When to Put a Child in Hard Soled Shoes

I have a 2 year old - I kept him in Robeez for as long as possible. Everything I've read from pediatricians etc indicated that it is best to keep your little one barefoot or in Robeez- type shoes as long as possible. Once my son started walking we bought hard soled shoes and started alternating depending on where we were going. Once he started running the Robeez days were over for us.

What I learned was this: Let him learn to walk with the Robeez.. or with socks..he needs to learn to walk using his toes and whole foot before going into hard soled shoes. Once he has learned to walk in soft shoes.. socks or something flexible.. then you can put him in hard soled shoes.

Wow.. those Robeez are so cute.. wish they'd been around when my kids were little!!! I'd keep mine in them as long as I could coz they are so gosh darn cute.

I think Robeez are a fine thing for them to learn to walk in. That is what my son learned in. We had a pair of see Kai runs for his first hard sole pair of shoes, but the pair we have has a big lip around the edge and they were very difficult for him to wear as firts shoes 'cause the lip made it difficult to crawl with them on, as well as walk, and he often got the edge caught and tripped. We just bought him his second pair of hard soled shoes at 15 months at target, and he was a little awkward in them at first, but he adapted pretty quick. Still Robeez seem great for early walkers in the house...and now that he is walking better the See Kai runs are fine, even with the lip around the edge.

I would wait until he is walking, but you only need harder sole shoes for when he is playing outside. My son lived in Robeez too, I would just carry him from the car to wherever we were going to avoid him stepping in puddles or on a rock. But he also had shoes (we went with Stride Rites) for playing outside and once he got independent he wanted to walk to the car and everywhere.

They make the soft Robeez for kids up to 4 yrs old! I didn't know Robeez came in bigger sizes and when I started looking I couldn't find them. I guess I could have ordered online, but by then he was into shoes and played in socks indoors. AND check this out: http://www.robeez.com/en-us/tredz.htm?lang=en-us&pric...
They now make Robeez with harder soles for outdoors!!! Available in 2 weeks so I'm not sure who will carry them locally. But another option for Robeez lovers!

Hi,
I just wanted to say that Robeez are the best!! Both my boys wore them. As far a wearing hard soled shoes, my boys didn't wear them when they were learning to walk all the time. It all depended on the weather. My opinion is to do what works best for you. Your son will be walking on his own barefoot or in shoes before you know it.

I chose to keep my kids in robeez as long as i could. well, actually, i was finally like "wow, i should probably get them some real shoes!" From what I have heard/know, at that stage in the game (13 mo), you really only need to put them in proper shoes if you are going to be out and they are going to be 'walking', and then, you want to make sure the soles are really flexible and not high top shoes to allow a natural gait pattern and to allow your childs ankle/foot muscles to do the work, not the firmness of the shoe or support of the hightop. my kids are 19 mo's old and are only on their 2nd pair of shoes (first pair was see kai run's and now stride rights). I have them barefoot or in robeez inside. i would keep him in the robeez until he is walking more and then initially only when walking outside (where the robeez might get soaked or he might step on something sharp etc)
hope this helps!
J.

I bought my daughter her first pair of converse high tops for her first birthday. They have ankle suppose and and flexible. She learned to walk in them.

We were given advice from Nordstrom's as well, but were told that barefoot or barefoot like shoes (robeez)is the best for children until they are walking for 6-8 weeks comfortably. After that the hard soled shoes were recommended.

you should wait until he has been walking for at least a month or two before getting something that has a hard sole so that he can get the feel of the ground I also would recommend converse for first shoes because they are still more flexible and an easier transition when buying his first pair of shoes allot yourself at least an hour to shop and let him try the shoes on and run around the store so that you can tell if they comfortable for him and flexible enough

We put our little one (14 months old) in hard soled shoes as soon as she started pulling herself up (Nordstrom advice)... this seemed to help her tons... although they say it's best for kids to learn to walk barefoot... so we just had her in her skid socks while inside.... she started walking a week after her first birthday.

Stride Rite will suggest that you wait until they're walking to put them in "real" shoes. Until then, you can get really soft ones or Stride Rite offers some soft-bottomed shoes. Take him in and let him see the store. It's also good practice for when they need to get fitted! :) Enjoy! Been there, done that!

Wait until he's walking. Soft shoes help them feel the floor and learn to get balance. Hard shoes protect his feet once he's outside walking.
M.

Hi K.!
Our son was also in Robeez; he started walking at 8.5 months, so that's when he got his 1st pair. We let him practice in those and he wore those for about 3 months or so before we transfered him in hard sole shoes; it took him a bit to adjust, but after he did, it was great!
I'd say wait for him to start walking good in Robeez and then get him some different shoes!

Dear K., Take heart! I bet that your little guy will be walking within a month or so. I have raised 4 children (ages 29,26,20 and 17), two of them walked at 10 months, and the other two were 14 months. The latter two were perfectly capable of walking, but their less adventurous personalities definitely delayed the process. Robeez are wonderful! My little grandson wears them most of the time. He'll be two in April, and also walked at around 10 months. His parents put him in low-top sneakers now. That's the type of shoe I used for my kids. Enjoy your little boy, and don't be surprised that he walks like an expert when he does take those first steps!

The feet are best developed and strengthened with no shoes or the soft-soled ones you have. Hard soles are only necessary once your son is walking in areas where his feet need more protection. My son was about a year and a half old when we got his first pair of hard soled shoes.

Hi K.. I've always thought I knew alot when it came to my own kid because my mom has 4 more kids after me, and I was helping raise them into my teens! I was of the (probablly considered) "old school" persuasion that you don't under any circumstance put them in anything else besides socks or booties until they were steadily walking on their own. Well, I got a coupon from StrideRite and thought I'd go check things out. My daughter has big feet, so I couldn't even buy a pair of soft soled shoes for her! When I discussed my concern with the sales girl, she assured me that their shoes are safe to start wearing and won't inhibit my daughter's learning to walk. The next step after crawlers are the cruisers. My daughter is def. cruising around the furniture, and will walk if she's holding onto BOTH of our hands. She seems to do well in them, and was standing on her own for longer periods of time. I put her down the other day in her socked barefeet and she was able to stand for quite some time on her own as well. I did notices that she was using her toes to kind of grip the carpet and that her feet were flexing as she maintained her balance. I don't know if that is normal, or if she could have done that in soled shoes. Oh, I should mention that the soles in the "Cruisers" are structured, but still flexible, yet not as hard as normal walking shoe soles. I am not sure if we made the right decision, but I did want to share our experience. I am curious though what the PT would say about StrideRite.

Yes! Hard soled shoes for sure. A "walker" or something along those lines that he could try with his new hard soled shoes might be helpful as well.

My recommendations when selling SeeKaiRun's in my store, is when they start to walk you should put them in shoes with a little more protection. The soft but supportive soles will protect the shock that can come when walking on hard surfaces. If you don't protect them from the shocks, I've heard that it can cause joint problems after becoming an adult. I wish someone told me that when I was jumping around in flip flops. What I like about SeeKaiRun is that the soles are really flexible. I wish I had them with my first two kids. There is so much good and improved things now for children these days. I know that this sounds like a sales pitch, but if you are thinking about getting a SeeKaiRun anytime soon, The Chifferobe is having a shoe sale. 25% off of current and past season SeeKaiRun with over a hundred pairs of Robeez.
Good luck in finding the right shoes for your child. It's great to see a mom who is thinking ahead and asking to see what is the best for her child. NICE!

My daughter is almost 2 and she also lives in Robeez! I went down to Payless shoes when she was about 1 and talked to the sales person there. She said as soon as they start walking solidly on their own then you should look into some harder soled shoes. We started with some velcro tennis shoes. They seem to be pretty much all the same so don't spend a bundle. Your son's feet will be out of them in no time!
Hope this helps,
S.

I think an option might be something called a ShooFoo - Leather Baby Tennis Shoes or Soft Sole Leather Baby Shoes - created by a SAHM who had some ideas as to how to create a soft leather shoe that DOESN'T cost an arm and a leg:

http://www.shoofoo.com/index.html

Started by a soft-spoken SAHM in the Pacific Northwest, she consulted us other moms in her play group for style and color preferences - and now she's working with Amazon and Nordstrom's Rack!

That's what you get for being smart and working hard and having a fantastic idea whose time had come. ShooFoo, btw, means 'comfy' in Chinese!

K.
I highly recommend Converse high tops for infants. both my boys started in those as soon as the size 4s fit and they were both strong walkers by one year. the convers have a nice wide flat sole great for bigginers looking for balance. the high top really helps stabalize wobbly ancles. Good luck, and carefull what you wish for. mama waldman

I'll respond to this as a physical therapist. Shoes are designed to protect the feet from hard/uneven ground or to perform (eg ballet) or danger (steel toes) etc. Growing feet need room to develop. As he is not walking on his own, something soft is fine, especially as most of his walking is indoors. The hard soles will actually hinder his balance reactions, and slow the develpment of his growing feet.

Don't worry about rushing into Stride Rites just yet. Let his feet grow and develop, he'll be running and telling you how he wants the $$$$$ shoes soon enough.

Robeez is coming out with a new harder-soled shoe called Robeez Tredz (in about 2 weeks) that will likely be perfect for the next stage :)

J.