Baby Sock Shoes - the transitional shoe story
The Learning & Development Stage
When Owen was around six months, I met up with my wise cousin, mother of two. I always liked her advice, she was logical and reasonable and knew the difference between ‘baby essential’ and ‘baby stuff’.
Before I raised the topic of shoes she said “you must get these” whilst she pointed at her happy children running around in a sock like shoe. Her recommendation was simply summarised as an easy and ultimate time saver.
First thing I did was tell Annie as Owen and Hayley were similar age and started to cruise on furniture. We started researching for Owen and Hayley’s first pair. There weren't many brand options and there was a lack of stock availability for smaller sizes too. Colour choices were also underwhelming, for our personal taste anyway. Nonetheless we bought the best option available.
During Owen and Hayley’s nine months to two years we had tried and tested several sock like shoe brands. We could see the functionality across the varieties and saw real benefits. However, we noticed that Owen had trouble walking in his first pair because the sole was too wide at the toe cap. It would cause him to knock the opposite foot at every fourth or fifth step and make a little stumble, but luckily no big tumbles. On Hayley’s second pair it kept slipping off from the heel (not because of the size). The third brand was heavier than the rest. The fourth brand was good, however the colour options were terrible. We had the same conclusion that we wanted to create a modified product.
We have done it! After extensive further research, many wear and tear tests (on our own LOs), we have launched our new range of unisex designs which are simple yet fun, ultra light sole that moulds to any foot shape and it doesn’t slip off. Owen and Hayley have tried and tested it and given us a ‘like’ for approval.
Tested Confidence
There are so many reasons why shopping for baby shoes is one of the most precious and daunting experiences for a mum – well, at least for me. Whilst a part of me wants bub to sport the cutest shoes (and maybe even some mini-me matching pairs), I knew deep down, it is probably best to stay practical – for my wallet’s sake.
With Alexis, my first, when she started to walk at 11 months, we went straight from socks to shoes. We got her fitted, bought a mix a boots, runners, sandals, etc. and paid decent amounts for brands that were highly recommended as “first walking shoes”. Beside how much I spent and re-spend every three months as she grew out of them, they were great shoes and she eventually became a confident walker.
For my second child, Hayley, I was just going to recycle what I had already spent a fortune on and ignore the fact that Dr Google told me to avoid second-hand shoes. Three months of wear barely counts as second-hand in my opinion. But as fate would have it, I was gifted some baby sock shoes from dear Mandy. How my baby shoe shopping journey changed! The sock shoes are the definition of ‘practical’. They were light, flexible, protective and so easy to put on. Also, half the price of what I paid to get ‘proper’ shoes for my first bub.
Hayley learnt to walk even earlier. At 10.5 months she was waddling hands-free. The sock shoes did wonders. Admittedly I did go on to spend more money on different types of sock shoes because the design of the soles made a difference, but when we decided on one that worked for her, she was running. Finally the transition to ‘proper’ shoes, but whilst she could still fit, she always chose her sock shoes over any other shoe.
On reflection, the baby sock shoe was a great transitional shoe I did not even know was required until I discovered them. Going from socks straight to boots or runners was fine, but something was missing. I came to conclude that children just deal with what they are handed. They may take some time to get used to wearing shoes but they learn and they adapt and they carry on. A part of me believes the transitional sock shoe was more for me. No doubt I do believe Hayley started running a lot faster than Alexis, was partially because the sock shoes helped to boost her confidence. I also believed it helped me boost mine – simple sizing, easy to clean and just the convenience of putting them on helped in every way.
To top it off, Baby sock shoe soles come in a number of shapes a sizes, each have their merits but we stand by what we have trialled. We also made ours extra cute so if you are in doubt, it is a worthwhile investment to give you the confidence to start one of the most important baby-to-toddler milestones. When asked, I describe the baby sock shoe as a transitional first shoe. A shoe that helps both mum and bub boost their confidence when celebrating baby’s first steps!