Kids’ Shoes for Supination – Stop Your Kids Foot and Leg Pain!

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated and revised for accuracy on April 2022 and reflects an up-to-date selection of the best kids’ shoes for supination.

Do you have a child that has been complaining about foot and leg pain? Has your child been diagnosed with supination? Foot and leg pain is never normal, and if your children have been complaining about foot or leg pain, you should always start by checking the shoes that they are wearing. If your child is wearing rigid, ill-fitting shoes all the time it will lead to foot and leg problems.

Have you noticed your children walking and running differently?

When children supinate, their feet turn outwards and this can throw their entire body out of alignment. This leads to them placing stress on parts of their bodies where they are not supposed to. The type of shoes that you want to provide for your children are the ones that have a high arch since this will help distribute the pressure on your kids’ feet more evenly.

If you provide your child with the correct type of shoes, their feet and leg pain will decrease since they will be distributing the pressure and stress across their entire foot.

I have fitted all of the shoes that I recommend below, and they have proven to reduce or fully eliminate the pain that children were experiencing.

Let’s start by clarifying what supination is. Supination is the opposite of pronation and refers to the outward rolling of the foot during normal motion. Simply speaking, supination occurs when your kids’ feet roll outward as they walk.

When children don’t supinate or pronate, the body weight is evenly distributed throughout the width of the foot. The problem arises when they place weight on the inside or the outside of their feet when walking or running since it creates stress points that will affect their feet, ankles, knees, hips, and even lower back.

Keep in mind that your children don’t consciously supinate, it happens naturally as they walk. The main problem with supination is that all of your child’s weight and the stress of their gait is placed on their heels and on the outside edge of their feet as they walk or run.

My Experience Fitting Children’s Shoes

I have been fitting children’s shoes and orthotics for the last 10 years at a specialized children’s shoe store that helps children with foot and leg problems, but provides regular shoe fittings as well. We need to carry top-quality shoes that are available in different widths since that’s the only way we can guarantee to fit every single child. I am familiar with the best shoe brands and the best shoe styles among those brands.

I know which shoes are more effective in treating children with supination from having fitted them before. Let me prove it to you!

Let’s take a look at an image of a child with supination standing barefoot. Do you notice how the child is placing weight on the outside of the feet?

Noe let’s take a look at an image of the same child wearing a pair of supportive shoes I recommend. Do you notice how much straighter the feet are?

If you have noticed your children walking or running differently, or if your children have been complaining of their feet and legs feeling tired, you should take them to your pediatrician or physical therapist to have their feet checked. However, if you already took your child to your pediatrician and were told that your child will “outgrow” their foot and leg pain, you came to the right place.

Before I show you a selection of the best shoes for kids with supination, let’s make sure that your child is indeed a supinator.

How to Tell If Your Child is Supinating? – Follow These Easy Steps!

Supination is believed to be hereditary. One of the causes of supination is having a high foot arch, which tends to force kids to walk on the outer edge of their feet.

Supination may also be caused by weakness in certain muscles of your child’s feet and this lack of strength might be a result of wearing shoes that don’t provide enough support or that don’t fit properly.

If you notice a wear pattern on the outside of your kids’ shoes from heel to forefoot, it’s likely that they supinate. But let’s break down the steps you can take to figure out if your child has supination or not:

✅ Step 1

Grab a pair of your kids’ everyday shoes —it can be an old pair or a pair that your child has been wearing for more than a month— Take a close look at the wear pattern on the outsoles of their shoes.

✅ Step 2

If you notice excessive wear on the outer edge of the sole, your child may be a supinator.

There is another popular method you can use to figure out whether your child is a supinator or not.

✅ Step 1

Take off your kids’ shoes and socks.

✅ Step 2

Wet your kids’ feet and with their entire weight make them step on a surface where you can see their footprint (such as a brown paper bag).

✅ Step 3

If very little or none of the arch is outlined, your child is most likely a supinator.

The Issues with Supination – Learn the Facts!

It’s important that you provide your child with a pair of quality supportive shoes because supination can lead to the following foot conditions:

• Calluses
• Foot rigidity
• Hammer toes
• Ankle sprain and foot instability
• Hammer toes and claw toes
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Back and hip pain

The biggest issue with supination is the extra stress that kids place on the outside of the foot with each step they take. If children are walking or running long distances, they will experience foot and leg pain. Sometimes even standing for long time periods of time can cause foot pain or foot fatigue.

I only review shoes that I have fitted before since that is the only way for me to tell how well-made the shoes are, how much support they provide, and how well they fit. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the best kids’ shoes for supination.

Below you can find a selection of the best kids’ shoes for supination that can fit a child with medium (M), wide (W), or extra wide (XW) feet. Disclosure: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases.

The Best Kids’ Shoes for Supination ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Unsure About What Shoe Size You Should Order?

In each of the descriptions of the shoes I indicate whether you need to order a half a size or a whole size bigger than your child’s foot size to provide the correct amount of growing room.

*A half a size bigger translates to 3/16 of an inch or 0.4 centimeters of space between your child’s longest toe and the end of the shoes.

*A half a size bigger translates to 3/16 of an inch or 0.4 centimeters of space between your child’s longest toe and the end of the shoes.

Are Any Other Shoe Choices Available?

Do not hesitate to contact me directly at my e-mail if your child has narrow feet. My e-mail address is: fittingchildrensshoes@gmail.com

Please keep in mind that shoes that come with shoelaces always provide better support and more stability than shoes that come with a velcro closure. That is because shoelaces will hug your kids’ feet better, secure their heels, and allow them to walk and run with more confidence.

If your child hasn’t learned how to tie his or her shoes yet, there is an article that I wrote where I describe the best method to teach a child how to tie his or her shoes and you can find it here:

How to Teach a Child to Tie His Shoes – Follow These Easy Steps

Are You 100% Sure of Your Child’s Foot Size? – Let’s Find Out!

I always recommend parents to take their children to their local children’s shoe store, where a shoe fitter can properly measure your kids’ feet and find shoes accordingly. Chances are that if you are reading this article you don’t have a shoe store in your area, and you must purchase your kids’ shoes online.

Start by reading an article I wrote where I describe the simplest, yet most effective way to figure out your child’s foot size from home:

How to Measure Your Kids’ Foot – 2 Simple Steps to Determine Foot Length and Foot Width

In that article I help parents determine their child’s exact foot size and whether the child has narrow, medium, wide, or extra wide feet. I also will be able to tell you whether your child has a high instep or not.

Now, if you have tried a pair of well-fitting and supportive shoes but your child still complains about foot and leg pain, you might need to provide extra support in the shoes such as an orthotic.

This is nothing to stress over since we have a lot of children that come to the shoe store referred by their pediatricians to be fitted for orthotics. I have fitted some of the best orthotics for children that have pronation or supination, and they generally help in aligning their entire body and in eliminating their foot and leg pain. However, you must always start by trying a pair of properly fitted, supportive shoes.

 Orthotics for Kids with Supination – Keep Your Kids’ Feet Healthy!

If the shoes that you provide for your child are not reducing or fully eliminating the foot or leg pain that your child has been experiencing, the next step is to try an orthotic.

The correct type of orthotic will help align your child’s feet and legs and help them walk and run straighter. A good fitting orthotic also reduces the stress that your children were putting in parts of their body where they were not supposed to.

While I can’t get into too much detail in this article about the best orthotics for children with supination, there is another article I wrote that will explain to you everything you need to know about the best orthotics for supination.  Please go to the link below:

Best Orthotics for Supination – STOP Your Kids’ Foot and Leg Pain!

You will find everything you need to know about the best orthotics for children who supinate, but if you are left with any doubts please do not hesitate to contact me.

Do you happen to have foot and leg pain due to supination as well? I created an article where I describe the best women’s shoes for supination, and you can find that article here:

The Best Women’s Shoes for Supination – Let’s Improve The Way You Walk!

Providing your child with the correct type of shoes will keep his/her feet healthy, and prevent numerous foot issues such as foot and leg pain, blisters, calluses, and corns.

Have you found a particular pair of shoes that have worked well for your child with supination? Have you tried a particular orthotic that has improved the way your child walks and runs? Please share your thoughts below so other parents can learn and benefit from your experiences.