Toddler shoes

[foreverinbluejeans]

My grandson is 12 months old and walking very well. He has never worn shoes or socks. We live in Arizona and some surfaces are hot and make him howl! He is walking enough now he needs some shoes for safety.

I'm looking for leather shoes with soft soles. In the 80's my kids had shoes I loved and I think they were called softwalkers. If that was the right name I can't find them now. They were very simple shoes and the summer ones had three tear drop shapes cut out for cooling.

Anyone know where to get these shoes or something similar.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

The most popular brands now are Robeez and the Target knock off MiniStar. I've had both and like them both. The Robeez now come in "Tredz" which have super soft flexible rubber souls that affer a little more durability & waterproofing for sidewalks, etc.

Robeez should be available at most finer shoe stores, even our local Striderite store carries them. There are several other companies, and a few WAHM places, I'm sure someone else can point you toward them. But I've had both of these and for what they are, they take the abuse and hold up pretty well.

[twinergy]

I have had very good experience with shooshoos. I only had their leather sole style shoes and have not tried their rubber soles. They are made in South Africa. These are very cute in person, go with everything and they are on sale. I have also seen several similar shoes on etsy.com for around $15-25 per pair plus shipping.
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edit: I forgot to check sizing, looks like they are out of the bigger sizes on that shoe.

[mama2004]

Another option (not particularly cheap, mind you) might be Soft Star Shoes, they're great quality, local (for us) handmade shoes with formaldehyde free leather and soles so soft that they could be folded and put in your pocket. They also have moccasin style shoes that have a leather bottom. They're the only shoes we've had for DS (2.5) so far and we love them.

[Pyrodjm]

We also love Shooshoos. The rubber soled Smiley version are great and super flexible.

[purplepaperclip]

i love the LLBean mocs.

[DoulaLMT]

I'm a big fan of Pedipeds. You can find some good deals on ebay or craigslist sometimes.

ETA: I had a very chunky guy, and Robeez style shoes had elastic that was too tight around the ankle. That's how I ended up going with Pediped.

[PatchChild]

Robeez have been my favorite, they seem to hold up a lot better than the Target ones, though I like those too. See Kai Run were great once DS was a little older. They are super flexible but with a rubber sole.

[Holiztic]

www.softstarshoes.com

we love them!!

[granolalight]

Robeez and pedipeds are great.

[Katielady]

I love pedipeds but my 10mo keeps undoing the velcro and then taking off & losing her shoe. Anything out there with a soft sole, but a more toddler-proof clasp such as a button or buckle?

[HappyFox05]

I like Pedoodles, not cheap, but I've been able to find most of ours on eBay.

[Rdan888]

I really like Soft Star Shoes because they not only have soft soles but they are eco-friendly and made of formaldehyde-free leathers. These are vegan friendly shoes and very cozy to wear.  Another option is Simple shoes.  They have soft soles as well and kids shoes are machine washable.  You can find both at http://www.justgreatkidswear.com/Shoes.html .  Hope this helps.

[tzs]

for a soft-soled "real sole" shoe live and luca are amazing. they bend practically as much as the leather soles they are that flexible. we got some see kai runs and they are so stiff compared. get on the mailing list and get them on 50% off sale though cause they're pricey and they start at size 4 (a small size 4 though) so maybe for when he gets a little bigger. they are also super cute and dd's grandma loves buying them for her.

[brennan]

We love love LOVE soft star shoes! softstarshoes.com  

They have great mocs which are what you're describing, soft soled shoes.  You can get them with tear drop cutouts too.  And when he's ready for a thicker sole, the sole of the soft stars are insanely flexible!  (Plus they're having a sale right now, just scroll down on the main page a bit and you'll see the link)

[aldensmom09]

we love livie and luca shoes as well.they were the only shoe we could find to fit my son's tall, fat, pudgy "hobbit feet", haha.  they're supportive but very flexible. and wow, they are cute! a bit pricey, but if you join their mailing list they have great sales-= sometimes even 50% off.

www.liveandluca.com

[belltree]

There have been great suggestions. From my experience the suede soles on a lot of these shoes get very slippery in rainy conditions. Maybe I'm the only one whose little one was walking in the rain with those?

From experience: Softstarshoes are great and they have a sale going on right now. I like, that you can ask the shoe to be modified for high arches or width etc. Pedipeds are really nice as well and we had some robeez booties in the winter.

[darlawoods]

We love Pediped and Striderite.  If you belong to any of the discount clothing websites, they usually have pediped.

[Chamomile Girl]

Originally Posted by aldensmom09 

we love livie and luca shoes as well.they were the only shoe we could find to fit my son's tall, fat, pudgy "hobbit feet", haha.  they're supportive but very flexible. and wow, they are cute! a bit pricey, but if you join their mailing list they have great sales-= sometimes even 50% off.

www.liveandluca.com

Cute...but make more boy's shoes won't you! Sheesh...this is unfortunately a common problem. Why do boys get the shaft? (Erm...no pun intended )

[belltree]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl 

Cute...but make more boy's shoes won't you! Sheesh...this is unfortunately a common problem. Why do boys get the shaft? (Erm...no pun intended )

That seems to be a general trend, even in consignment/second hand stores the girl's section is usually 2-3 times the size of the boys section. Plus boy shoes are all dark-blue-brown; on the other hand most girls shoes are all pink, sparkly, MaryJane type, butterfly. There just don't seem to be a hold lot of shoes, that are made for kids with simple colors and shapes.