How to Tell If the Shoe Fits – The Most Effective Way to Check If Your Kid’s Shoes Are the Correct Size!
Are you always wondering if your child is wearing the correct shoe size? Wearing the wrong type of shoes can lead to several foot issues such as blisters, calluses, and corns, as well as general foot and leg pain. Most children are walking around with shoes that don’t fit, and parents don’t even know it. I am going to show you how to find out if your child’s shoes are fitting correctly based on my many years of shoe fitting experience.
I have fitted children for their first pair of shoes up to their teenage years. Once you buy your child a pair of shoes online, it’s important to be able to check whether those shoes are fitting correctly.
How to Tell If the Shoe Fits – Follow These 3 Easy Steps!
1️⃣ Make sure that your child stands up straight and check if there is enough wiggle/growing room in the front of the shoes – 3/16 of an inch or 0.4 centimeters of space between your child’s longest toe and the end of the shoes. You can remove the original insoles of the shoes and have your child stand upon them to be able to visualize the amount of growing room. Take a look at the images below for clarification:
If you notice that your child’s toes are at the end of the original insole of the shoe then it’s time to replace the shoes. Take a look at the image below for clarification:
2️⃣ Check whether the width of the shoe is fitting correctly. Check the widest part of the foot, and make sure the small toe or the pinky toe is not being pressed against the side of the shoe. If the shoes are too narrow for your kids’ feet, you will notice a bump right around this area of the shoe. Take a look at the images below for clarification:
3️⃣ Make sure that there is no extra space around the heels. With your child’s shoes on, slide your finger around the heel and check if you can fit one or two fingers around the heel area. If you do, then it’s highly likely that the shoes are too wide for your child’s feet. You don’t want your child’s shoes moving up and down as this can lead to blisters, calluses, or corns. Take a look at the image below for clarification:
If you check all of these 3 steps and everything looks good, then it’s highly likely that your child is wearing the correct shoe size. Please don’t hesitate to contact me directly if you are having trouble finding a particular shoe style for your child:
I also created a video to help you visualize whether your child’s shoes are fitting correctly or not.
My website covers everything that you need to know about children’s feet and their shoes, and if your child is dealing with a foot condition such as flat feet, overpronation, bow legs, rolled ankles, and low muscle tone – just to name a few, I will help you find the correct pair of shoes and orthotics to help treat those conditions.
How to Retrieve Your Child’s Exact Foot Length and Shape
I am always emphasizing to parents the key role that shoes play in keeping their children’s feet and legs healthy, that is the reason why I recently created an article explaining to parents how to determine their children’s foot size from home.
Once you know your child’s foot size, you will be ready to start looking for shoes for your child, but keep in mind that knowing your child’s foot size is only the first step of the shoe fitting process. One of the most common mistakes parents make is assuming that the size that their children’s feet measure on the foot measuring scale automatically translates into their kids’ shoe size. Shoes can fit short, long, narrow, or wide, and depending on how they fit you will need to adjust the size that you get for your child.
I hope you find the article along with the video helpful, and now you can keep your kids’ feet and legs healthy by making sure that their shoes are fitting them correctly.
