When did your LO wear shoes with soles.

[Alisse]

My LO has only been wearing robeez up until now. I've tried to put on shoes with a slightly thicker sole onto his feet but he ends up not being able to walk (he tries but his ankles aren't quite strong enough or something...ankles are rolling in, can't stand up properly, etc). I'm wanting to bring him outside to the park but the ground is so cold now there's no way i'd let him walk with those thin leather-soled robeez. Poor thing has been trapped indoors for too long.

So how old was your LO when s/he was able to wear shoes with a rubber sole and do you have any suggested brands of shoes i can put on his feet while he learns to walk more stably?

[Ambystoma]

We're not quite to the walking stage yet, but I just bought DS his first set of real soled shoes. The recommendations I got from various sources was to make sure they were high tops (like boots) to keep the ankles from rolling and give him more stability while learning. He is practicing pulling up in them and got the hang of it pretty quickly.

[octobermom]

once my LO was walking well enough she was just putting holes in the leather soles of her robezz we made the switch.

Deanna

[livingfree]

we used the soft soled shoes until dd was 2 and then i started making a few exceptions for really thin/flexible soled shoes. robeez has 3 different styles of shoes to chose from these days, maybe a different one than what you have? although my dd is 4 and still has some soft soled shoes and wears them with socks in the winter, no problem.

[Friday13th]

I aim for soft soles for as long as feasible. What about some fur lined pedipeds? They have a slightly thicker but still super soft and leather sole and the lined ones would be toasty warm in the winter. Or a pair of Molehill shells over the regular robeez.

[lifeguard]

We did the soft soles until about 18 months & then ds' feet were too big for any of them (that I could find anyway). For last winter we used Stonz boots & they were fabulous. Verrry, verrry happy with them.

[carmel23]

I've been wondering the same thing. My toddler is only 10 months, almost 11 months, but walks well. He has been wearing robeez boots outside, but it is getting colder. The soft soled thicker shoes (SKR, etc.) I've put on him so far he does not tolerate. I put some crocs on his feet the other day, that he sort of tolerated, and I'm thinking he might keep soft star shoes on, since they seem robeez like. ....

[ck1]

DS started walking at 9 months but we used Robeez with him since he was six months old with socks just to keep his feet warm, and to get used to wearing shoes one day; he liked it. When he first started walking and was still wobbly we kept him in the Robeez. When we decided to switch to hard soles was when he walked well enough to walk in the shallow river with rocks. So at 11 months we bought his first pair of hard soled shoes but went back and forth with soft soles and hard soles, like hard soled for the river, soft soles everything else. Maybe you could do that? Not make a total transition just yet. I see your point with winter and cold feet. We just kept DS in soft soles with socks, since he wasn't walking well in the winter months he wasn't stepping on the cold ground as much. Now that DS is 16 months and acts like a 2 year old running and climbing he's in hard soles because his feet need protection. I guess the concern most people hear is if you put them in hard soled shoes too soon they get fallen arches and all this stuff because their feet are still developing. I don't prescribe to that, but do feel some people think shoes are so cute on babies that they try to cram them into this gaudy big shoes it's no wonder they have trouble learning to walk! So my vote is to maybe transition between a hard soled and soft soled, but we never did anything for support on the ankles while learning to walk.

[Abraisme]

Once my DD was walking she got one pair of rubber soled shoes. She still wears her Robeez if it's dry, but we use soft-soled shoes if it's raining. She currently has THESE boots that I got at Costco for $18. They're really soft, are well made and have a very thin rubber sole.

[MJB]

We used leather soft soles (fleece lined in winter) until about 3. Starting around 1.5-2 we had rubber rain boots for very wet days but I don't think hard soles are good for toddlers' feet. My middle son walked at 8.5 mos. and was running everywhere soon after. He prefers to be barefoot still and he's in kindergarten (he wears Chuck Taylors to school, which are fairly flexible for hard-soled shoes).

[luckyduckyinla]

Always loved using the Pediped shoes for my daughter, and now they're having a great baby shoe giveaway at http://www.nouncee.com/giveaways/pediped-baby-shoe-giveaway.html.

[isabchi]

My kids were in sole sole for long time and the to Soft Star shoes. We'll barefoot at home year around and outside we all use soft shoes, except my DH that need to use safety shoes at work.

[CookAMH]

18mo DS is still in Robeez unless it's wet outside and he has harder soled shoes. I would like to get a pair of flimpsy robeez with rubber soles to be waterproof. I would imagine that until he's 2 we'll do that.

[lrgs]

I didn't know there was an issue with hard soled shoes........anyway, OP, my DD had really fat feet her first winter walking and we could not find any boots to fit her. We lived up North (Canada) and it was cold with lots of snow and we used Stonz boots. She had been walking for about 4-5 months by the time winter came and liked to go outside and walk in the snow. They worked pretty well. A little pricey but luckily FIL loves them and always wants to buy them for his grandkids.

[OkiMom]

Both around 18ish months they grew out of all the shoes they sale locally that are soft soled. They have odd shaped feet so they need to be able to try on a pair of shoes to see if they fit so buying online isn't an option for us.