Since Abigail has been starting to cruise and daycare has been letting her practice walking, we have decided that she needed some pre-walker infant shoes. Ideally, we would like her to go barefoot. That is the recommended and most natural way for her to learn to walk, however, with her eczema so bad around her ankles, we need to try to keep socks on her to prevent her from scratching them until they're bloody.
I started looking into flexible-sole shoes and - more importantly - shoes that will stay on her active feet. I observed the walking babies at daycare to see which shoes seem to work the best. Talking to the teachers, we concluded that the Pedipeds were extremely soft, durable, impossibly cute, and stayed on the feet fairly well. The Robeez were great for staying on feet and were softer than even the Pedipeds, but were not nearly as durable.
After a few days of internet research, I decided that Abby should try on the Robeez, Pedipeds, and Stride Rite Pre-walkers. To my disappointment, the Pedipeds just didn't fit her well. It turns out that she has very narrow feet and the Pedipeds just fell right off when she dangled her feet - even with the 0-6 months size! They were definitely the cutest of them all. :(
None of the Robeez shoes appealed to me. They looked just like the Carter's baby shoes that Abby already has and which she kicks off almost quicker than we can put them on. Yet, people SWEAR they stay put.
Finally, at the Stride Rite store at the Lakeforest Mall, we looked at Stage 1 and Stage 2 pre-walkers. The Stage 2 shoes were for cruisers/walkers, which seemed appropriate for Abby, but I was not impressed by how hard the rubber soles were. The idea is that they protect the toes of little walkers, but to me the soles felt way too hard for a kid learning to walk, so I looked at the Stage 1 shoes. They are marketed for crawlers, but they felt right to me. They offered flexibility, plus rubber "pods" for traction. With their "Buy one pair, get the second pair half off sale," I ended up picking up two pairs of Stride Rites - size 3 Safari Oatmeal (left) and Pandora Pink/Gold (right).
The Robeez shoes that Stride Rite sold were REALLY ugly, but I still wanted to buy a pair for Abby to try, so we marched across the mall to the Children's Shoebox. There, we tried on 6-12 month shoes, but found them to be too large. The 0-6 month shoes fit very well and gave her about a centimeter of room to grow. Apparently, Abby has TINY feet for 9 months!! Hard to imagine considering how large they were compared to her newborn body. All the Robeez at the store for girls were blaring pink, except for a pair of purple ones, but the "fairy" design was kind of kooky. We ended up walking away with a pair of gender neutral "squirrel" slippers.
I started looking into flexible-sole shoes and - more importantly - shoes that will stay on her active feet. I observed the walking babies at daycare to see which shoes seem to work the best. Talking to the teachers, we concluded that the Pedipeds were extremely soft, durable, impossibly cute, and stayed on the feet fairly well. The Robeez were great for staying on feet and were softer than even the Pedipeds, but were not nearly as durable.
After a few days of internet research, I decided that Abby should try on the Robeez, Pedipeds, and Stride Rite Pre-walkers. To my disappointment, the Pedipeds just didn't fit her well. It turns out that she has very narrow feet and the Pedipeds just fell right off when she dangled her feet - even with the 0-6 months size! They were definitely the cutest of them all. :(
None of the Robeez shoes appealed to me. They looked just like the Carter's baby shoes that Abby already has and which she kicks off almost quicker than we can put them on. Yet, people SWEAR they stay put.
Finally, at the Stride Rite store at the Lakeforest Mall, we looked at Stage 1 and Stage 2 pre-walkers. The Stage 2 shoes were for cruisers/walkers, which seemed appropriate for Abby, but I was not impressed by how hard the rubber soles were. The idea is that they protect the toes of little walkers, but to me the soles felt way too hard for a kid learning to walk, so I looked at the Stage 1 shoes. They are marketed for crawlers, but they felt right to me. They offered flexibility, plus rubber "pods" for traction. With their "Buy one pair, get the second pair half off sale," I ended up picking up two pairs of Stride Rites - size 3 Safari Oatmeal (left) and Pandora Pink/Gold (right).
The Robeez shoes that Stride Rite sold were REALLY ugly, but I still wanted to buy a pair for Abby to try, so we marched across the mall to the Children's Shoebox. There, we tried on 6-12 month shoes, but found them to be too large. The 0-6 month shoes fit very well and gave her about a centimeter of room to grow. Apparently, Abby has TINY feet for 9 months!! Hard to imagine considering how large they were compared to her newborn body. All the Robeez at the store for girls were blaring pink, except for a pair of purple ones, but the "fairy" design was kind of kooky. We ended up walking away with a pair of gender neutral "squirrel" slippers.
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