Do you have a child with a wide foot and have been struggling finding shoes to FIT the shape of his or her feet?
Shoes are available in different widths such as narrow, medium, wide, and extra wide. This means that it doesn’t matter how narrow or how wide your kids’ feet are, there is a particular shoe style out there that will FIT the shape of their feet perfectly.
One of the most common mistakes parents make is to assume that because their children have wide or extra wide feet, all they need to find is a shoe that comes in wide or extra wide widths and that will accommodate the shape of the child’s foot.
Just because a shoe is labeled as a wide width, it doesn’t mean that it will FIT a child’s foot with wide feet. Let me explain. The top part of the shoe, the toe box, can be either rounded or pointy, which will affect the fit of the shoe.
Take a look at the picture below which shows the difference of a toe box between a New Balance shoes and a Saucony. Do you notice how the New Balance shoe (the one on the left), has a much rounder toe box than the Saucony one? These shoes are the same width (extra wide), and the same shoe length.
Therefore you can find a shoe in an extra wide width but if it has a pointy toe box it won’t fit a child with an extra wide foot. The same applies to finding a shoe in a wide width; if the toe box is not round enough it won’t fit the shape of your child’s foot.
A shoe with a round wide toe box will prevent your kids’ toes from overlapping and rubbing against each other. The shoe brand New Balance makes the best shoes for children with wide or extra wide feet. New Balance makes children’s shoes with the roundest toed boxes on the market.
In this post, I will describe the best kids’ shoes with a wide toe box.
Shoes With Wide Toe Boxes – What Does It Mean?
A shoe with a wide toe box implies that the shoe has a more of a round shape in the front rather than a pointy one. A wide toe box ensures that there is an appropriate space for the growth and development of your children’s toes.
If you have been buying your children shoes for a while, you should know by now that your children’s feet grow pretty quickly. That is the reason why every time you buy children shoes you must allow for growing room. The issue is that your kids’ feet not only grow in length, but also in width. That is why it’s so important for the shoes to be wide enough.
If you purchase your children with wide or extra wide feet with shoes that have more of a pointy toe box, you will create numerous foot issues. Since your child won’t be able to move his or her toes freely, the toes will be cramped against each other and that constant friction will lead to blisters, calluses, and corns.
The most common reason why these issues appear is from wearing shoes that are too narrow, so let’s keep kids’ feet healthy by providing them with shoes that FIT.
New Balance Kids’ Shoes – The Best Shoes For Kids With Wide Feet!
New Balance kids’ shoes come with the roundest, widest toe boxes, making them the most comfortable and best fitting shoes for children with wide or extra wide feet.
Every time a child comes to the shoe store with wide or extra wide feet (or needs orthotics fitted inside the shoes); New Balance shoes are our go to shoes.
For example, let’s compare a New Balance shoe style to a Saucony shoe style in the same length and the same width and take a look at the difference in the toe boxes. I provided you with an example in the top of the post, here is another example with the New Balance shoe also being wider than the Saucony one.
There are several features that a good shoe must provide in order to keep kids’ feet and legs healthy:
- Support: The shoes that you provide for your child must be lightweight and flexible, but at the same time they must also be supportive in order to minimize the impact that kids’ feet take every time they come in contact with the ground.
- A firm heel counter: This part of the shoe is the one that provides kids’ with good ankle support. As your children keep growing up and start getting involved in more intense sports and activities, they are going to require proper shoes to protect their ankles from injuries.
- Lightweight: This is an important feature in order for a child’s feet and legs to not tire easily.
- Traction: A shoe with good traction will prevent children from slipping and falling, especially when they are walking on slippery surfaces.
- Breathable: Shoes must be breathable in order to prevent the buildup of bacteria.
The shoes that I will describe below provide all of these features, which will guarantee that you will be keeping your children’s feet and legs healthy. However, if you don’t provide your child with the correct shoe size, your child WON’T get any of the benefits that the shoes have to offer and you will be creating numerous FOOT ISSUES.
I always recommend that parents take their kids to their local children’s shoe store where a shoe fitter can properly measure their feet and find shoes accordingly. The issue is that most local children’s shoe store have been closing, and we are left with big retailers such as Nordstrom’s or Payless, which have sales staff and not trained shoe fitters that don’t know how to properly FIT shoes.
I mention this because I have helped hundreds of children that were experiencing foot, knee, and leg pain due to them wearing the wrong pair of shoes that were purchased from those types of stores. Numerous parents have contacted me because they don’t have a local shoe store in their area and must get their kids shoe online. If you are one of those parents, start by reading a post I wrote where I describe the best way to make sure your child is wearing the correct shoe size:
How Can I Make Sure My Kids’ Shoes Fit? – Learn The Secret Here!
Now that you know how to make sure your children’s shoes FIT, you are ready to see a selection of the best New Balance kids’ shoes that come with the widest, roundest toe boxes!
I have fitted all of these shoe styles before and I can tell you they provide excellent support but at the same time they are flexible and lightweight. I can also tell you that these shoes styles are extremely durable, and your child will outgrow his or her shoes before they get destroyed. These shoes also run “true to size”, which means that you only need to get your child a half a size bigger than what he or she measure, in order to leave growing room.
Let’s Keep Your Kids’ Feet Healthy – Don’t Forget About The Socks!
I always explain to parents that allowing their children to walk around without wearing socks can create several foot issues. Please keep in mind that socks act as a barrier between kids’ feet and the shoes, and prevent the buildup of bacteria inside the shoes.
While I can’t get into too much detail about the importance of socks in keeping our children’s feet healthy here, I wrote a post that will explain everything you need to know about children’s socks and you can find it here:
The Importance Of Wearing Socks – Grippers Or No Grippers?
Do you have a child at home who feels every bump and lump when you put the socks on? I have the solution to STOP the fussing! Have you ever heard of seamless socks? Parents call them the miracle socks, since they truly make a difference in the way the socks feel.
Another important feature about these socks is that they will prevent your kids’ toes from overlapping each other (this is also really important specially if your child has wide or extra wide feet).
You can learn more about seamless socks in the article below:
Seamless Socks For Kids – Stop The Struggle Of Putting Socks On!
Now that you know about the importance of properly fitted shoes and socks, you are ready to make the most informative decision!
Have you found a particular shoe style for your child that has a nice round wide toe box? Is there a children’s shoe store in your area that you would recommend in your area? Parents are always asking me about children’s shoe stores in their area, so if you know of a particuarPlease share your thoughts and experiences below so we can all benefit from them!
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