Sandals for Toddlers with Pronation – Let’s Help Your Toddler Balance During the Summer!

Do you have a toddler who has been diagnosed with flat feet? Did your physical/occupational therapist recommend supportive sneakers but you are wondering about what shoes your toddler should wear during the summer season? I have created several different resources for toddlers with flat feet and pronation, and in this specific one, I will show you a list of the best sandals for toddlers with pronation.

If you’re pressed for time, you can jump directly to the selection of sandals for toddlers with pronation.

Are Flat Feet and Pronation Normal in Toddlers?

It’s important to understand that we all have a certain degree of pronation, and most issues arise when pronation becomes excessive. As I mentioned in other articles, pronation is also referred to as flat feet, and when pronation becomes excessive it’s referred to as overpronation.

The main issue with overpronation is how it can throw your toddler’s whole body out of alignment, leading your toddler to put extra pressure on the feet and knees, which often leads to foot, leg, hip, and back pain in the later years.

If your toddler is flat-footed and has overpronation, you will notice how his or her feet and ankles might roll inwards.

Can Shoes Help Treat and Prevent Your Toddler’s Overpronation?

Certain sneakers and orthotics will help treat and prevent your toddler’s overpronation, but parents are often confused when it comes to what shoes they should get during the summer. Unfortunately, there aren’t many summer sandals that will help address this foot condition.

You should always avoid providing your toddler with sandals that provide no arch support because they can make your toddler’s feet vulnerable to injury and various foot, knee, hip, and back problems down the road. Sandals that don’t provide arch support force your toddler’s full body weight to pressure only on the heel and forefoot instead of distributing the force more evenly across the entire foot.

The good news is that I have found a particular sandal that has proven to be the most effective one when it comes to treating and preventing overpronation during the summertime.

What Makes the Sandals that I Recommend Effective for Treating Pronation?

The sandals that I recommend provide an internal support mechanism that is anatomically engineered to provide excellent arch support and prevent the flattening of the arch. This is how the outsole of the sandals looks like:

Do you notice how thicker and more substantial the outsole of the Keen sandal looks compared to other regular sandals (Nike)? As soon as your child stands in the sandals you will notice an immediate difference in your toddler’s posture if you look at the feet from behind. Below there’s another image for better visualization purposes:

What a Difference the Correct Pair of Sandals Can Make!

Let’s take a look at an image of a flat-footed child standing barefoot. Do you notice how the child’s feet are collapsing and turning inwards?

Before Image

Now let’s take a look at an image of the same child standing in the pair of sandals that I recommend. Do you notice how much straighter the child’s feet are?

After Image

Wow! What a difference the correct types of sandals can make! The internal support mechanism of the sandal is preventing the child’s feet from collapsing and turning inwards.

Will the Sandals that I Recommend Improve Your Toddler’s Foot Posture?

How effective the sandals will be in improving your toddlers’ gait and posture depends on the degree of pronation that your toddler has.

There is one common question that several parents seem to have in common: Can I fit an orthotic inside my toddler’s sandals? The answer is no. Orthotics are not effective in sandals, and they won’t do any good. If you try to fit an orthotic inside your toddler’s sandals you will end up wasting your time and money.

The only way to treat and prevent your toddler’s pronation during the summer is through supportive sandals. In addition to treating your toddler’s overpronation, these sandals provide great traction, are durable, and dry fast. They also come with a velcro closure strap to provide your toddler with better support and stability.

Before I show you a selection of the best sandals for toddlers with pronation, I want to first show you the 5 most important features that these sandals provide.

Sandals for Pronation – The 5 Most Important Features!

There are 5 key features that your toddler’s sandals must provide to eliminate foot fatigue by aligning your toddler’s foot to its correct position which is a substantial outsole and extra heel cushion.

1️⃣ Substantial Outsole: The extra cushioned foot-bed of the sandal provides toddlers with better stability and balance. This feature also minimizes the impact that your toddler’s feet receive when they come in contact with the ground. The substantial sole helps prevent the over flattening of the arch which leads to overpronation.

2️⃣ Extra Heel Cushion: The sandal comes with extra padding right below where your toddler’s heels are. This is a great feature, especially if your toddler has rolled ankles. This feature also helps minimize the impact that your toddler’s feet take when they come in contact with the ground.

3️⃣ Lightweight and Flexible: The sandals must be supportive and lightweight and flexible at the same time. Heavier, stiffer sandals will make your toddler’s feet and legs tire more easily.

To give you a better idea, your toddler’s sandals should always bend at the ball of the foot but not any further. This means that the sandals should be flexible, but not too flexible, otherwise they won’t provide the correct amount of support. The picture below shows a picture of a sandal that provides the correct amount of flexibility vs a sandal that is too flexible:

4️⃣ Durability: Toddlers usually outgrow their shoes before they are ready to be replaced, but I have seen certain cases where the toddler destroyed the shoes before they were ready to be replaced. The sandals I describe below are practically indestructible. Toddlers can wear them to different activities such as going to the beach, camping, and running around in different types of terrain.

5️⃣ Secure Closure: Parents need to be able to adjust their toddler’s sandals securely to provide their toddlers with added stability and support. Some toddlers like to wear their shoes really tight while others prefer a loose fit. Whichever your toddler preference might be, please make sure that the sandals are always adjusted properly.

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, the amount of support that they provide, and how they fit.

Now that you know what features your toddlers’ sandals must provide, you are ready to take a look at a selection of the best sandals for toddlers with pronation. 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 Sandals for Toddlers with Pronation 

These sandals below will help improve your toddler’s posture and help treat and prevent overpronation. Many of the sandals featured below come in several color options, so if you like a specific model, please make sure to click through and see if they have the desired color.

It’s important to provide your toddler with a certain amount of growing room, but sandals that are too long might compromise your toddler’s stability, making your toddler more prone to developing foot issues such as blisters, calluses, and corns.

How to Figure Out What Sandal Size You Should Order?

As a standard rule, we always want to provide children with a half a size larger — 3/16 of an inch or 0.4 centimeters — of space between the longest toe and the end of the shoes.

Keen sandals are not available in half sizes, they are available in whole sizes only. Let’s take a look at a couple of scenarios that will help you determine what sandal size to order for your toddler:

• If your toddler measures a foot size 5, you will order the size 6 and your toddler will still get the correct amount of growing room.

• If your toddler measures a foot size 5 ½, you will order the size 6 and your toddler will get the correct amount of growing room.

How to Retrieve Your Toddler’s Exact Foot Length and Shape

To be able to figure out your toddler’s correct sandal size, you need to know your toddler’s exact foot size. To assist parents in determining their toddler’s shoe size at home effectively and with ease, I created a specific article on this.

In that article I help parents determine their child’s exact foot length 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.

If you have a specialized children’s shoe store in your area, I recommend that you take your toddler to be measured and fitted for shoes over there.

Are Any Other Sandal Choices Available?

If none of these sandals are available in your child’s shoe size or if you need the sandals to be made of a specific color don’t hesitate to reach out via email.

Finding children’s sandals with arch support has proven to be a challenging task. Most sandals come with a flat design that doesn’t provide any type of support whatsoever.

I forgot to mention how these sandals are all machine washable. This is an awesome feature that Keen implemented in all of their sandals. Most parents used to complain about the terrible smell that Keen sandals used to develop after being worn a couple of times. Toddler’s feet tend to sweat a lot, so this feature is going to be really helpful.

What Are the Best Sneakers for Toddlers with Pronation?

If you haven’t been able to find a pair of supportive everyday sneakers for your flat-footed toddler, please refer to another article I wrote where I describe the best everyday sneakers for toddlers with flat feet.

Do you have a toddler that is dealing with overpronation? Have you found a particular sandal that has been effective in treating and preventing your toddler’s overpronation? Please share your findings below so other parents can benefit from your experiences.