How to Check If Your Child’s Shoes Are Too Wide? – The Most Simple and Effective Way!
Are you concerned that your kid’s shoes are too wide? Have you noticed a lot of extra space around your child’s ankles and in the front part of the shoes as well? Wearing shoes that are too wide can create several foot issues for your child’s feet such as blisters, calluses, corns, and ingrown toenails. Let me show you how to check if your child’s shoes are too wide in three simple steps.
The Complications of Fitting Children in Shoes That Are Too Wide
When a shoe is too wide, it allows for too much foot movement inside the shoes, which leads to constant friction between the feet and the shoes. That constant friction and rubbing between the feet and the shoes usually leads to the foot issues mentioned above. In addition, shoes that are too wide can cause instability and make your child more prone to falling.
Below you can find some examples of children wearing shoes that are too wide for their feet:
It’s important to make sure that your kids’ shoes are not too wide for their feet, and I will show you the simplest, yet most effective method to check this. Since I have been fitting children’s shoes for so long, I consider myself an expert in this area, and I have different methods I use to check if the child’s shoes are fitting correctly.
How to Check if Your Child’s Shoes are too Wide – 3 Simple Steps
1️⃣ Put your child’s shoes on and make sure to either tie the shoelaces properly or pull the velcro strap of the shoe tightly.
If your child is wearing a pair of velcro sneakers, you can check if the shoes are too wide by checking if the velcro straps align properly. If the velcro straps go way over where they are supposed to meet, then it means that the shoes are too wide. Take a look at the picture below for better visualization purposes:
Do you notice how the velcro straps are going way past where they are supposed to meet? This is one of the most common signs that your kids’ shoes are too wide.
2️⃣ Check if there is extra space around your child’s heels. I want you to slide your finger around the heel counter of the shoe and check how much space there is. There should be enough room that the shoes are not too tight, but if you can fit two fingers around the heel counter area or more, that means that there is too much extra space and that the shoes are too wide. Take a look at the picture below for clarification purposes:
3️⃣ Check if there is too much extra material in the front of the shoes. If you notice there is extra material around the toe-box —take a look at the picture below for clarification— then the shoes are too wide for your child’s feet.
These 3 steps are very simple to follow, but if you have any doubts about whether your child’s shoes are too wide I suggest that you email me and I will help you figure this out: fittingchildrensshoes@gmail.com
Now, let’s say that you checked all these 3 steps and the shoes are too wide for your child’s feet. This doesn’t automatically mean that your child has narrow feet. Maybe you got your child’s shoes too long or too wide — you might have chosen the wrong width to begin with — that’s why I want you to take a look at a virtual shoe fitting service I created that will help you retrieve your child’s shoe size from home.
Does your Child Have Narrow Feet? – Shoe Shopping Gets More Challenging!
Fitting shoes for kids can be a headache, made even worse by the fact that you have to re-fit them every couple of months. However, the majority of podiatry problems in adulthood are caused by ill-fitting footwear in childhood that’s why it’s important that you always make sure that your child is wearing the correct type of shoes in the correct size.
If your child happens to have narrow feet, then we need to find a different shoe style that will fit the shape of your child’s feet better. It’s really important to provide your child with narrow feet with the correct type of shoes, otherwise, you will create several foot issues to his/her feet as well as foot and leg pain.
Keep in mind that if your child has narrow feet and you can’t seem to find any sneakers that fit, it’s always better to find a pair of shoes that come with shoelaces instead of velcro closure, as shoelaces help push your kids’ heels back, securing them against the back of the shoes. I strongly suggest that you apply one specific shoe lacing technique I learned that works wonder for children with narrow feet.
Do you have a favorite shoe brand or a favorite shoe style for children with narrow feet? Please share your thoughts below so other parents can benefit from your experiences.
