Shoes again... when to move on from soft soles?

[snuggly]

When do you feel is an okay time to move to firmer soles?

DD (18 m) is big and tall, has big feet, walks, climbs, and runs, and I'm starting to have a tough time finding soft soled shoes that will work for her... What age or stage is it okay to wear more "normal" soles? Anyone have a good site for research on this? Thanks!

ETA: When I say that I'm having a tough time finding soft soled shoes that work it is mostly because to the durability factor. She is literally wearing holes in everything I try (Robeez, Bobux, Umi, See kai run) within a few weeks... Yikes!

[gagin37]

i dont have any research, but we've just started in the last couple of months to put firmer soled shoes on our ds (20m). he's incredibly active and we're outside a lot. i found some slightly bendy sandals for him at Target for this summer.

[mckittre]

What is bad about having them in harder soles sometimes? I ask because we'll be taking my son on several backpacking trips this summer (at 15, 16, and 18 months), and I was thinking of just putting him in rubber boots with hard soles. Mostly because I can't see any other way to deal with the fact that his feet/shoes will otherwise be constantly wet.

[lifeguard]

The hard soles change their gait pattern & can permanently affect the development of their feet. I've read that more people in developed countries have flat feet & it's been attributed to the use of hard soles.

I just recently got ds his first more "real" shoes because he is too big for any soft soles anymore & walks on all sorts of surfaces (he's 18 months). I did ensure the soles are very flexible & try to keep him barefoot as much as possible.

FWIW - I have noticed ds trips a lot more when wearing his less flexible rainboots than when barefoot or in a more flexible sole.

[desamom]

There are some more structured shoes which are still very flexible that have worked for us. I've always read on here that you should be able to bend the shoe in half. Well my daughter has a pair of Geox Respira running shoes (hand me downs as I would never spend $100+ on shoes for her!) and they bend in half. I also recently bought her a pair of See Kai Run sandals for summer. They have thick rubber sole but I can also bend them right in half. We're outside a lot running around and she is not wearing through them super fast.

[LVale]

Have you ever tried Minnetonka Moccassins? Sorry about the spelling. My mother had me in them when I started walking. Mind you this was in 1961, and I have been wearing them ever since. The ones I buy are made out of soft leather on the soles, not the rubber ones, and they have a soft foam insert on the inside. The sole is sturdy enough to walk over stickers, broken glass, and it does not penetrate the sole, at least in my experience. The only problem is walking on cement when it is wet, it can be a slippery experience, but what I do is take an emory board and rough up the soles, and this solves the problem. They are super comfortable, and I have had no foot problems, in fact I have very high arches, no bunions, etc. I buy the ones that are all leather , ankle high, and have a zipper on the back. Hope this helps! Oh can you tell I am a fan?

[MamaPhD]

DD is 17 mo and she didn't wear shoes before she was 13 mo. We got her a pair of squeaky shoes to encourage her walking, which she wore like <1 hour per day. All other times, she was barefoot. When she started to walk pretty well (soon thereafter), we got her a pair of Stride Rite sneakers (pretty bendy) and robeez (soft soles), and she liked both of them. As long as shoes are flexible (you can easily bend with one hand), they are OK to use in my book. Most recently we got a pair of Pediped Flex shoes and they are pretty good, too.

[redvlagrl]

DD is 19 months and is still in soft soles. You might like to try out the Pedipeds originals. The leather sole is a bit thicker than a Robeez and there is 3mm of foam in there too so it's a bit more durable. Otherwise, could you glue an extra piece of leather/suede to the sole of your Robeez to make them last longer?

We want to keep our kids in soft soles as long as possible. Once we have to move up to soled shoes (which won't be too long for DD I suspect in terms of size) we will only use things lik eSee Kai Run, where you can bend it in one hand easily.

In the winter we use Stonz on top of Robeez.

And barefoot as much as possible though I am noticing that things are culturally different here regarding that. The only time Dd has shoes on is when we go out.