Durable Sneakers

What part of the shoe is wearing out?

Is it what he is doing when he is wearing them? (Wearing out the toes, for example, on the swings, or dragging his toes when he walks?)

Is it how he puts them on? (For example, is it the heels that are breaking down because he tries to put them on without untying or loosening the shoelaces?)

Take a look at his shoes and see what it is that is wearing out.... and try to address that problem.

don't buy filas.. my son wore the sole of his filas.. they still fit but the soles were gone.

I have had good luck with nike.

Also... I was at target the other day.. they had el cheapo shoes on clearance.. I bought him shoes in the next 3 sizes for $6 each.. so even if he wears them out I wont care much.. I paid $30 for the filas he wore out.. I really wouldn't spend a lot of $$ on kid shoes if he wears them out so fast.. I would buy cheap ones..

We've had good luck with New Balance. My parents, siblings, and kids all have done well with them with a wide variety of activities and sizes.

Most leather sneakers are pretty thin nowadays. Put your hand in them. If you can move the leather then it's going to wear out quickly.

They do this so you have to buy more...and they're expensive too.

I buy cheap sneakers, man made materials for my one that goes through shoes.

Why buy $75 shoes when I can buy shoes that last just as long but are only $15-$20 at Walmart?

I personally think that you will have that situation with any shoe that you have him wear daily. I realize that every child is different. I have a Sketchers outlet close to me so I wait for back to school sales there. I buy each of my kids 3 pair of shoes for school and have them rotate which pair they wear each day. With the sales, it averages out to be about $20 per pair. Doing this the last few years, the shoes last most of the year. For instance, the ones I bought last year at this time are just now starting to look ratty. That being said, I have noticed that my son is way harder on clothes/shoes than my daughter...

Since he can't wear the crocs and those are one of the better shoes for your feet (in that they allow your toes to naturally splay) which often, a "typical so-called durable shoe" does not... I suggest trying what we wear at out house, LEMS.... they don't have a built in arch, as those can cause your foot to pronate and too.... the toe box (where your toes go) allow your toes room to spread naturally.. we wear these nowadays because I USED to wear shoes like Reboks, Saucony and Nike... all of which ended up being bad for my feet and thus causing foot injuries that are only now healing since wearing LEMS... what's great about them too is that they will last longer because they don't have a lot of excess rubber on them which when it wears down causes your foot to follow in the direction of the wear and tear.. you have to buy lems online and they are 95... I know, probably more than you want to pay, but son who is also hard on shoes has had his for about 3 months (which by now) we d have seen some wearing down of the shoes, with Lems.. they are still good as new.. check out their website .. lems.com (also............. if you want your son's feet to remain healthy) the way I found out about Lems was via a website I happened upon when I was trying to find a means of healing my feet, this after three visits and several cortisone shots later to a podiatrist didn't help... if you go to correcttoes.com OR go to youtube under Dr Ray McClanahan OR even look up portland, oregon clinic where he wks, his website if full of good foot fact and too.. he has a video on choosing shoes for children.. if anything, it's VERY informational..if I knew then what I know now about foot care, I would not have had all the foot issues as a result of bad shoe choices..

good luck

My son had two pair (back to back) of high top Adidas shoes that looked almost as good when he outgrew them as they did when we night them. Azira or something? Tough as nails.

We really like the Geoxx brand. I've never bought our son a new pair-- always gently-used resale, and they've lasted a LONG time. The same with the Keen sneakers with the bungee closure.

I've been buying Keens pretty exclusively for myself for the past several years-- each pair has lasted me about a year, which is quite good considering the fact that I walk about a couple miles a day on average in those shoes.

(note: I haven't had as good of luck with Keen's boots for kids, just wanted to add that.Quality isn't as good.)

Oh, and Merrell's moccasin-style shoes are good too. I think we are going with those for this school year. Kiddo likes the ease of just stomping into them. I'd rather pay $40 or so for a good pair of shoes once than have to buy more and more shoes...

My daughter is also hard on her shoes. She went through 3 pairs of sneakers last year, 2 pairs of sketchers and one of Nike. She's currently on a pair of Sketchers and surprisingly they have lasted her the whole summer! But then, she doesn't have access to a swingset in the summer, and she totally wears the toes off of her shoes stopping herself when swinging

Does he have to wear sneakers? Maybe you would be better off getting him a pair of sturdy work boots.

My son can go through shoes quickly, so I usually by them at Payless or Shoe Carnival when they have their BOGO (Buy One Get One half off). I buy him two pairs of the same shoe.

Honestly, I'm not convinced the name brands are that much better ... maybe a little better quality, but not much. When he starts to care about name brand, we can talk. I'm hoping by the time he cares, he will also have learned to be a bit gentler on his shoes. We'll see!

Croc has a lot of different styles now, some that look like tennis shoes. I would check some of the other styles to see if something will work for school. Under Armor seems to last for my son, who is also very hard on his shoes.

Have you tried Keens? We do them for the summer, and my son had a pair for winter ( they were a shoe). My husband wears them for work boots. They are very nice, but somewhat pricy.

I found that new balance work well as well.

Good luck

Keens are great, they are pricey but worth it. They are more of a short boot than a sneaker, but they last.