What shoes do you buy for your toddler/preschooler

[TinyHineyDiapers]

We are a crocs family too! Ds2 wears clogs in the summer and lined clogs in the winter and ds1 wears the slip on sneakers since the dress code at his school does not allow open heel shoes. I love that they are so easy to keep clean and don't smell. Ds2 hates socks so I was going through a pair of sneakers a month because the stuck up so fast!

[psylion]

I always put DD in Merrill at that age they are good quality and look great too.

[hilaryisinked]

Besides Stride Rite, Toms & Nike.

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[Junipervt]

my kids wear mostly Soft Stars. they don't look like a mainstream shoe, but hold up very well. my kids & I wear minimalist shoes whenever possible (weather permitting ex there is almost 2ft of snow, so we're wearing snow boots). Soft Stars are very flexible & we love them!

[Brooke789]

We wear pretty much whatever here. Before 2 my twins had only worn leather bottom Robeez type shoes. After that we do whatever. Right now their outside shoes are a pair of WalMart Converse type shoes and their everyday shoes are Toms for both of them and Skechers Twinkle Toes for DD and Stride Rite for DS. I recently bought several pairs of shoes from Sears when they had all of their shoes bogo, so they'll be wearing brands they sell there for a while after these current ones!

[MsGiggles]

Originally Posted by KaleidoscopeEyes Quote: Just a side PSA for those buying crocs for wide feet: I've now heard from a few foot drs that they can cause the foot to widen even further as they don't give the correct support to the sides of the foot if that were the case then kids shouldnt be barefoot at all lol

I know - it sounds strange that something so 'natural' could cause problems. I should have been more specific, especially since the thread states preschoolers/toddlers.

1. no shoes (just protection - not support) is usually all toddlers need until ~age 4
2. 'young kids' to me = 4-10 yrs, not toddlers
3. crocs are only a problem if they have wide feet that may be widening further or at risk of maladies like plantar fasciitis, etc
4. this advice was given with Crocs in mind, not Crocs Rx which seem to have different support
5. this advice can from 1 podiatrist, 1 chiropodist, and a gf irl got the same advice from another podiatrist - by no means a large sample size, but 3/3 made me happy to be aware of it, since I grew up with wide feet & ligament issues.