Supportive Ankle Booties for Toddlers – Improve Foot Posture and Walking Gait

Did your medical professional recommend that your toddler wear a pair of ankle booties that provide good ankle support? Is your toddler dealing with a moderate to strong degree of pronation from a foot condition such as flat feet, rolled/weak ankles, or low muscle tone? There is a very small selection of supportive ankle booties for toddlers, but the good news is that I will help you find them.

Providing your toddler with supportive ankle booties has many benefits, but the most common ones are:

• Improve your toddler’s ankle stability
• Help treat your toddlers with low muscle tone
• Improve your toddler’s foot posture and walking gait

How Do Supportive Ankle Booties Look Like?

The booties that I recommend are the classic baby walkers that parents have used for over a century and they have a classical look. They are also available in white and black colors.

It’s important to note that not all ankle booties provide the same levels of structure and support. Your toddler’s ankle booties should provide a stable base of support and a firm heel counter, but they need to be lightweight and flexible at the same time to prevent your toddler’s feet and legs from easily getting tired.

What Makes the Ankle Booties that I Recommend Ideal for Toddlers with Foot Problems?

The ankle booties that I recommend provide substantial outsoles with sensory pods, firm heel counters, and they are lightweight and flexible at the same time. Let me help you visualize the features that the booties provide:

1️⃣ Supportive Outsole: The booties that I recommend provide a substantial outsole that helps provide your toddler with a stable base of support. The outsole also comes with sensory pods that help toddlers feel the ground beneath for better traction and grip.

2️⃣ Firm Heel Counter: This is the back part of the shoe that provides ankle and heel support. The firmer the heel counter is, the better support it will provide. Always press on the heel counter of your child’s shoes to check whether it provides good ankle support or not.

3️⃣ Lightweight and Flexible: The booties are supportive but lightweight and flexible at the same time. Your toddler’s shoes should always bend at the toes but no further. If you can bend your toddler’s booties as a spiral then it means that they won’t be supportive enough. The image below shows a pair of booties with the correct amount of flexibility:

Over the years I have seen the positive impact that the correct types of shoes can have on a child’s life. Something so simple such as fitting your child in a pair of supportive shoes can improve your child’s walking gait and overall posture. Providing children with the correct types of shoes can be truly life-changing.

What Shoe Brands Manufacture Ankle Booties for Toddlers?

Below you can find a list of shoe brands that manufacture ankle boots for toddlers:

• Stride Rite
• Baby Deer
• Josmo

Should Toddlers Wear Supportive or Minimalist Shoes?

Toddlers who have foot conditions require supportive shoes to help treat and prevent the condition from getting worse. With that said, the goal of fitting children in supportive shoes is to provide structural support which is not going to take away from the musculature. You won’t be making your child’s muscles weak. 

I like to make the analogy that supportive shoes are like glasses for your child’s feet. Can glasses cure your eyes? No, they make you see better and you can function normally. Supportive shoes are like glasses for your child’s feet!

The Importance of Fitting Your Toddler’s Shoes Correctly

Did you know that if you don’t provide your toddler with the correct shoe size he/she won’t get any of the benefits that the shoes have to offer? What’s even worse, you might end up creating several foot issues such as blisters, calluses, and corns.

I have spoken with several pediatric physical therapists who are frustrated about children not wearing their shoes in the correct size.

Let’s use an automobile tire as an analogy as tire tread and shoe tread operate on the same principle. If the wheels on your car are out of alignment, your tires will wear excessively on one side and very little on the other. The result is a tire life shorter than it would be with proper wheel alignment and balance. Shoes fitted too long, too short, too narrow, or too wide, create a tread imbalance and a faulty wear pattern for the shoe itself.

How Can You Retrieve Your Toddler’s Exact Foot Length and Shape?

You should take a look at a resource I created where I help families determine their child’s exact foot length and shape from home. In the article below I help families retrieve whether their toddler has narrow, medium, wide, extra wide feet and/or a high instep.

Now let’s take a look at the most supportive ankle booties for toddlers. 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. This allows us to create free content and resources for many families around the world.

Supportive Ankle Booties for Toddlers

These booties are available in different widths such as medium (M), wide (W), and extra wide (XW), so make sure that you choose your toddler’s shoe width accordingly.

What Shoe Size Should You Order?

These ankle booties fit “short”, which means that you need to get a whole size longer (3/8 of an inch or 0.8 centimeters) than your toddler’s current foot size to allow for the correct amount of growing room.

Get a Personalized Suggestion

If you are having trouble finding these booties in your toddler’s foot size please contact me directly at my e-mail:

[email protected]

Can These Booties Fit Toddlers with Wide or Extra Wide Feet?

These boots can fit toddlers with medium, wide, or extra wide feet, as they are available in different widths. I have noticed that most toddlers tend to have wide or extra wide feet, as they might be carrying some baby fat. This doesn’t mean that their feet will stay wide for the rest of their lives, as some might narrow down as they grow.

How Fast Do Toddlers Outgrow Shoes?

I have noticed that toddlers can outgrow their shoes anywhere between 3 to 4 months, as long as they are provided with the correct amount of growing room to being with.

How Can You Tell When Your Toddler is Ready for New Shoes?

The booties that I recommend come with a removable footbed that allows parents to easily visualize whether their toddler is ready for new shoes or not. Take a look at the image below for better visualization purposes:

Do you have a toddler with a foot condition that needs to wear a pair of supportive shoes? Have you found a specific shoe brand or shoe style that worked well for your toddler’s feet? Let us know in the comment section below so other families can benefit from your experiences.