Once you reach a certain age, the act of buying shoes becomes relatively straight-forward. You know what the size of your foot is and thus finding a pair that works for you is pretty easy. However, all of that confidence can be thrown out the window when you have to buy shoes for your kids. Considering that children are constantly growing, finding a pair of shoes that you can get more than a couple months of traction out of can seem like a tall order.
The temptation will be to buy shoes that are bigger so that the child might grow into them down the line. However, this mistake and others can actually prove detrimental to a child’s foot health. A new report offers some valuable tips on shoe shopping from the American Podiatric Medical Association, and if you’re a parent, this is information you’ll want to keep in your back pocket the next time you’re about to make a purchase.
As we already noted, one of the biggest missteps (pun intended) you can make is to attempt to let your child grow into a pair of shoes. If a shoe is too loose, then your child is likely going to need to compensate with an awkward gait that doesn’t serve their growing frame in the long run. They may feel like they have to pull the weight of the shoe, and the strange posture they take could lead them to trip. The shoes could even slip off their feet. At the very least, it’s going to be uncomfortable, so it’s best to avoid overly large shoes.
To do that, you’ll need to be fairly attentive to your child’s needs. Don’t just try to “eyeball” it. Actually take your child with you when you’re shopping so that you can get his or her feet properly measured. That way, you’ll know precisely what size shoes you should be looking for.
Having the child with you at the time also means that he or she will be able to try things on and feel like they are involved with the choice, which will mean they’re less likely to fight you on the proper footwear. When the child tries on the shoe, ask them how it feels and let them walk around the store. Try to replicate the exact way that your child will be walking around normally. If they’re going to be wearing a thick pair of socks for the winter, for instance, then similar socks should be worn when the shoes are tried on.
The other thing you should realize is the importance of shopping toward the end of the day. Gravity takes its toll, and over the course of hours, a person’s feet will swell to accommodate the stress. When you try on shoes at the end of the day, you’ll get a better sense of how well a shoe fits.