How do we know when our LO’s have outgrown their shoes? Or they’re getting too snug?

When i had my daughter measured the woman told me children typically go up half a size in shoes every 6 weeks so I’d go and get him measured again so you’ve got an accurate recent measurement.
Typically they’re supposed to have a thumbs length of room between their toes and the end of the shoe, hard to judge if you can’t feel his toes in them.

It's always best to go up to the next size when they are in between sizes. To save you time and energy, grab a measuring tool from somewhere like start-rite. They're about £10 and have all the tips on how to do it all at home. Personally I don't buy from clarks and won't go there to get measured either because I cba to explain why I won't buy their shoes and its just a faff 😂 We now just measure feet at home every 6-8 weeks to keep tract 😊 if you can't feel their toes then don't guess it. Just get re measured and go from there!

Just get them measured again, like someone said should be every 6 weeks. I just used to go to a shop. (JL, Clarks,Shuch etc) Just ask to measure, even if not buying from there. Clarks do measure up on the bigger side for leeway.
Now I have a Clarks gauge at home as so I can do it myself.

Get him re-measured to check his current size before you get him new shoes.

I saw a hack where you take a straw, measure against your child’s foot, and cut to size. And then stick it inside the shoe at the store to see if it fits.
You could try that if getting measured is inconvenient.
I would still personally go get measured if unsure.

Oh… well if it’s every 6 weeks then we are far overdue🥴😬. I wanted to buy him some barefoot shoes from happy little soles so the little straw back won’t help but they have a foot measured there so maybe I’ll get him a 5.5 and the foot measurer (so I don’t pay delivery just for a £1 foot measurer). They have free returns so if he needs bigger than 5.5 I’ll just return it for the next size but he shouldn’t need bigger 🤞🏽 thanks!

Definitely have your own measure device. The nearest shoe shop to us is 45 minutes so is a pain to do each time but having the tool here it is easy to keep an eye on.

If you look inside the shoe at the toe end (might need a torch) you can see the little indents where their toes are sitting and when there isn’t a gap between the indents and the shoe end it’s time to size up!

You should have their feet measured every 6 weeks. They grown like weeds!!

Decent shoe brands will have an insole in your can take out and see the indent! I only just realised this!!

5mths old shoes are probably very small so I would go to a shoe shop

I do the same as

And I think Clarks shoes come up smaller than probably every other shop I've bought shoes from. Also, the infant shoe measure lasts from size 3 to size 9 or something? We've had it for two and a half years.

I've found this too! Glad I'm not imagining it!

You should have a thumb width space between toes and end of shoe when they are stood up. It's advised every 6 wks to get measured 5 months seems a long time to be in the same size shoes.

A little trick I use is cut a piece of string to the size of feet and measure against shoes can do the same with width as well.

I don't think Clarks measure correctly as they measure when no weight on feet

You can take out the insoles of their shoes and get them to step on it. This gives you an idea of how much room they have at the front

I never thought about the insole checking! I will give this a look in the morning. Funny because when he got his shoes from Clark’s they actually came up quite big for him but since they said that was his size and he was still able to walk in them I just bought them. I’ll be heading out tomorrow anyway so I’m going to drop into any of these shoe shops and measure it again and see what I can get him asap. I’m guessing if they possibly need new shoes every 6 weeks there is no point spending say £50 on a pair? A lot of barefoot shoes are quite pricey but I wanted something sole friendly

I mean it’s guidance to measure that often, but all kids are different. My LGs feet grow super slow, that’s partially why I bought a gauge because I kept going in and she was the same size and I wanted to see for real myself. She’s only gone up one full size in the last year. (Same with her clothing tbh)

oh, okay that’s really reassuring actually! I’m hoping that’s the case with my son and that he hasn’t been walking in shoes that’s too small all this time🤦🏽‍♀️ they slip on really easily so I didn’t think they were small yet and wanted to think in advance but didn’t realise I’m already late😐

Okay so went to Clark’s today and got him checked again and they said his feet was the exact same size as they was when we first checked🤯, he is still 4.5🤔 she said the left is bigger than the right but when I asked if I should just get a size 5 next she said no because the right foot is smaller… so what do you guys think? Should I buy him a 4.5 again or go to a size 5?

What I’ve been doing is buying trainers/everyday shoes in one size and then the seasonal shoe (sandals/snow boots) in the next size.
So for instance my son had EU size 21 trainers in the springtime, and sandals size 22 during summer and now size 23 trainers. And during the summer on days where sandals weren’t the best choice we used his trainers from the spring until they really didn’t fit, and then started the autumn ones a bit earlier.
The only shoe I did have every size has been wellies, but that’s mainly because I’ve been lent some from a friend and also I found some cheap second hand.

That way I felt I had the range of shoe choice I wanted without having to buy multiple shoes for every size.

We’re now looking into getting him winter boots, but his feet haven’t grown very much in the past few months, so I’m now in the same dilemma as you whether to buy the bigger size or buy the same size🙈
But I’m leaning towards the bigger size and if necessary putting him in thicker socks 🤷🏼‍♀️

you know what, finding thicker socks actually hasn’t been as easy as I first thought it would be🤦🏽‍♀️. The only place I have found some is in John Lewis yesterday and they only had 1, 3 pack in his size (well actually it was 18-24 months) so I guess those 3 will have to do. He came back yesterday all mottled all over from the cold so I’m on the search for much warmer clothes too