Infant Toddler Shoes – When Should You Put Shoes On Your Baby?
Have you been looking for a pair of first walking shoes for your baby? Are you having doubts about whether now is the right time to fit your baby for his/her first pair of walking shoes? I will show you a list of the best infant toddler shoes that I have fitted before at the shoe store where I work.
When parents bring their babies to be fitted for their first pair of walking shoes it is always a rewarding, but challenging experience. I want to clarify that this is one of the areas where I feel greater responsibility and conscientious effort on my part since the future health and development of the child’s foot is my responsibility and parents are placing their complete trust in me.
Did you know that certain shoe styles provide sensory pods in the bottom to allow your baby/toddler to feel the ground and feel more confident and stable when taking those first steps? Before we get into which shoes are better for a baby/toddler who is learning how to walk, you must know that you should allow your baby to go barefoot at home for healthy foot development.
When babies start crawling and standing up with the assistance of holding onto things that’s the perfect time to provide there with their first pair of walking shoes. Please remember that we still want them to go barefoot at home. Shoes come into play when you take your baby outside to the playground, the shopping mall or any activity that requires stepping foot outside the house.
It is extremely important to make sure the child is fitted with the correct pair of shoes. There should be ample room for babies to be able to move their toes inside the shoes.
Have you noticed how babies are always curling and moving their toes? They do that for a reason, that is their way of exercising their feet. If we fit babies in shoes that are too short or too narrow, we will be compromising their overall foot health.
Most babies have wide or extra wide feet, and while there is a selection of shoes in wide widths, there is another key factor that will allow you to keep your babies’ feet healthy that most parents are not even aware of. The shoes must come with a round toe-box to prevent your babies’ toes from rubbing or overlapping one another.
Now that you know when is a good time for babies to start wearing shoes, I will provide you with a selection of the best first walking infant toddler shoes. These shoes are all available in wide (W) and extra wide (XW) widths and they also come with the roundest toe-boxes.
I only write reviews of shoe styles that I have fitted before, otherwise, I wouldn’t know how well-made they are, the amount of support that they provide, and how they fit. Disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links and we may receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) when you click our links and make purchases.
The Best Infant Toddler Shoes
Below you can find a selection of the best fitting shoes for a child that is learning how to walk. They are made out of leather and come in different widths such as medium (M), wide (W), and extra wide (XW).
Boys
- Shoe style SRT SM Artie by Stride Rite
- Available in medium, wide, and extra wide widths
- Rounded edges to decrease stumbles and falls
- APMA approved and built for first-time walkers
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style 2510 Racer by Tsukihoshi
- Fits medium and wide feet
- Heel stabilizer provides lateral stability
- Removable insoles
- Machine washable
- Order this shoe the same size as your baby’s foot size (shoe fits long)
- Shoe style Wes by Stride Rite
- Available in medium, wide, and extra wide widths
- Seamless construction cradle the baby’s natural shape
- Flexible, rounded, slip-resistant soles
- APMA approved
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style SM Adamby Stride Rite
- Available in medium and wide widths
- Seamless construction cradle the baby’s natural shape
- Flexible, rounded, slip-resistant soles
- Foam padding placed around the ankle collar and under the tongue for an incredibly comfortable fit and feel
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style Stevie II by See Kai Run
- Fits medium and wide feet
- Rubber outsole is flexible yet durable and provides the needed traction for first steps
- Padded heel and tongue keeps the baby’s feet comfortable
- Wide openings make on and off quick and easy
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style Martin by Stride Rite
- Available in medium and wide widths
- Seamless construction cradle the baby’s natural shape
- Flexible, rounded, slip-resistant soles
- Oversized opening and pull tab on the back offer easy on and off
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style Kennedy by Stride Rite
- Available in medium, wide, and extra wide widths
- Seamless construction that cradles the foot’s natural shape
- APMA approved
- Oversized opening for easy-on
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style SM Zip Runner by Stride Rite
- Available in medium and wide widths
- Oversized opening for easy on and off
- Flexible, rounded, slip-resistant soles encourage natural motion and help improve balance
- Machine washable
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style SRT Elliot by Stride Rite
- Available in medium, wide, and extra wide widths
- 100% leather made
- Sensory pods to feel the ground beneath for better traction and grip
- Lace-up closure
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your baby’s current foot size
Girls
- Shoe style SM Adalyn by Stride Rite
- Available in medium, wide, and extra wide widths
- Oversized opening for easy on and off
- Flexible, rounded, slip-resistant soles encourage natural motion and help improve balance
- APMA approved
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style Zips Runner by Stride Rite
- Available in medium, wide, and extra wide widths
- Oversized opening for easy on and off
- Padded tongue and collar
- APMA approved
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style Susie Mary Jane by See Kai Run
- Fits medium and wide feet
- Black patent leather upper with full leather lining and insole
- Awarded the Seal of Acceptance from the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA)
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style Soft Motion Baby by Stride Rite
- Available in medium, wide, and extra wide widths
- Oversized opening for easy on and off
- Flexible, rounded, slip-resistant soles encourage natural motion and help improve balance
- APMA approved
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style Stevie II by See Kai Run
- Fits medium and wide feet
- Rubber outsole is flexible yet durable and provides the needed traction for first steps
- Padded heel and tongue keeps the baby’s feet comfortable
- Wide openings make on and off quick and easy
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style Thompson by Stride Rite
- Available in medium and wide widths
- Oversized opening for easy on and off
- Flexible, rounded, slip-resistant soles encourage natural motion and help improve balance
- APMA approved
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style SRT Elliot by Stride Rite
- Available in medium, wide, and extra wide widths
- 100% leather made
- Sensory pods to feel the ground beneath for better traction and grip
- Lace-up closure
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style Soft Motion Baby by Stride Rite
- Available in medium, wide, and extra wide widths
- Over-sized opening for easy on/off
- APMA approved and built for first-time walkers
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your baby’s current foot size
- Shoe style StevieII by See Kai Run
- Fits medium and wide feet
- Rubber outsole is flexible yet durable and provides the needed traction for first steps
- Padded heel and tongue keeps the baby’s feet comfortable
- Wide openings make on and off quick and easy
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your baby’s current foot size
Are You 100% Sure of Your Baby’s Foot Size? – Let’s Find Out!
Parents, please make sure that you are providing your baby with the right pair of shoes; consider the importance of the future health and development of your child’s foot. These are some facts that make the fitting of this footwear unique:
➡️ You are dealing with a “beginning” foot, a foot barely formed and just starting in physical development. This is a precarious time for the family and the shoe fitter, and the chance for error yields pretty severe results. Always make sure you take your baby to get fitted at your local shoe store, where a shoe fitter will be able to measure his or her feet properly.
➡️ You are working with a foot that is growing at a faster rate than at any other time in life. After you fit your child into his first pair of shoes, you must keep a close eye on the way his feet are growing and constantly check to make sure he hasn’t outgrown the shoes. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself replacing your baby’s shoes every 3 to 3 1/2 months.
➡️ Unlike adult shoes, the decision on the fit of infant’s shoes is a responsibility almost entirely in the hands of the fitter. Parents are placing their complete trust in the shoe fitter. That said, not all shoe fitters are created equal, so parents, come equipped with knowledge. You can start by using the proper terminology. There is an official designation for “baby shoes.” It’s cacks (sizes 1 through 5).
Avoid taking your babies for their first pair of walking shoes to big retailers such as Nordstrom’s, Stride Rite, (most stores have closed down) or Payless, since your baby will most likely end up wearing the wrong shoe size.
How to Retrieve Your Child’s Exact Foot Length and Shape
I always recommend parents take their toddlers to their local fitting children’s shoe store that they trust, the issue is that most fitting stores have been closing down and parents need to end up buying their kids’ shoes online. There is nothing wrong with this, but you must know your child’s exact foot size to know what size to order.
I created a resource that showcases the best fitting children’s shoe stores by state.
If after looking at that resource you still can’t seem to identify a shoe store in your area, then proceed to take a look at an article I created that describes the simplest, yet most effective way to figure out your child’s foot size from home.
Keep in mind that once you fit your babies into their first of walking shoes it will take them some time to adjust to the shoes. If you are wondering why is because they lose the sense they used to have to the ground.
Let’s look at the toes for example. The toes normally play an active role in walking –if allowed to. If you walk on the grass barefoot the toes will instinctively grasp the ground, contributing not only to step propulsion but to foot balance. However, if the toes are crowded inside the shoe their natural action and contribution is limited or in more extreme cases eliminated.
Like all other human beings, babies’ feet come in many variations: narrow, medium, wide, extra wide, long or short toes, flat or arched, etc. As a developing foot, it lacks the definitive shape of an older foot. Instead this foot is a soft, pliable form. It possesses only semi-completed bones or joints or ligaments.
The majority of baby feet that I have fitted were wide, or extra wide feet. There is no reason to panic!
Most babies’ feet are wide since they might still carry some baby fat in them. However, you must find a pair of shoes that is wide enough to accommodate the shape of your baby’s feet.
The Best Baby Socks – Allow Your Babies’ Feet to Wiggle!
Your baby’s toes are constantly in action, wiggling and grasping, inside or outside the shoe, which is nature’s way of developing strength for his foot through exercise. Therefore, please make sure that the socks don’t interfere with this toe-wiggling.
Until the child begins to walk, that toe action is virtually the only exercise the foot will get.
You probably weren’t aware of the importance of wearing the correct pair of socks. I always explain to parents that wearing the correct pair of socks has the same importance as wearing the correct pair of shoes.
The type of socks that you want to provide for your baby must be breathable and seamless since they don’t constrict toe movement. While I can’t get into too much detail about the best baby socks in this article, you should refer to another article I wrote where I describe them in more detail. Go to the link below:
Important Facts About Your Baby’s Feet
The fitting of infant’s toddler shoes is very different from the fitting of feet in any other age category. The foot is different, the shoes are different and the customer is different. A baby’s foot grows at a phenomenal rate: faster during those first three years than at any other time in life.
Take a look at my suggestions below, you will probably benefit from learning them and they will end up saving you a lot of money in the long run:
➡️ Outgrown shoes: I always try to stress to the parent that the foot grows faster during the infant stage than at any other time in life and that the importance of preventing outgrown shoes to allow for healthy foot development is extremely important if we want to allow healthy foot development.
➡️ Sneakers: Most sneakers for this age group come in only one width (and sometimes skipping half sizes). This means that many sneakers, due to limited sizes and widths, often do not provide an adequate or proper fit. Thus, sneakers are the wrong choice for your baby’s first pair of shoes. While Nike, Adidas, Jordan, are popular brands and the shoes look cute in the baby, those shoes are not practical at all, and 90% of the time, they just don’t fit right. Please avoid putting your baby in those types of sneakers!
➡️ Tight closure: Some co-workers and fitters believe that tight lacing should always be avoided because it can restrict foot circulation. I however believe that shoes need to be tight, and the tighter the better since it will provide your child with more stability. If your child is wearing shoes with shoelaces or velcro closure, don’t be afraid of making them tight! That is how they get their stability!
➡️ Styles: In the Western world kids’ shoes noticeably vary. I’ll use the U.S. and Europe as two contrasting examples. In Europe, most infants’ shoes are available in an enormous range of styles. The notion of “fashion” in infants’ shoes is extreme, as demonstrated in range of materials, patterns, and colors. Across the pond fashion is given overwhelming priority over fit, size, or functional considerations. In the United States, almost the opposite is true. Fortunately, there is a limited yet adequate style range in infant footwear. The highest priority is given to the proper design and fit via proper sizes, widths, and lasts for the most part in the U.S. market.
➡️ Hose: I always try to counsel parents to be vigilant about sufficient sock length, avoiding stretch socks, which can constrict fragile infant toes. Don’t forget to read my post on the importance of wearing the right type and size of socks. That post will explain everything you need to know about getting the right sock size and the importance of seamless socks for babies.
➡️ Price and quality: Infants’ feet grow so fast that frequent purchases of new shoes are necessary, a fact some parents may find inconvenient. Raising small children is expensive in many ways. But in the case of footwear, the parent is dealing with the child’s foot health. And the matter of risking foot development to “economize” becomes a false economy.
Are Any Other Shoe Choices Available?
Do not hesitate to contact me directly at my e-mail if you have any further questions or if you need a different pair of shoes for your baby. My e-mail address is:
Are you having a hard time finding a pair of first walking shoes for your baby? Certainly, contact me via e-mail or in the comments section with further questions that I will most likely be able to answer.
Hi! your article is really helpful for me. your guidance is really helpful for me, if you want to know more about the ideas to select the shoes for men and women of then you can use shoeselector website for more information.
Hello,
I am glad that you find the website informative.
Hi there,
I saw you have an ad/page at the top on the slider about Robeez… my babies both basically wore them in lieu of shoes until they were good and walking. So comfy, and they STAYED ON THEIR FEET! What IS it about babies that their socks always fall off LOL?
Thanks for a great article. Baby feet are so precious… it’s important to take good care that they are warm and comfortable for sure!
Marlaine,
Parents have raised that concern about babies socks falling off all the time. I will create a post shortly addressing this issue. In the meantime, here is a link to one of the greatest inventions ever: Socks-Ons. They work perfectly and they have stylish designs. Thank you for stopping by.
Some very good things that a new parent should keep in mind when dealing with sensitive and quickly growing feet. My oldest went barefoot most of his baby and toddler life. I think I should have got him new shoes more often, because not only are his feet really small, he prefers very tight shoes. I don’t think it’s healthy for a foot to be so cramped.
Debra,
Keep in mind that there is a difference between what type of shoe your child might think it feels good, and what type of shoe actually fits his/her foot. I also believe that shoes are not suppose to be too small or too long since these both have negative consequences such as compromising your child stability. I am glad you found the post informative.
This is so relevant for me right now. One of my twin girls just started walking, and I prefer them to be bare foot or in socks, but with winter coming up they need shoes! But my other little girl won’t keep them on! I know you said to avoid sneakers (which I actually just purchased for my girls because they won’t keep their shoes on) but do you have any suggestions for shoes that will stay on the foot without restricting toe movement?
Sonja,
You will keep them barefoot or with socks inside the house for healthy foot development. If one of your daughter’s is not keeping her shoes on she might be trying to tell you that they might not be fitting right. I will start by making sure they are the right fit by taking her into a fitting shoe store, a place where they know what they are doing. When I mention in my post to avoid sneakers I specific mean fashion sneakers, brands like Jordan, Nike, Adidas, which I am sure they look great, but they just do not have the structure of a first walking sneaker and do not come in different widths.
Wow, I didn’t realize that when babies flex their toes in and out that it was mean to strengthen them! I mean, I thought it was so adorable when their toes would “grab” onto my fingers, but it’s nice to know it serves an actual purpose, haha!
As for the socks, I agree! I am not a fan of tight-fitting, stretchy socks. I prefer the looser, cotton ones… I know I am warmer with those kind of socks, so they must be, too! But it also makes sense that it would be super restricting!
Great article! =)
Kylie,
I am glad you found the post informative and that you learned something new. Thank you for stopping by.
Hi Juan, I agree with you on all your points here, great article.
Yes it is expensive buying new shoes so often but when my kids were small I only bought them each one pair of shoes at a time. At home if it is warm enough I always let them go barefoot, if we go outside or go out anywhere I make them wear shoes. I also buy them 1 pair of slippers each in winter to wear around the house.
I see so many young babies/toddlers at the playschool wearing shoes that are obviously way too small for the kids feet. Also shoes that are obviously not suitable too.
It is the parent’s responsibility to make sure that a kids shoes are properly fitted.
I think a lot of parents just don’t understand the importance of this.
Here’s a question (I think I know the answer though), what do you think of second hand shoes? My son of 2 yrs old outgrows shoes so fast and I often have other moms ask me if they can have his shoes afterwards… I mean I don’t mind really, but isn’t this bad?
I remember my mom always stressing to me when I was younger and living at home that we must never ever wear someone else’s shoes. I can’t remember the reason she gave though?
Lynne,
Like you mention in your comment, the parents are the ones responsible for looking after their children feet, and some parents might overlook the importance of properly fitted shoes. This is why I decided to create this website, to provide those parents with all the information they need. When it comes down to hand me down shoes, once a child has worn a pair of shoes, these tend to mold to the shape of their feet, which might have an impact in the shape of your child’s foot. It is better to purchase the very cheapest new shoe than a hand-me-down worn shoe.
Interesting site on shoes. This summer when I was taking a walk exercising at a college campus near my home, I saw a women with the Z Coil shoes on. Hers were much taller than the one you have pictured. Interesting concept. Enjoyed the site. It dealt with all gender and ages but was specific to shoes.
When I was younger, my mother never allowed any of my siblings to wear shoes without socks, tights or stockings. I notice it seems to be a common thing these days for women to wear heels with no stockings. I can’t do it. It irritates my feet and also tends to make the shoes stink. Thanks for the information. Coming from someone who works in the field makes your opinion that more important.
Karla,
I am glad you found the website informative. Your mother knew exactly what she was doing, shoes are meant to be wear with socks. I appreciate you stopping by.
Interesting article, I did not know about the toe wiggling. You have given a lot of good advise on choosing shoes for toddlers and explain it very well. I had always figured lacing shoes for a child wasn’t an easy task simply because you don’t really know how tight you have them.
Trish,
I am glad you learned something new. When it comes to tying the shoe laces, it is not as hard as it seems.Remember that having tie shoes is a huge advantage when it comes to support and stability.
Nice article! I love how you provided in-depth advice on what to look out for when choosing toddler shoes, and the reasons for each. I didn’t know about the importance of tight lacing for toddler feet’s protection and I’m sure most people would not know that either. Two of my cousins just gave birth couple of months ago, and I think these pieces of advice will be very applicable. Thanks again and keep up the great work.
Gin,
I am glad that you find the article helpful. Tight lacing will help in providing the child with maximum support and improving his/her stability.