Need Some Ideas for Baby's First Walking Shoe

I love pedipeds! They are about $30 a pair and you can usually find free shipping offers from the website. I don't know if my daughter has small feet, but I thought they ran kind of big...more room to grow I guess.. Also, I do like Robeez, but the ones that slip on, the elastic would leave red marks around her feet. They weren't too small, and I haven't tried another pair yet. Have fun shoe shopping!

Robeez! The soft leather ones for most days, and the Tredz for rainy days or extra rough terrain. Both are super flexible and cute as can be!

Stride Rite- try shoebuy.com for some decent prices, or JCPenney also carries them in whole sizes, regular widths.

I loved the See Kai Run's.. My daughter had 3 pairs of these awesome shoes. I found them at Red Rover Kids in Stillwater www.redrover-kids.com. They had very flexible thermo-plastic rubber soles that provide optimum support for developing feet... they are also handcrafted from butter-soft leather. Super trendy & cute too! Check em out!
Have fun!! (:

I agree with checking out the leather soft sole shoes from Target. Once your child is a little older I would suggest Pedoodles. They are easy to put on and allow their foot to bend naturally at the arch.

I am a pediatric PT. Get the shoes with the MOST FLEXIBLE sole you can find. "Old school" thougth was the super supportive hard soled shoes were best. But really, kids learn how to use their foot/ankle muscles better when the shoe is flexible like their foot so that the ball of their foot can bend when they need to. Not sure what brands/stores would have the best, but we always used the Walmart generic ones that were only about $4.

Go for Robeez...it is a soft leather shoe with no insole that is said to be the next best thing to barefoot. They last forever, and are super cute.

Get Stride-rites. you can get them at Schuller shoes.

Robeez.. they are the best.. then move them into some of the stride rite shoes. They cost a little more but are SO worth every single penny.

I think Robeez type are great for inside walking. It's good to allow them to feel what they are doing with their feet. For outside shoes (you need to protect their feet) we bought Stride Rite at the outlet. They help you get the right fit and can show you the best starter shoes. My son is a wide, and Stride Rites all come in wide. They have some that have wonderful flex and my son did great in them.

Have fun!

The first shoes I put on my daughter (before walking) was shoo shoo (like Robeez) they were great for her, like being barefoot but with nice leather! For after they get used to walking I would have to recommend Stride Rite. They can be kind of expensive, at least to me. I buy all mine on ebay. They are all in good condition sometimes even brand new for 1/2 the price or less! My daughter is now 27 months and I still have her in them! My doctor even recommended them.

Go to stride rite at the mall. They have great starter shoe and they will fit them for you. They may be a little pricey but you want their first steps to be correct to prevent problems in the future.

Robeez (or any soft soled FLEXIBLE shoe - if you can't bend it don't buy it) for the first shoe. Pedipeds, See Kai Run, Livie and Luca are other favorites for people that have already learned to walk and are now learning to run. I've found Stride Ride shoes too rigid.

I have had both of my children in Stride Rite shoes for their first walking shoe. They are a bit more expensive, but they accurately measure their feet and make sure they have the perfect shoe for their development.

Good luck.

I got some cute little leather shoes from Target. They're only $12.99 and really hold up, even outside.
Just go to www.target.com and do a search for "leather baby shoes". There's always a better selection online.

prescoolians

you can get them off the website. they have 'barefoot' walkers and made with a very flexible sole.

my son wears them and he walks just as well in them as he does barefoot

No shoes are best for a beginning walker. If you would like shoes for walking in yucky places maybe shoes like robeez that are very very flexible (kind of like leather socks) or just put socks on that you don't mind getting dirty.

I was under the impression babies don't NEED shoes, except to protect skin or whatever and that the old school idea of support is no longer (like the PT said). My kids now walk and they wear sandals from Target when outside to protect the skin, but not for support, etc. Otherwise we used versions of robez.

I was also told Stride Rite for my daughters first shoes... what a waste of money. She out grew them within two months, and in the first 6 months of her walking she went through 3 sizes. So if I got Stride Rite that would cost around $150 on shoes in 6 months... and to me that is a waste of money.

So my advice is to look for shoes with flexible souls, that is the important thing along with fit. I found a great cheaper alternative at Wal-mart for $6-$8. Also I know that Babies R Us has great options that are between $8-$15. Right now I am using water shoes for my daughter, they breath well but also cover her whole foot and has a flexible soul.

Socks with grips on the bottom are also a great choice, but if you want to spend a lot of time out during the summer I would also get some flexible soul shoes (no specific brand, the little one will out grow them soon anyway so unless you have tons of cash to spare I would not buy a pair of shoes for the little one over $10-$12).

They say no shoes and bare foot are best. I used the Robeez type of shoe so it protected little feet, but still gave the most natural feel of being bare foot.

I know it sounds a lil bit ridiculous to buy your baby a pair of Nike's.....but they were the only shoes that my daughter would wear until she was 18 months! She had very fat feet (super cute too) so other shoes were uncomfortable. I had 3 or 4 people suggest Nike's. She hates to take her shoes off now! :-)

We liked the Robeez- they stay on well! They don't have a lot of support, though. Try going to Little Feet or Stride Rite- they have a good selection of infant shoes.

You do not need shoes. They learn better barefoot. The only time you would need shoes is if they are outside or in a dangerous place for their feet. I have raised 4 children, and not one of them needed shoes to learn to walk. Two of my children walked at 9 mos. Talk to your dr about this if you need.

Hi there. Have you tried any of the Stride Right shoes. They are a little more expensive, but are very supportive for their developing feet/arches and are more durable/last longer than some that are less expensive. I know, they aren't the cutest shoes out there either, but I recommend them to all of my patients-that fashion vs. function starts so early :-) Good luck!

I am a big fan of Stride Rite and buy them for my children until they are 3. Then, from there, Stride Rite doesn't offer anything 'extra' and the sales associate even confided that to me. Hope that helps!

My 3 1/2 yr old granddaughter will still pick her Robeez on a lot of days. She was in nothing but Robeez, Bobux, Shoo Shoos the first two years or so. In the past year we have added rain boots, snow boots, and now a summer flip flop.
The best part of Robeez style shoes is the babies can't take them off or kick them off - they stay on!!!

J.,
I think thoses soft leather slip-on slippers are the best. Robeez or similar. They protect their feet from anything sharp, but dont restrict them or keep them from feeling the surface that they are on.

I had Stride Rite for my boy and also Pedipeds. They were awesome!!! I liked the Pedipeds better than Robeez as they have more of a sole to them...

I like the Stride Rite and the Robeez. I used them for both my boys, and think they are worth the money.

Jess

Stride Rite all the way! Totally worth the money...

My daughter had the fattest,chunkiest feet ever and I couldn't find shoes or a store to fit her. I finally was told to try stride rite. They specially ordered her shoes and worked wonders. The have the best first walking shoes ever. They're flexable and comfy and hold up. I swear it's worth the money it'll run you $40-$50 dollars.

I love Pedipeds. Those were the only shoes my son kept on his feet. I thought they were worth the money. They held up really well and he wore them non-stop his first summer.

I got my son his first pair of shoes at walmart. They were called trainers or something close to that, they are in the infant section. They have a rubber sole so they wont hurt the development of your childs foot growth and sicne they are rubber its a non slip surface. The shoe size only goes to a size 5 though my son started in that size but hes not a very big kid at all so he got a lot of use out of that one pair.
For the first pair of shoes I recommend a really soft sole until your child gets use to walking and walking in a shoe. Hope this helps. L.

In my opinion, bare feet or socks with the sticky-grip on the bottom is the best.

StrydRite has good quality shoes for kids. I'd choose something that is light material, but with a bit of stickiness on the bottom for traction. Flexible shoes they say are the best for infants to begin walking because shoes that are too hard in the beginning of walking can cause their feet to cramp or form due to the hard formed shoe. (I've seen lots of people with those moccasin style shoes at first, which I think would be great because they are like shoes and would be light, let, let the little toes work to balance themselves, they also seem like they'd have a bit of stickiness to them for a bit of traction.)