{"id":4620,"date":"2014-05-28T08:47:20","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T12:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/?p=4620"},"modified":"2014-05-28T08:47:20","modified_gmt":"2014-05-28T12:47:20","slug":"these-shoes-are-made-for-walking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/28\/these-shoes-are-made-for-walking\/","title":{"rendered":"These Shoes are Made for Walking"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSC02805I never thought much about shoes when Honeybun was a baby.\u00a0 We lived in sunny South Florida and socks were more than enough to keep her little tootsies warm.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until she started pulling up to stand that I started worrying about shoes and even then she only wore them at school to keep from slipping on the tile floors, not usually at home on the carpet.<\/p>\n

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Sugarplum got her first pair of shoes when she was 6 weeks old and we returned to Dublin.\u00a0 The busy little baby kept kicking her socks off and her poor feet were always so cold.\u00a0 Her first shoes were cute little corduroy maryjanes that she wore until I couldn\u2019t squeeze her little feet into them anymore (and that was a long time, she always had tiny little feet!)<\/p>\n

Both girls stuck with leather sippers until they were walking well and ready to run around outside.\u00a0 Even once we move to \u201cproper\u201d shoes, I still prefer flexible soles over extremely stiff ones so the baby can practice balance and develop all the muscles in their foot.\u00a0 For the girls, it was never a problem to find flexible rubber soled shoes.<\/p>\n

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Doodle\u2019s first shoes were a pair of hard soled loafers (I got them for $2!!!) and since he started crawling and pulling up he\u2019s been rocking a cute pair of leather airplane slippers.\u00a0 But now that he\u2019s walking and especially since the girls like to spend so much time outside playing, he needs more protective shoes.\u00a0 There is always a myriad of cute (and even inexpensive) little girls\u2019 shoes to choose from but I am struggling to find the same for little boys!<\/p>\n

The main problem I\u2019m running into (and it was a major problem for Sugarplum too) is that the shoes that fit him have fabric, slippery bottoms and the shoes that have non-slick bottoms have hard, inflexible soles.\u00a0 I\u2019ve searched and searched for flexible rubber bottomed shoes and finally found two pairs (one at Target, one at H&M) but paid more than I would have liked (they grow so fast, I don\u2019t like to spend too much on shoes!)<\/p>\n

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The right shoes are really important for proper foot development, balance and coordination.\u00a0 Here are some tips for choosing the right shoes for a new walker:<\/p>\n