stride-Rite (or similarly $$$ brand name) shoes. Her professional opinion was that is entirely NOT NECESSARY. Therefore my daughters first hard soled shoes were a pair of white leather Keds that went with everything! Infants are better off learning to walk bare-foot. But when you must shoe them up to leave the house chose whatever shoe you'd like... just make sure it fits length and width. (The soft leather shoes are great, too... Target makes some that cost less than Robeez.)
Although we can afford to buy Stride Rite shoes, the budget minded consumer in me shops at Payless or Rack Room shoes--especially when they have the buy one get one sale. (Buy a pair you like in two sizes!)
Target and Walmart have good selections, too (Oshkosh dress shoes are cute)... I tend to stick to the leather shoes because I want her little feet to breathe more naturally.
You'll notice growing spurts in shoes the same as clothing... You can take your son into Stride Rite for sizing...
Happy shoe shopping!

Most experts are saying that the best way for babies to learn to walk is in bare feet. Obviously, that is not always practical, so we bought our daughter soft leather sole shoes for outside. I think they were between 14 and 24 dollars.

we only buy stride rite. i know, expensive but our ped. recommended just stride rite
also, just this summer i realized they get from time to time great deals. like i got both of mine sneakers for half their price, meaning 24.99 each and this was in july. so maybe shop for deals

Kristy,

As a mother to 3 boys, I made the mistake with my first 2 and bought regular shoes and I can see a difference in the way they walk compared to my third. I only by stride rite shoes for him, I have from the beginning and these other moms are right, it makes a huge difference right from the start.

Good luck!

S.
SAHM of 3 boys

Barefoot is really the best for babies. If he's not running around the streets and needs hard soled shoes then why buy them. Robeez, pedipeds are great shows for toddlers that just need something on their feet but not hard soled shoes for real outdoor running around.

It is true you need to be careful about the type of shoe that you put your child in. If a child is not walking, it is best to leave him shoeless for the most part. When my kids started walking, I visited Stride Rite, researched what they recommended for the stage my child was at (ie: walking, running) and then went to a more reasonably priced store and bought a less expensive comparable product.

Stride Rite shoes are nice, but quite pricey. When I bought my son shoes I made sure that the sole of the shoes were flexible. (And roomy enough, but not too big). I actually found some fisherman sandles from Osh Kosh at Target for about $13. If you really want to get the Stride Rite shoes, you can check out Marshalls, they sometimes carry them (usually only 1 or 2 styles) for around $20 - $30. Also, Dillards carries them, and they occasionally have them on sale. I also have a friend that buys Stride Rite at Nordstroms (still pricey) which is actually a little cheaper than the Stride Rite store's prices.

If your son isn't really walking that much, I wouldn't buy the expensive ones just yet. As far as size, when my son was wearing a size 4, I would buy 4 1/2 so that he could wear it a bit longer.

Hope this helps...

~C.

Hi, I'm a mother of three each are a year apart. Buy your son half a size bigger than what he wears. If the shoe is to big he won't be able to take good step and will fall. I recently went to the RACK ROOM OUTLET at the Prime Outlet Mall and the shoes there are cheap. I mean NIKE sneakers for $15.00. Only buy one pair of sneakers at a time, may be a pair of sandals. His foot will grow fast some months and slow on another. Hope this helps.

Elba

We only purchase Stride Rite! They are the "Best" shoe you can put your child in at this early stage. Pricey but for a "Great" quality shoe for your little one. Never put your child in a tennis shoe (as a beginner) he/she will need all the support to assist in walking.

R. G

Hey Kristy,

I know about shoes. I didn't get Christian shoes till he was walking and I only put them on for outside. Inside I let him go barefoot. They say its better for the foot. its the arc. Christian does wear stride rite and the only reason is he is an XW. just recently I brought him in for sizing and he is now W and you can find baby shoes anywhere that are w (sears, Dillard, Jcpennys). I was also told that the shoes Robeez (http://www.robeez.com) are real good. You can get one cheaper version at Target for $12. They have them in the Boynton mall at Finish line. they are cute they can be sporty.
I hope this helps
M.

Hey Kristy,
Remember, they are just shoes! I strongly agree that children should be in barefeet when possible and wear shoes that support their feet well when they start walking but as far as the type of shoe, well it all comes down to whats the best fit for you and your son, (size wise, style wise, and price wise). When my son started walking I let him walk in barefeet or slipper shoes like Robeez when possible. Since then he has worn everything from flip flops to sneakers to church shoes and he can run and jump just great in them all. He had one pair of Stride Rites when he started walking but they were so clunky with all the extra support that he prefered to wear his crocs instead so what can I say. Im sure Stride Rites are great shoes but they are not the only shoes out there. Somone commented earlier on the fact that they didnt have Stride Rite when we were kids, and we turned out fine! :)

Best of luck!
~Amber

You can get Stride Rite shoes at a decent price at Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise. They have a great store and if your child needs wide size, they have wide and Xwide. You should measure your baby's foot at the store and could plan for future shoes. Normally, at that age, they need a new pair of shoes every 4 months or so. And, yes Stride Rite is a great shoe because it gives good support and the shoe is supple, which they need. I have to say though that my kids have shoes from Stride Rite and other stores but I normally prefer the shoes from Stride Rite. If you are not too far from Pembroke Pines, there's a kids shoe store (Wee Feet) on Flamingo Road and Sheridan St. They carry Stride Rite but their prices are a bit higher than the outlet store at Sawgrass. Good luck!

Check pediped.com.Only $30 when I got them .
I used them when my son just started walking now that his turning almost 2 I used any shoes that looks comfortable in his feet.

Hi Kristy,
Although my children are grown I rememder buying them their first real shoes.I agree that Stide Rite is the best place,they have people trained to fit the shoe properly.Width is very important and little feet tend to be wide and they have all widths available unlike other places.Remember those little feet will take your little boy many places through his life,so why not start him off right.
Sincerely,C. G.

I don't think you need to buy Stride Rite shoes either. It is the TYPE of shoe you put on that can cause damage. If your child is not walking yet and you are putting shoes on purely for looks, just be sure they are SOFT soled shoes (like the Bobux shoes- but you can find those way cheaper in a lot of places). Once they are at the age where they can pull up and are about to take some steps, they say the "walking" shoes are best. Those are the ones that have the very flexible soles, but they have some grip on the bottom so the baby doesn't slip all over the place. Then once they are walking, then you can buy the regular shoes. I hope this helped. Just keep in mind, who cares where you buy your shoes or how much you spend. It just matters that you be sure the sole isn't too hard for the stage of walking. And in my opinion, I hated the Stride Rite shoes. They hurt my daughter's feet, and in my opinion, most are kind of ugly! LOL.

Your mom friend is absolutely right - it is very very important to buy good shoes - let your baby go barefoot until he walks - but then buy GOOD SHOES - Stride Rite are the best. It really does make a difference - you are right -they do outgrown them fast, but it is worth the investment - and keep them when he does outgrow them, in case you have another baby - save you $ the next time around!

From what I've read, you shouldn't put new "walkers" in sneakers. They need support, proper arch, etc.
We always put our son in Stride Rites up until about 6 months ago. He's 4 1/2. Honestly, I wouldn't take a chance on his feet, arch, stability, support, that's why we kept him in Stride Rites.
They start the new walkers out with the white baby shoes.

Hope this helps
There is a great Stride Rite store in West Boca. Arthur is the owners name, i think it says elefant or something outside the store. He has been in the shoe business for years!