Toddler with Flat Feet – The Best Shoes for Toddlers with Flat Feet

Has your toddler been diagnosed with flat feet? Has your physical or occupational therapist recommended a pair of shoes with arch support and that you fit a pair of orthotics inside your toddler’s shoes? I am going to show you a list of shoes that provide supportive outsoles, firm heel counters, and straight lasts that will help your toddler with flat feet.
The main issue with flat feet is that it leads to walking and running differently, putting pressure on parts of our bodies where we are not supposed to, which can lead to foot, leg, and back pain. If your toddler has been diagnosed with flat feet, don’t panic! This is more common than you think, and I have helped hundreds of toddlers with flat feet walk and run straighter.
Your kids’ feet are an essential part of their body, but this part of the body is usually underestimated by most parents.
When children are growing up, they start to experience changes in their feet faster than other parts of their bodies. As kids start learning how to walk, most parents will notice variations in their kids’ feet. It’s important that at this stage you keep your kids’ feet healthy by providing them with the correct pair of shoes to protect and support their feet.
If you’re pressed for time, you can go straight to the selection of the best toddler shoes for flat feet.
Does the Image Below Look Familiar?
If your child is flat-footed you will notice that your child’s feet collapse when they are standing, turning their feet and legs inwards. Does this picture look familiar to you?

Providing your children with a pair of shoes with supportive outsoles will allow them to walk and run straighter, and prevent them from developing foot issues.
When parents come to the shoe store with children that have flat feet, I always explain to them that the first step is to find shoes that provide the correct amount of arch and ankle support. Something so simple as providing your child with the correct type of shoe will have a tremendous difference in the way your child walks and runs. Let me prove it to you…
What a Difference These Shoes Can Make!
Let’s take a look at a picture of a toddler with flat feet standing barefoot. Do you notice how the toddler’s feet are collapsing and turning inwards?
Before Image

Now let’s take a look at a picture of the same toddler wearing a pair of the supportive shoes that I recommend. Do you notice how straighter the feet are?
After Image

Please keep in mind that there will be cases where a pair of supportive shoes will not be enough to correct your kids’ posture, and that’s when you will need to fit an orthotic inside the shoes (for extra support).
If your child has been diagnosed with flat feet, I will describe in this post the best shoes for a toddler with flat feet.
Caring for Your Toddler’s Feet – Keep an Eye on Their Feet!
Parents should take care of their toddler’s feet as they are a susceptible and soft part of their bodies.
Our feet are regarded as the foundation for our entire body, and parents should start monitoring their kids’ feet right from when they start taking their first steps.
If you pay close attention to your toddler’s feet, you would have noticed that they are often flat as their arches have not developed yet. As your child starts growing up, you will notice how the arch develops under the feet of your child (keep in mind that children can develop an arch until the age of 5). This is because the feet go through an ossification process where the feet develop arch support and bone tissues for proper development of the feet.
Now, if your child has not developed an arch by the age of 5, it’s most likely that your child will remain flat-footed. Please keep in that from the age of 2 and 5 I recommend providing your child with a pair of substantial shoes instead of orthotics. I recommend providing children with orthotics if they are 5 years old or older.
Providing your children with the correct type of shoes is the first step in keeping their feet healthy.

What Are the Best Type of Shoes for a Flat-Footed Toddler?
It’s important to choose the correct type of shoes for your toddler, which involves a substantial and supportive outsole, a firm heel counter, and lightweight materials.
As your kids grow, you must keep their feet healthy by providing them with supportive shoes that will support and assist in the healthy development of their feet. If your toddler has flat feet, you need to look for shoe styles that provide the following features:
1️⃣ Substantial and Supportive Outsoles: This feature will help reduce the impact that your kids’ feet and legs take every time they become in contact with the ground.

2️⃣ Straight Lasts: This feature helps prevent the forefoot from pushing out.

3️⃣ Firm Heel Counters: This will protect and support your toddler’s ankles as well as strengthen and straighten them. If the shoe that you provide for your child has a heel counter that is too soft and flimsy, your child won’t get any of the benefits that the shoe has to offer.
As I mentioned before, the heel counter of the shoes can be firm or soft. Always make sure that you press on the heel counter of your kids’ shoes before you buy them. Let me show you the difference between a shoe with a soft heel counter versus a shoe with a firm heel counter:

4️⃣ Lightweight and Flexible: While the shoes must be supportive, they also need to be lightweight and flexible at the same time to prevent your toddler’s feet and legs from easily getting tired.

The Advantages of Supportive Shoes – Keep your Toddler’s Feet Healthy!
We all know how kids tend to be very active and they like to run and play rough; that is the reason why the shoes that you provide for your children must have the correct type of support and durability.
The best type of shoes for your kids are those that will fit the shape of their feet perfectly, provide arch support and a firm heel counter for ankle support and are also flexible enough to allow free movement of the feet. These are the must-have features your kids’ shoes must provide to keep their feet healthy.
The advantages of providing your child with a pair of shoes that provide all of the features mentioned above are:
➡️ Promote healthy foot development
➡️ Improve your kids’ posture
➡️ Provide stability
➡️ Minimize the impact on your kids’ feet when they hit the ground
➡️ Prevent foot injuries
Now that you know the key role that good supportive shoes provide for a toddler with flat feet, below you can find a selection of the most supportive and better made shoes for toddlers with flat feet. 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.
The Best Shoes for Toddlers with Flat Feet
Lace-Up Closure
- New Balance shoe style 990v6
- Fits toddlers with medium, wide, or extra wide feet
- Strong rubber outsole and cushioned midsoles
- Suede/mesh upper provides durability and breathability
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- New Balance shoe style 990v6
- Fits toddlers with medium, wide, or extra wide feet
- Strong rubber outsole and cushioned midsoles
- Suede/mesh upper provides durability and breathability
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- Stride Rite shoe style Emilia
- Fits toddlers with medium, wide, or extra wide feet
- Strong rubber outsole and a cushioned midsole
- 100% leather made
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- Stride RIte shoe style Elliot
- Fits toddlers with medium, wide, or extra wide feet
- 100% leather made
- Seamless construction that cradles the foot’s natural shape
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- Stride RIte shoe style Elliot
- Fits toddlers with medium, wide, or extra wide feet
- 100% leather made
- Seamless construction that cradles the foot’s natural shape
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- New Balance shoe style 2022
- Fits toddlers with medium or wide feet
- Suede/mesh upper provides durability and breathability
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- New Balance shoe style 990v6
- Fits toddlers with medium, wide, or extra wide feet
- Strong rubber outsole and cushioned midsoles
- Suede/mesh upper provides durability and breathability
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
Velcro Closure
- Saucony Cohesion
- Fits toddlers with medium or wide feet
- Heel grid system for stable cushioning
- Compression molded EVA footbed for comfort
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- Saucony Cohesion
- Fits toddlers with medium or wide feet
- Heel grid system for stable cushioning
- Compression molded EVA footbed for comfort
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- New Balance style 990v6
- Fits toddlers with medium, wide, or extra wide feet
- ABZORB midsole absorbs impact through a combination of cushioning and compression resistance
- Removable insoles
- Extra deep
- Order this shoe a half size larger than your child’s current foot size
- New Balance style 574
- Fits toddlers with medium, wide, or extra wide feet
- Generous toe box and instep to accommodate and support your toddler walker’s needs
- Rubber outsole pods designed to stand up to daily wear and tear
- Extra deep
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- Memo style Gabi
- Fits toddlers with medium or wide feet
- Thermoplastic asymmetric stiff heel counter for proper feet protection and stabilization
- Stiff and high ankle support for toe walkers
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- Memo style Gabi
- Fits toddlers with medium or wide feet
- Thermoplastic asymmetric stiff heel counter for proper feet protection and stabilization
- Stiff and high ankle support for toe walkers
- Order this shoe half a size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- New Balance shoe style 990v6
- Fits toddlers with medium, wide, or extra wide feet
- Strong rubber outsole and cushioned midsoles
- Suede/mesh upper provides durability and breathability
- Order this shoe a half size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
- New Balance style 990v4
- Fits toddlers with medium or wide feet
- Generous toe box and instep to accommodate and support your toddler walker’s needs
- Extra deep
- Order this shoe a whole size larger than your toddler’s current foot size
Keep in mind that if your toddler is pronating severely, you should go for the shoe styles that come with shoelaces, since they provide more support and more stability for the feet. All of these shoe styles will be able to accommodate an orthotic for extra support.
Reviews from Families – Get inspired!


The Importance of Getting the Correct Shoe Size – Get It Right!
When it comes to providing their children with the correct shoe size, parents tend to make the mistake of leaving extra room in the front of the shoe thinking that their kids will be able to wear the shoes for a longer period of time. A certain amount of growing room is okay, the issue comes when parents decide to leave extra growing room and end up compromising their children’s stability.
Getting the correct shoe size for your child goes far beyond just getting the correct shoe length, since getting the correct shoe width size has the same importance as getting the correct length size.
Why is it so important to get the correct shoe width? If the shoe that you provide for your child is too narrow, it will impair the growth of the feet especially the small toe (pinky toe). This might lead to deformation in the growth of the feet, especially in cases of flat foot condition.
A shoe that is too narrow will also lead to all sorts of foot issues such as blisters, calluses, and corns. Thus getting the correct shoe size for your kids is essential for the health and proper development of the feet.
How to Retrieve Your Child’s Exact Foot Length and Shape
I always recommend parents take their children to their local shoe store, where a shoe fitter can properly measure their feet and find shoes that fit. However, several parents don’t have a local shoe store in their area that they trust, and they must buy their shoes online.
There is nothing wrong with this, but you must make sure you are providing your child with the correct type of shoes and the correct shoe size.
In that article I help parents determine their toddler’s exact foot size and whether the toddler has narrow, medium, wide, or extra wide feet. I also will be able to tell you whether your toddler has a high instep or not.
The Best Orthotics for Toddlers – Help Them Walk and Run Straighter!
Sometimes a pair of supportive shoes might not be enough to improve and correct the way your toddler walks. If you have tried a pair of supportive shoes for your toddler and he or she is still having foot pain or walking differently, you might want to try a pair of orthotics.
A pair of orthotics will help redistribute your toddler’s body weight, correct the abnormal placement of the foot, and make their gait balanced and efficient. Below you can find the most effective orthotics for toddlers with flat feet:
- Fits a toddler shoe size 5 up to a big kid shoe size 3
- Medically approved insoles with targeted cushion and support
- Deep heel cup with strong arch support
- Made from lightweight yet supportive cushioning material with shock-absorbing heel padding
- Forefoot padding to increase comfort
- They can be trimmed to size with scissors if needed
While I can’t discuss the importance of providing your toddler with orthotics in as much detail in this article, I have written another article that describes the best orthotics for toddlers with foot and leg pain.
Is It Normal for Toddlers to Have Flat Feet?
It is a fact that most toddlers are flat-footed, but this doesn’t mean that this condition should be left untreated. Most medical professionals advise parents to be patient and just wait for their toddlers to develop an arch or to “outgrow” the condition, but the fact is that several of these toddlers don’t develop an arch, and parents end up regretting not having taken action sooner.
Flat feet can lead to foot and leg pain, muscle tightness, muscle weakness, or your toddler having trouble keeping up with peers in performing age-appropriate activities.
Get in Touch With Us for a Personalized Suggestion
Without a doubt, children’s shoe needs can vary depending on their age, activity level, and any specific foot conditions they may have. If you have any questions or need any further assistance, you can also contact us via e-mail and we will get back to you as soon as possible. We are happy to help you find a different pair of shoes for your toddler so don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Do you have a toddler that is flat-footed? Have you found a particular shoe style that has helped him or her walk and run straighter? Please share your thoughts and experiences below so we can all benefit from them!
Finally, if you would like to show your support of Fitting Children’s Shoes, you have the option to make a donation. Your support helps ensure that families around the world can find the correct shoes for their children, regardless of their foot shape or condition.
My toddler has very chunky/fat feet and most shoes leave red marks on the top part of his feet. How do I know these shoes will be wide enough for his feet?
Take a look at the description below each of the shoes that I recommend. You will notice that some models are available in extra wide widths.
Thank you for this resource! The visuals, general recommendations, and specific recommendations are so helpful for sharing with families in our Early Intervention program!
Hello Stephenie.
I am happy to hear that you find the website informative! Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Hi my daughter is 2 years old and has flat feet, i’m Looking to find solution to solve this issue Professionally and Completely for her
Would you suggest shoes for her?
Hello Motasem,
There is a couple of extra information I need from you before I provide you with a specific shoe recommendations. I need to know your daughter’s shoe size (I need to know her shoe size in length and width). I also would like to know if she is overpronating.
Hi my daughter is 6 years old and has flat feet and often complains of knee,ankle and leg pain. Would you suggest geox winter boots for her?(we live in a mainly cold climate)
Hello Saba,
Yes I do, as long as that Geox style is waterproofed or insulated. Geox provide really good support. Does your daughter wear orthotics inside her shoes?
My Kid is 2 year old and have flat foot with valgus.
Can you please recommend from where I can purchase the right manufactured shoe
Hello Anand,
Do you have a local children’s shoe store in your area? If you have a shoe store in your area I will recommend that you take your child to be properly fitted there. I created a map that showcases the best children’s shoe stores by state:
The Best Shoe Stores In The United States – Where To Go For Proper Fittings
If you don’t have one in your area, please get back at me with your child’s shoe size (length and width), and I will recommend shoes that will help him/her walk and run straighter.
Same thing! My 3 year old has flat feet with valgus. What is the best shoe/sneaker for him?
Hello Karen,
The key is to find a deeper shoe that comes with a round toe-box. All the eight shoe recommendations that you see in this article fall in that category.
Do you know your child’s shoe size? If you tell me his exact shoe size (length and width), I can provide you with specific recommendations if none of the shoes shown in the article come in his size.
He wears 10.5.
Hello Karen,
I am assuming you don’t know your child’s shoe width. If your child has wide or extra wide feet, just choose “W”or “XW”
Supportive Shoe Style For Flat Feet: Option 1
Supportive Shoe Style For Flat Feet: Option 2
If after trying one of those styles your child walk patter does not improve or he is still experiencing foot or leg pain, you should consider trying an orthotic inside the shoes.
I hope this helps!