Shoes for chubby feet

[JordanKX]

I'm having a terrible time finding shoes for my LO, 18 months, wearing 5-6.

His daycare won't allow him to wear totally soft-soled, cause he "can't go outside" (hmph), which have been the only ones to fit him so far. I've gotten away with the super pricey MeInMind slip-ons, which I might just have to buy more off the internet since the mall store has stopped carrying them.

Most of the adorable hard-soled shoes I've found are too small for the top of his feet. He still has such fat feet on the top, so if they fit on the top, they're Way too big length-wise and he falls in them.

Any ideas?

[carmel23]

My LO is 15 months-old and wears a size 6 shoe.  I would recommend soft star shoes--pricey, but you will get a shoe that fits you lo. 

Although my little guy's foot is fat it isn't wide--you can print off the measurement chart per shoe size to ensure that it is the right fit and not a wide; they will also make custom shoes for little ones:

http://www.softstarshoes.com/images/Sizing/6_shoe_200801.pdf

And I have to say... we live in a wet climate (portland) and my LO will only wear soft soled shoes.  We have some SKR sandals that fit him as well, but he goes straight for the puddles...

But I guess they are concerned about liability?

edit to add, if your lo is a wide size according to soft star, they ask for the thickness measurement of you LOs feet and make them to order.  So it might be a good idea to get their shoes at least until he grows into a more normalized size.  And, they're in Oregon!

[JBaxter]

I would take him to a stride rite or similar childs shoe store and get him measured.   My boys all wore 2xw shoes till they were about 2 then they went to an xw and finally regular width.     They were also good about suggesting styles that fit their feet better.   I could never buy online for them till hey were school age.

[Friday13th]

Would they accept a SKR Smaller type sole?  They have grippy rubber patches but are still soft enough to be good for an 18 month old.  I think they'll also fit fat little feet well.  I'm planning on getting some for DS2 once he needs a tougher sole than just Robeez.

I was at Stride Rite the other day and was surprised by how many really flexible, rubber soled shoes they had (you could crumple them in one hand) so they appear to be catching on.  I think most of them went up to a 6 or 7 and came in wide widths.

[hildare]

we just bought a pair for our dd, 16 mos, they're "keen newport" sandals.  They're roomy and true to length size, machine washable and cool.  we're VERY happy with them, and they'll be her only pair of shoes as long as they fit.  the only thing negative about them is that the color we chose shows dirt a good bit, they did have darker colors. 

[physmom]

DD has seriously chunky feet (thanks DH! ) and See Kai Runs do NOT work for her, definitely not thick/wide enough, her poor feet stick over the top!

We had great luck with pedipeds http://www.pediped.com/home/home.aspx. I think I actually picked up a pair for really cheap on zullily or baby/kidsteals.  I can't remember which one.  They had a rubber sole but were so much more flexible, just what she needed!

[Jayray]

I also have a fat-footed kid. :)  We just started in a pair of hand-me-down Stride Rites that are 2xw.  They fit really well.  He also fits well into crocs.

[JordanKX]

Originally Posted by physmom 

DD has seriously chunky feet (thanks DH! ) and See Kai Runs do NOT work for her, definitely not thick/wide enough, her poor feet stick over the top!

We had great luck with pedipeds http://www.pediped.com/home/home.aspx. I think I actually picked up a pair for really cheap on zullily or baby/kidsteals.  I can't remember which one.  They had a rubber sole but were so much more flexible, just what she needed!

See Kai Run - yeah, not an option. Lots of totally adorable handmedowns and None will go over his instep :-)

Thanks for all the great recommendations! Sounds like we need to get a stride-rite store here :-)

[AKislandgirl]

We love Soft Star Shoes. You can get them in wide.

[JordanKX]

Originally Posted by carmel23 ... we live in a wet climate and my LO will only wear soft soled shoes.  We have some SKR sandals that fit him as well, but he goes straight for the puddles...

But I guess they are concerned about liability?

I guess I should be more clear here... they don't have to be hard-soled, they can be rubbery. They just can't be soft, no leather.

I suppose it's liability - cold feet? Fear of falling? who knows.

it's made for some interesting shopping - we just don't have a lot of local options and Every place I buy shoes, they just won't go over his instep.... or if they do, they're like 2 inches too long :-) It's hysterical.

I did find a stride-rite seller here, a little obscure store I've never heard of. So we'll see what they've got!

[LeighPF]

I love stride rite for having a variety of widths even in their smallest shoes. My son has tall but small feet and they fit him great.

[sleet76]

Another vote for Soft Star shoes.  Love them!  And they'll even make them custom if his feet are wider than their super-wide wides.

[tzs]

we're a skinny-foot family here but i've heard that all of payless shoes toddler shoes are "wide" or at least they have wide available. 

i'm not sure how flexible they are (our pair of seekairuns was disappointingly rigid, and they are supposed to be great so i keep an open mind about whether you have to spend big bucks to get good shoes), we haven't been yet, and may not be the best quality or locally made but there's something to be said about a $12 pair of shoes!

[brennan]

Honestly Soft Star Shoes are so much more flexible than other toddler shoe on the market, including see kai run and REALLY Stride Rite.  If soft type soles are important to you, the softest sole and closest to just leather that you're going to get is soft star.  They have amazing customer service too.  Stride rite will probably be more expensive than Soft Star.

[JBaxter]

The real key is getting her foot correctly measured.   DS2 had a foot that looked square seriously it was as thick as it was long   I like the recs from the shoe store about which shoe would be more forgiving to his thick foot.  His first shoe was 5EEE at 9 months old.  He had huge feet ( he was walking and we NEEDED out door shoes for daycare)  It really limited the styles but once I knew his size i could look for sales . 

[JordanKX]

So, to add my conclusion here.. found a stride-rite store... we tried on EVERYTHING. SKR, Stride-rite, robeez... nothing would go over his foot. He is a 6, but nothing would fit. So I spent $50 on some hideous New Balance velcro sneakers, straight out of athletic shoes for the future (oh, horrible silvery with red stripes). Just to get him to daycare the next day.

AND the next day, found a pair of black adidas with one single velcro (so it doesn't look so athletic-y) at goodwill for $5. Fits perfectly. New balance horrors were immediately returned.

the lady at the stride-rite store was amazed at just how TALL his feet are... they're like 2 inches in the instep, so soft-shoes won't fit over; things with laces, his feet won't even get in to, unless two sizes bigger, and then he can't walk in them.

So, no help to offer with similarly chunky-feet kids. But we've got something for now. Still searching for the future.

[physmom]

Were you able to try pedipeds on while you were there?  They're seriously one of the few types of shoes that worked for DD for a long time...