What to look for when buying children´s shoes

Here you can find important tips, when buying shoes for you children.

1.) Make sure to measure the size of the feet of your children everytime you buy shoes. The best way to do that, is to remove the insole of the shoe and let the child stand on the insole.

2.) Between the toes and the end of the insole should be a finger´s breath room. At least it should be 12mm and up to 17mm. Most quality shoes have a removeable insole. If the insole can not be removed (which is by the way also a hygenical problem) you should use a measurement device that measure the inside length of the shoe (for example the Plus12 device).

3.) Usually there are big differences between the inside-length of shoes of different brands, you should never trust a certain size-code, but you should know that the feet of children are quite insensitiv for pain. That means that children do not realize, their shoes are too small, even when the shoe is so small, that it starts to negatively impact the healthy development.

4.) Children´s feet grow about 1mm per month, in elemenatry school it can also be a little less. That means that you have to check regulary, if the shoes still have a good fit and enough room. There are several studies that confirm that in an typical elementary only 30% of the children have a shoe with a correct size !

5.) Shoes that are too small are demonstrable harmful for the feet of children. The healthy development gets encumbered and it can result in deformation of the feet, for example the position of the large toe.

6.) Make sure that you buy shoes preferably in the afternoon, where feet are slightly larger than in the morning.

7.) Check children´s shoes every 3-4 months and replace if they do not fit any longer. If you see certain abnormal or strongly uneven abraison, have your child checked by an orthopedist.