Pram Shoes to First Walking Shoes

Buying baby Jin’s first Walking Shoes was such a cool moment for us, really marking the fact that he was now walking and more independent. But before I talk about those, there were a few pairs of Pram Shoes he got through.

Jump to ‘First Walking Shoes’

First Pram Shoes (Newborn to Walking Stage)

Pram shoes are not a necessity, since their only purpose is keeping baby’s feet warm and fashion. That’s why we first started looking for Pram Shoes in winter when Jin was 6 months old and entered the ‘I want to stand ALL the time’ phase.
Although he wasn’t yet walking, he wanted to get out of the pushchair and stand around it so it was mainly for warmth and protection from the ground.

Seeing as they’re basically slippers, I wasn’t about to spend a fortune on them so I went on a search to my usual go-to shops:

Asda & Sainsbury’s – had more toddler and up sized shoes and mainly soft slipper type pram shoes with a very soft sole
M&S & Next – a good selection of slippers, shoes and trainers for newborn to big kids

I don’t know if there was a shortage of pram shoes back in March 2020 but these stores were out of the size I needed, until I finally arrived at a large Matalan.

Boys Navy Soft Sole Baby Trainers

£4 @Matalan
Product Link

These are well made, structured but not hard and come in sizes 0-18 months. When Jin was 8 months, I think I bought the 12-18 months size, because he had really chubby feet, to ensure they weren’t to tight.
The velcro straps help adjust the shoe to your baby’s foot.

(Even if these are out of stock or no longer sold at Matalan by now, they usually have very similar ones that replace them).

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Summer Pram Shoes

By May, I started looking at summer pram sandals because here in the UK, we had a massive heatwave! There was no way Jin was ever going to wear socks or trainers when going outside and luckily, M&S had lots of choice for a decent price (both bought on sale 25% off).

Baby Jungle Print Pram Shoes

£6 @M&S
Product Link

Made from 100% textile, great for wide chubby feet like my little one and easy to put on.
They have dotted soles for grip and a velcro strap at the side.

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Almost Walking Shoes

By his birthday in July, Jin was almost walking independently and a dear friend bought these adorable slip-on knitted trainers for him. You can find various types like these on Amazon for about £8-17 by searching ‘Toddler First Walking Shoes Mesh’.

These are a lot more robust than the pram shoes above, with a thicker sole and more structured upper.
Depending on the shape of your little one’s feet, they can be quite a squeeze to get into, but once in, they’re supportive and flexible.

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First Walking Shoes

Now that Jin was fully walking independently (with a couple of tumbled here and there), it was finally time to buy his first pair of shoes!

This was a really big deal for me because I’m one of those mums who can’t wait for their kid to grow up. I look forward to him crawling, walking, talking and going to school. So to me, the first pair of shoes was a major milestone that he’s getting older.

Getting It Right From The Start

It was really important to me to get a good start since with babies having soft bones, constricting their fast growing feet in shoes of the wrong shape can have a negative effect.

I wanted to buy from a store that would professionally measure baby’s feet and recommend the right type of shoe, not just hand me a pair that says ’12-18 months’.
As far as I know, and in my area, this narrowed the search down to Clarks, Geox and Ecco.
We chose Clarks, being the more familiar and reasonably priced out of the three.

The staff were very kind and took their time to measure him properly and recommended their most popular style of first walking shoes.

Roamer Craft Toddler Tan Leather

£28 @Clarks
Product Link

Why I Love Them

❤ Simple clean design and they come in 6 colours – Navy Canvas, Navy Leather, Pink Leather, Silver Canvas

Lovely soft leather and will mold to baby’s feet

Thick flexible rubbery sole

Jin seemed very comfortable in them from the start and walked in them straight out of the shop

At £28 they’re certainly not cheap but in the realm of glove-fit shoes for babies, we’re really happy with them

Major Secret Bonus – ‘Back To School Fitting Guarantee’ Applies To Babies Too!

Clarks have this offer on kids shoes bought between Jul – Sep 2020 where they guarantee that shoes for Infant Size 10 and up will fit the child to 28 Feb 2021 and Infant Sizes 7-9.5 will fit to 30 Nov 2020. If your child outgrows the shoes before these dates, they’ll exchange for the next size up free of charge.
Full terms here under ‘Back to School Fitting Guarantee‘.

When we bought Jin’s Infant Size 5 shoes in store, they told us to come back in 6-8 weeks for his next fitting and that if he outgrows them before then, they’ll replace to the next size up free of charge!*
This isn’t widely advertised and is amazing for those babies/toddlers who really grow fast. I don’t know any other store that offers this service!

*Since Clarks don’t specifically mention baby shoes in their terms, I would directly ask a branch to be safe.

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Final Thoughts

Shoe shopping was so fun. It brings to reality how fast Jin is growing to see him transition from ‘decoration’ pram shoes to ‘standing’ shoes to his first pair of walking shoes.
I cant wait to buy him his first pair of Nike Jordan to match mine (^_^)

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