As parents, we totally understand the urge to always buy bigger sizes to keep when it comes to our children's clothing and accessories, especially when brands have promotions. However, unlike clothes where a bigger size has little or almost no adverse impact, wearing a bigger shoe size is not recommended for safety and development reasons. You can read our blog post on "How fast do kids feet grow" to find out more.

So, whether you are a new or regular customer of Two Little Feet, it is important to have a good plan when it comes to buying shoes for your child. You will be tempted to stock up bigger sizes when there are attractive promotions. To help you do plan this efficiently with Two Little Feet, let us walk you through the 3 walking phases and their suggested designs.

Phase 1: Wobbly Steps - Buying First Walkers Shoes

At this phase (usually around 10 to 15 months), your child has just taken his or her first steps and still need to hold on to something or someone. For this phase, we will recommend as much barefoot time as possible while indoor. When your child is outdoor, a pair of snug fitting covered baby shoes will be the best option to protect the little feet. Our range of Baby Shoes are designed to have very soft upper with flexible outsole to help the early walkers find their footing on the ground. 

Our tips: Your child's feet will also have the fasted growth rate at this phase, so it's recommended to go slow with 1 pair of Baby shoes first. You may consider getting a size up in another baby shoe style in anticipation of the feet growth. 

Phase 2: Steady Walking - Buying Soft-Soled Footwear

At around 15 to 24 months, this is when your child will be walking steadily by him/herself. You can now start exploring our colourful and stylish Baby Sandals, especially for our hot local weather. Our sandals have roomier fitting compared to shoes (due to the lighter padding), so it is always recommended to wear true to size instead of sizing up. 

For some children that have feet sizes measured at size 7, which starts at Kids range, it is OK to move on to our Kids Shoes even though they are still under 2 years old. At this stage, we recommend our Ultra Light shoes and sandals designs. These are not only breathable in style, but also light in weight, making it a breeze to walk in them for young walkers. Their flexible soft soles also aid your child to help strengthen their gait.

Our tips: 

  • If you find that your child is wearing a size 5 Baby shoes that is getting a little too tight, a size 5 Baby sandals may be a good transition before moving up to a size 6 Baby shoes. This rule applies to all other sizes, too.
  • Our kids sizing is available in half sizes at the earlier stage for sandals designs, so we strongly suggest to get half size instead of a full size up for sandals if you intend to keep. Sandals fit larger, so a half size will ensure that you child can slowly transition to a more fitting size as he or she grows.
  • In addition, while some parents may be tempted to skip an entire shoe size in hope that it will last through the entire year, we strongly do not recommend that. Too big a shoe size poses more potential danger for your child than you can imagine, regardless of how well the shoe is made.

Phase 3: Active Running - Getting Shoes with Support

When your child's feet muscles have strengthened and the little one engages in more activities outdoors, you will have more footwear options to choose from.

For a long-wear option, get our Kids Shoes with Firmer Soles for more support and durability. You can also consider Podiatry-friendly Kids shoes to fit your child's special insole, if needed. 

Our tips: 

  • You may be tempted to stock up many sizes ahead during promotions. However, at this stage, your child will likely size up every 6 months. So buying 1 size ahead is sufficient. With our humid weather, storing shoes too long (even away from the heat) can still affect the quality of the shoes after some time. 
  • We do recommend having more than 1 pair in the same size to interchange so the footwear has time to air and rest. A suggested combination would be: 1 pair for school and 1 pair for the weekend. If your child is very much into water play, an additional pair of Beach Sandals is a great add-on too. 

Conclusion

Our favourite motto: saving instead of skimping when it comes to buying shoes for your little one. It is important to buy the right size for now and keeping the bigger size for later. If you're looking to enjoy our Bundle promotion to stock up for future, remember our tips and select wisely. When in doubt, we are just a chat away!

Use our smart Size Assistant to find out your child's Two Little Feet shoe size, based on their feet length!

Looking for more options?

For babies just starting to walk, check out this curated Wobbly Steps Collection for first walkers who are still walking with support.

If your child is walking steadily, we have curated a Steady Walking Kids Shoes and Sandals Collection.

Have an active running and jumping child at home? Look no further than our most supportive kids sneakers and children sandals for Active Running young ones!

Check out our range of children footwear: