First Shoes? What Brand Do You Recommend?

I would say stride rite I used them with both my girls. After they are pretty good at walking then I just used walmart shoes.

I love the little blue, white, or pink shoes from old navy. I used them until my kids feet got too big. They cost around $6. They are all fabric (and can be washed) and have those little grippers on the bottom.

PS after reading down through the other responses, I agree with the bare feet/feeling everything etc... these Old Navy shoes are very flexible, no leather (except maybe the grippers). They are kind of plain, but match most anything!

Robeez are great! They are like little leather slippers. One school of thought is that the baby should be able to feel everything with their foot as they are learning to walk. These are great shoes for that. They are meant for indoor and light outdoor use.

I truly recommend Stride Rite. My eight year old daughter has worn them all her life. My daughter's feet are narrow. Payless shoes slides off her feet. I feel that they help the child to walk better and gives them more support than other shoes. I have also learned it better to shop at outlet malls for Stride Rite shoes. They are cheaper and you can buy more pairs of shoes. I notice this weekend that a pair of 4 month old shoes were 29.99. Their regular price is 50.00. I hope this information helps you. Have a great day.

Hi K.! Our children are about the same age. My daughter was born on April 2nd, she is my first and I am also a "later in life mom." I agree she is truly a gift!

We were also told Stride Rite were the best. She currently has a pair of Nikes she wears. I bought them more for keeping her feet warm, however, now that she is cruising, standing and trying her hardest to walk, I am too concerned about the shoes she will wear. I was told by our doctor that the best way for her to learn to walk is barefoot on carpet.

Good Luck, let me know what you decide on.

:)

You can buy Robeez shoes at Stride Rite. That's where I got them for all my kids.

We went with Stride Rite mainly because my son has a very wide foot. I have a couple of friends that also do Stride Rite for some of their kids and if not buying there get their feet measured by Stride Rite staff for sizing.

Go with Robeez. They are awesome and great for beginning to walk. My daughter is 22 months old and still loves them.

You will not go wrong with Stide Rite.

I started my daughter off in Stride-Rites. They are a bit expensive in my opinion but well worth the money. The flexibility in them are wonderful. I had my daughters foot sized and she wore stride-rites for the 1st year.

The best things to have on new walkers is bare feet. Since we need to protect those barefeet outside and in the winter-- the thought is that soft-soled shoes are best.

Robeez, bobux, etc.

Just make sure the soles are very flexible to allow his little feet to grow well!

I never put shoes on my trio until they actually started taking their first steps and then it was Stride Rite. They have excellent shoes. They're not cheap but well worth the money. If you're lucky, you can sometimes find some really great deals during sale time. Also, I would go to their website and get on their mailing list - you definitely want to shop there with their 15% off coupons - they send them out a few times a year.

Yes, enjoy every Sweet cry and everything ! You are blessed ! And my it does go past huh?

Nordstrom's can be reasonable and they have stride rite . Plus their employees are trained alot better than all the stride rites . I have been in shoe retail for 15 years. My kids 1st shoes and through adolescence are really important ( good support)
Jumoing jacs by Buster Brown are great ( nordstroms) or this is a european shoe store in woodfield across from the Rainforest Cafe )

I have also heard alot about those leather robies and have a pair of my them.

But for balance My daughter needs the sole and support for her lil chubby feet.

Just two days ago she felt comfortable to stay standing and walk 10 steps ( quite wobbly I may say ) but better with soles.

Great Luck,

L. C.

Bare feet is best. Next, I'd recommend Robeez or Preschoolians crawlers.

I went with Stride rite with both of my girls. I then switched them over to k-swiss (kid foot locker). I did this because both my girls had wide feet and it was the one shoe that was not narrow like the Nike and Rebock. This is the one shoe that was recommened to me over and over. Both my girls loved them. Good luck.

Robeez!!! They stay on and they are really healthy for developing feet because they are not structured. The stage one Stride Rite are OK, but they are sized so they grow out of them quickly and they are $$$$$. My daughter could get them off too easily too.

Another vote for Robeez - my son has never been able to kick them off.

Two words ... Stride Rite. The store in Yorktown has done an excellent job of fitting our son. Now that he's a bit older we don't buy every pair there, but I am always completely satisfied.

I too agree that Stride Rite is the best!! They take time to measure the baby's foot and fit the shoes. Not many other places do that. Plus they carry wide widths which is common for small kids to have!!!

Hello K.,

For my son we purchased a pair of Naturino. They do have a website to find out more info - www.naturino.com
They are wonderful, and as much as my first son wore them they look new. My second son will be wearing them. Great investment. They can be a little expensive but definetly worth every penny. We purchased a pair off of overstock.com
The shoes are also sold on www.piperlime.com

Hope this is helpful.

Robeez and Bobux (very similar) are at Macy's. I love them for my 2 little ones.

My son loves his Converse. They are really flexible, comfortable and I can double knot the laces so he can't get them off. I tried Roobiez, but my son learned really quickly how to take them off. We lost so many of them while out and about. I was also nervous about letting my son explore and walk around when we were out, because anything can get through the roobiez soles. He also gets loads of compliments on his shoes so he has learned to become very proud of them and shows them off whenever we go out, and it's never a battle to get him to wear them.

I liked the Stride Rite for my kid's first shoes. They fit the shoes for you so I felt like I was really getting the right size as opposed to trying to guess the size myself.

I agree with the other posts as well. When they start to cruise and stand up Stride Rite will also have several pair of "shoes" that are very flexible that you can choose from. But it sounds like in the meantime that Robeez will work for you! Once they start to walk independently you can look at a harder sole shoe.

Robeez, Robeez, ROBEEZ!

Little 'uns have flexible bones, and hard shoes can do harm to developing feet...Putting stress on areas that shouldn't be stressed and also causing discomfort.

You can find Robeez at Nordstrom's and Von Maur -- But not the wide selection of ADORABLE styles they have on the website.

Also, if you want to find something more affordable, take a look at Target's baby section - They have "imitation" Robeez available. (And, they're cute too!)

Take care!

*B.*

Stride Rite has great shoes, but for the first pair you need something as close to bare feet as possible. I used Robeez and Bobux. They are great and super cute. Also go get sized at the store and buy them on ebay. you will save a ton of money.

I used Robeez for my son's first pair of shoes. The woman that I buy shoes from prevented me from buying an actual pair of shoes the first time. Bare feet is best. If your child isn't running through the neighborhood stepping on rocks, limbs, etc.. then Robeez is the way to go. I'm not sure what you want to spend on shoes but I recommend Jumping Jacks or Primigi. I buy mine at Petite Feet on Southport in Chicago. Good luck to you.

A.

I agree will the other posts.....both my kids have worn the Robeez(?) but I also found that Target and maybe Walmart have just as good type of shoes like these for only $10-$12 if you don't want to spend the $25-$30 at Stride Rite or Macy's. If you go into Stride Rite they will do a great job of measuring the little ones feet for you and then you can shop there clearance shelves we just got an adorable pair of boots for my 12mth old son for around $22 since his father wanted him to have a hard pair of shoes and I didn't, but spending up to $50 for a pair of shoes is way out of the budget for us. I also agree with the Ebay ideal.....you can get everything on there.

Good luck!

I know that you have a lot of advice, but I just wanted to share my experience. My daughter was able to take the Robeeze type shoes off so easily as well as any other shoe that didn't have laces. It wasn't kicking them off, it was actually yanking them off with her hands. So when she had to start wearing shoes, I took her to stride rite to get measured, but I just couldn't spend that much on shoes that they would grow out of. So I found these pre-walker shoes at Payless. They had two different brands. I also found a flexy soled tie shoe at Target in the toddler section. I think finding shoes is pretty difficult, and I just couldn't do the stride rite. These other shoes seem just as good.

I sugest using Robeez!! They are wonderful!! And the babies can't get them off very easyly. Plus they come in a lot of cute styles! You can usually find them at Hallmark stores and they also have a website! We love them!! Ihope this helps!

Until he's walking VERY well and almost ready to run, you shouldn't get him real shoes. Not only are they not good for his feet and hinder the walking (they need their toes to be flexible) but they are expensive! All you want for now is Robeez or a version of them since they too are expensive ($25-40 a pair). I buy them from Target (I forget the brand) or Babies R Us (Koala Baby makes them) for $12.99 a pair.
Here's a link for the Target ones, you find them next to socks in the baby section of the store:
http://www.target.com/gp/search/602-###-###-####-###-###-...

Good Luck:)

I recommend see kai run. They are made of soft leather but, have a real sole that is very flexible. Both my children have and do wear them! They are the best. check them out. oh, and if you are looking for any other children's apparael I found an awesome little website that does all custom items daintycouture.etsy.com