Shoes for Preschoolers

Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Questions

Where to buy shoes for preschooler?

Feb 2009

We used to buy all of our kid shoes at Cotton Company and now that they've closed are looking for other places, ideally in the Oakland Berkeley area that have knowledgeable sales staff and a good selection of quality shoes. Any suggestions? sana

Hi- I was also a loyal customer of Cotton & Company.I can recommend Howard's Shoes for Children in the Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek.Now you may not get the deals that C used to offer, but they have a good variety of shoes in stock and the staff is very attentive. They also offered the children stickers and a comic book, after we purchased shoes. If you get on their mailing list, they do send a coupon postcard for discount shoes. Hope this helps! Denise

4-year-old insists on wearing shoes at all times

Aug 2006

Hi, My grandson who is almost 4 has to have his shoes on all the time. (He's with me during the week) He had a fungus infection and finally was convinced that at night he couldn't go to bed with socks or shoes on, but at nap time, I have to wait until he's really asleep before taking them off. He screams when I ask him to run around barefoot or take them off for a while. In winter he has to have socks and slippers. Anyone with any suggestions, please let me know Karen

Our daughter is sometimes this way and there is nothing we can do about it to avoid the screaming. But sometimes it works to take our own shoes off (without making any demands or suggestions to her) and then raving about how good it feels to wiggle our toes. (Then we wiggle them and giggle and laugh like it's just so much fun.) Often then she will want to do the same. The alternative which will probably work over the long term is to disallow them to be on at certain times and mentally prepare for the tantrums and the screaming. Once he realizes that shoes on/off state is controlled by you and not negotiable, he will probably just give up with the willful behavior about it. Might take a while, though, and I realize it wouldn't be without some pain for you to do. Good luck - shoe-wearing stickler's mom

My son did this when he was younger. He would wake up in the middle of the night and request his shoes be put on. (I told him to go back to sleep.) He still mostly wears his shoes. I make positive coments to him if I notice he has been bearfoot for a while. For a few years now he won't wear shorts, only long pants. (he is four and a half now) He says that he doesn't like how his legs look. I think he doesn't like his skin exposed or something.

It sounds like your child might have fungus, like athletes foot in his shoes though. You might want to buy new shoes, and insist on socks. There is a foot treatment that I have bought at Berkeley Bowl called Lavalin that works well for about 5 days per application on stinky feet. It is a bit expensive $11 for a small pot. I don't know if works on fungus though, if your child does have it. Tea tree oil and GSE work great on foot fungi now sometimes shoeless

Wheel Pop-Out Shoes for preschooler

June 2006

My 4-1/2 year old really wants shoes with wheels that pop out of the bottom. I'm not sure where he first saw them, but I can't seem to find them in small sizes (he wears a 12). Does anyone know where I could find some? Are they safe for a little guy to wear? JF

Try ebay. Though, I do believe Wheelies are suggested for kids 6 and up -Anon

I just saw an ad on tv for these, go to www.heelys.com. My 6 y.o. really wants them too after seeing the commercial -- power of marketing, and I am sure it only gets worse!!! Courtney

Three-year-old hates wearing shoes

June 2004

Our son has pulled off his shoes ever since we first put them on. When he turned one and walked, we put Robeez leather slip- ons on him, and those worked well. But then after that, he disliked any shoes we tried. Now at three years old, he yanks them off at every opportunity -- outside in parks and around our neighborhood, in the car, in shopping carts, in restaurants, libraries, ice cream parlors, etc. While I'm careful to get his feet measured, and I've purchased all kinds of quality shoes, sneakers, and sandals, he rejects them all. My husband tells me that he hated shoes too, but not to this extent. I'd love to hear any suggestions. amy

My two cents: My son just turned three and only a month ago we got him to wear his first pair of running shoes. We used to live in Japan, where you are always barefoot indoors, so he really hated wearing shoes. The only type of shoes he would wear were those very soft water sandals. He would wear them even in the winter (with socks). I think kids just feel more comfortable barefoot or wearing very, very soft shoes. The running shoes I got him to wear are from Payless Shoe. Yes! they were only $9 and I got them in the wide size. If this does not work, you can buy good non-slip socks that he could wear even outdoors. GAP's are good and come in larger sizes. I hope this helps. Maria

I have had the same problem with my son. For a long time he would only wear slippers, which he was happy with thru 3 and 4 years old. I would take him to a high quality shoe store, have him fitted, buy him a pair that he picked out, only to have him never wear the shoes. He has a wide foot, so I wanted to be sure that the shoes were a good fit.

Now at the ''mature'' age of almost 5 (!), he has finally picked out a pair of shoes from Payless that he thinks are superbly cool, and he wears them more willingly. He still takes his shoes off the second he can, and partly I think it's because he has hot sweaty feet, and it just feels better to be shoeless. But I can certainly sympathize with you, and I was so happy when he finally found a pair of shoes that he was pleased with.

I remember a friend's child had a similar thing of not liking shoes and during those pre-school years, he wore rainboots year round. jewel

Sparkly gold and red shoes for a 3 year old

July 2002

Does anyone know where to get sparkly gold and red shoes for a three year old (preferably a Mervyn's/ Target etc. priced kinda place rather than a more expensive kids shoe store)? Thanks, Andrea

I saw both sparkly gold and sparkly red shoes in pre-school sizes at Target last week. Also Payless Shoes had white sparkly ones, but the heel seemed a little high to me for young kids. Cathy

I have seen sparkly shoes in many colors at Hanna's on Solano Avenue in Berkeley. Their prices aren't bad - perhaps not as cheap as Target, but reasonable all the same. Awaldstein

Target in El Cerrito (San Pablo & Potrero) carries those shoes. Tikva and Yoram

I saw red sparkly shoes at Target in El Cerrito last week, but the size selection was pretty bad in the sparkly shoes. You could try Target online, but also the used childrens store at the top of Solano has had them continuously (these are new shoes \\) for the past year or so. They aren't very expensive. Elizabeth

Target has sparkle shoes. urthlink

I just got a used Dorothy dress and slippers at a used toy store (on Solano). The dress and slippers looked perfectly new. I would try there. I have also seen red shoes that would work at A Child's Place and at Hannah's, on Solano. Mary

Regarding the red glitter shoes (aka, the Ruby Slippers, which I have always wanted, too - great idea for a party!), I have seen them fairly regularly at consignment shops such as Lauren's Closet (Lafayette) and They Grow So Fast (Lafayette). You might check there. Lori

We get ours at Target. Approx $10.00 Vivienne

Tomato Brand Shoes for preschooler

April 2000

Hi there;I know this seems silly,but I am looking for a particular sneaker for my son.the vendor is tomato, and i've only seen them on other peoples kids!I must have them, i've looked everywhere.  can anybody help?He is a size 10 1/2 (Pre-schooler ) Danielle 

I bought a pair of Tomatoe sneakers for my son at A Child's Place a while ago. As I recall, they had several different styles. The store's on the corner of Solano and The Alameda in Albany. You might give them a call. 510-524-3651 Barbara

Athletic Shoes for preschooler

Elizabeth 10/99

I just wanted to pass on an experience I had shopping for my preschooler's tennis shoes. I was on Telegraph with my 3 year old whose shoes had just disintegrated, so we decided to check out the new Althetes Foot that has opened there. They display kid's shoes, so I figured they could help us. We had a terrible experience. Our clerk mis-measured my child's foot and then walked off in the middle of helping us after pointing us to not very well ordered wall of tennis shoe boxes. The shoes in the boxes were not laced. There were staff standing around chatting, but no one was available to help us lace the shoes, much less fit them. When I complained, they were utterly unresponsive.

We went next door to Foot Locker. A lovely woman quickly figured out Aaron's size, whipped out 3 styles of inexpensive shoes, and helped us try each pair on. We left with a pair of shoes for $10. The least expensive pair of (on sale) kid's tennis shoes at Athlete's Foot was $25.