I used to pat myself on the back for doing a great job with managing Gavin’s toy buying expectations. We would go to the toy shop but I would never really have too much trouble getting him to leave the shop without buying a toy. In fact, I can’t remember a time when Gavin insisted that he must have a specific toy or threw tantrums when I wouldn’t let him buy it. Perhaps he’s still too young to be demanding about buying toys, perhaps he’s gotten used to the idea of going into toy shops and not necessarily getting a new toy every time - I guess only time will tell.

What surprised me was when I went shoe shopping to get a new pair of sandals. Gavin suddenly wanted to try on shoes as well so Daddy obliged by letting him put the shoe on his foot. After that, there was no separating the shoe from Gavin.  Although Gavin’s got a few pairs of shoes, Daddy decided it was okay to get him another pair (especially since he doesn’t seem to like wearing the last pair that we bought him - I should have suspected that Gavin wasn’t very keen on the shoe when he seemed rather ambivalent about keeping it on his foot). 

I digress… the only hesitation that Daddy had with buying the shoe that Gavin had chosen was that he didn’t really like the design, so he tried to get Gavin to try on another pair of shoes instead.  Our son, it would seem, has a very strong opinion of what he wants and doesn’t want.  This was the shoe he wanted and no other:

In fact, he liked the shoe so much, we couldn’t even take the shoe off to cut the tag without him screaming his head off.  Personally, I quite agree with Gavin - about the shoes that is, not the screaming head off bit.  I thought the shoes he chose were rather cute, too.  Not only that, but they also fit his foot really well (unlike the other shoes that tend to slip off his foot very easily).

This hasn’t been the first time he reacted this way towards shoes.  We were in a sports shop one time when Gavin suddenly bent down and tried to take off his own shoes so he could try on a shoe in the shop.  At that time, we were already thinking of buying him a new pair of sandals so we looked around the shop for something appropriate.  When we couldn’t find one, we had to leave the shop empty-handed and I thought Gavin’s tantrum at the time was due to the fact that he had been so geared up to get a new pair of shoes that he was just disappointed about not getting anything.

Now I’m wondering…  are the tantrums because he’s just really likes shoes and doesn’t feel that way about toys or was it because I was able to manage his expectations in the toy shop and but not in the shoe shop?  It might also be worth noting that he doesn’t go berserk over sandals - just the covered up shoes.  We’ve bought him three pairs of sandals that he seems rather ambivalent about, but this is the second pair of covered shoes we’ve bought him that he insisted on wearing out of the shop.

Perhaps it’s time to employ the tactics I’ve been using with the toys…  Whenever we go out, I always bring Gavin to the toy department and let him browse the toys to his heart’s content.  Then we would walk away to see something else without buying a new toy, so he gets used to the idea that he doesn’t always get a new toys when we go window shopping.  So let’s try taking him window shopping for shoes more often and see if I can manage his shoe expectations - watch this space…

Popularity: 8% [?]

Gavin’s girlfriend is coming back for a holiday in September and he’s already been shopping around for a welcome back present - although he looks a little kiam siap (read: stingy) in this video since he keeps putting the shoes back after checking out the prices. 

Popularity: 5% [?]

One of the reasons why the hubby and I had been so keen to get Gavin shoes was because we were worried that if he got too used to walking around without shoes, he might resist wearing them when he was older.  Well, if recent events are anything to judge by, it seems our fears were grossly unfounded.  Gavin’s taken to wearing shoes like a fish to water.  Whether this is because he associates wearing shoes with going out (which he really loves, even if it is just a little sojourn into the garden), or whether he has developed a shoe fettish, we can’t really tell.  All that is certain is that once he’s got his shoes on, wild horses couldn’t take them off - or at least, not without a lot of protest (read: screaming) on Gavin’s part…

Whenever someone opens the front door, Gavin will rush to his shoes and try to put them on himself, just like he’s doing in this picture:

To date, he has three pairs of shoes.  The leather shoes I bought from Hallmark with my Mum, a pair of Rider sandals that hubby and I bought from Stadium in Pavillion, and recently, a pair of Nike Free that we bought from Stadium in Pavillion.  Personally, I have always believed that you can scrimp on clothes, but the one item you must never scrimp on are your shoes.  So naturally, when it came to getting Gavin’s first pair of shoes, I was determined to get him a really good pair.

So what constitutes a really good pair of shoes when it comes to your baby’s first pair of walking shoes?  When do you even need to get shoes for your baby?  Well, most of the resources I consulted seemed to agree on a few things…

When to Get Your Infant’s First Pair of Walking Shoes

Most references agreed that your child doesn’t need a pair of shoes until he is walking.  Even then, the only purpose of having shoes is to protect your child’s feet from heat, cold and harsh surfaces.  As much as possible, while your child is learning to walk, you should keep him barefoot because shoes tend to encumber and slow down your child’s learning.

I noted, too, that whenever Gavin was barefoot, he could walk further unassisted than he could with shoes on.  Although this was when he was wearing his Rider sandals (picture below), which I felt weren’t really ideal shoes for walking because the soles were a little stiff.  We bought them because our climate is hot and we felt Gavin would appreciate having shoes that were a little more airy.

Baby’s First Walking Shoes - What Should You Look For?

Most paediatricians agreed that tennis shoes made a good pair of shoes as a first walking shoe.  Generally, when choosing your child’s first pair of walking shoes, you should look for:

• soft, flexible soles
• anything that mimics your baby’s foot as closely as possible
• anything that is as close to barefoot as possible

With this in mind, the hubby instantly thought of Nike Free since wearing a pair was supposed to be like running barefoot with shoes on.  The hubby even tried a pair on for himself and felt they were really comfortable.  The soft top conforms well to the foot and bends easily as baby walks.

And the sole is about as flexible as you’re going to get…

And here’s Gavin wearing his new shoes…  The stoned expression he’s got on is due to the fact that he’s mesmerised by the TV.

Choosing the Right Shoe Size

The general recommendation for a good fit is that the toes should be half and inch from the end of the shoe.  The heel should be snug so it does not slip when your child walks.

Popularity: 10% [?]

After hunting high and low for shoes to fit Gavin’s extra-wide and extra thick feet to no avail, I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon a pair that fit him just perfectly in a shop called Hallmark while shopping one fine arvo with me Mam.  To be honest, I had pretty much given up ever finding any shoes to fit Gavin’s feet since everything we had tried were either too narrow (if the length was right) or too long (if the width was right).  To top it all off, his shoes were 50% off!  Bargain!  And they don’t look half bad either (although I would have preferred something in blue, brown or black, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers).

Since Gavin was getting older and already starting to walk, we didn’t want him to get too used to not wearing shoes, less he decided he never ever wanted to wear shoes, period.  Well, here’s a tip if you ever have trouble getting your toddler to wear shoes…

When Gavin refused to let me put the shoes on for him last night just as we were heading out for a quick shopping expedition at Jusco in The Right Angle, I said, “Fine!  Mummy’s going to wear your shoes then!”  And I proceeded to slip my big toe into each of his shoes.  He watched me for the whole of half a minute before he pulled his shoes off my toes and offered me his feet so I could help him put on his shoes.

Toddlers are very possessive about what’s theirs.

I think Gavin’s new pair of shoes has inspired him to walk more, because when we got to Jusco, he insisted on walking while we each held on to one of his hands.  Although the pace was a little sedate, I think both hubby and I much preferred that to having to carry him.  Weighing in somewhere in between 11 and 12kgs, it certainly isn’t fun when you have to carry him around while you shop (especially since he doesn’t like his pram and he’s fed up of the shopping trolley).

In fact, I think Gavin was so proud of his ability to walk that he turned to a little girl sitting in her pram and laughed at her, as if to mock her about not being able to walk.  Then, while walking through Guardian, he came to a halt when a lady was blocking the aisle.  Hubby and I stopped to wait for the lady to move, but Gavin raised a finger, pointed it at her and started babbling in his baby language.  Although I’d like to believe he said, “Excuse me, please,” from the tone of his voice, it sounded more like, “Hey lady, outta my way!”

Sometimes I think Gavin understands a lot more than the hubby and I realise.  Before he decided to try walking, I was carrying him.  The hubby noticed a baby who looked younger than Gavin toddling around on his own.  Then he said, “Ah, if only Gavin could walk like that…”  Almost immediately after, Gavin started wriggling in my arms until I set him down onto the floor. He promptly started to walk while holding my hands.  Coincidence?

Although I’m still amazed at how quickly Gavin started walking, I’ve always known deep down inside that he could do it but probably felt it was inconvenient and slow compared to crawling.  I think the trip to the swimming pool really acted as a catalyst to propel Gavin into the walking phase.  Now that he’s discovered what a brave new world there is to discover being bipedalled, he seems determined to master this new skill.

Even though I know I can’t take any credit for it, but I still feel proud all the same.  I guess that’s why I’m Mum.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Gavin took his first unaided steps towards me today!  Well, technically it’s happened earlier, according to the hubby, but they were usually quick one to two steps between objects he could hold on to for balance.  Although I’ve always said that walking was no big deal, I couldn’t help feeling that surge of pride swelling in my heart when I witnessed his little steps for the first time.  I’ve also noticed that Gavin is more willing to walk holding my hand since his trip to the swimming pool on Tuesday.  He has also been crawling like a bear and rearing up on his hind legs whenever he feels like standing up.

Well, we’ve always known he was ready to walk for some time now so it was always going to be a matter of time before it happened.  Looks like the trip to the swimming pool was the catalyst that helped encourage Gavin to take his first steps alone… 

Now we really need to start searching in earnest for some proper walking shoes since his Pigeon shoes don’t really fit well or support him when he walks.  We’re still having trouble finding shoes to fit the width and height of his foot - most shoes that fit the length of his foot are too narrow.  If we go up a size, the shoes become ridiculously large - he looks like a clown with oversized shoes, not to mention that it probably won’t help him walk either because he’ll be tending to trip over his feet.

Anyone know where I can get custom-made shoes for babies?

Below: The Pigeon shoes we bought him from Parkson.  If you look at his left foot, you’ll notice that his heel doesn’t sit into the shoe very well.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Gavin has been starting to move more shifting from reversed-gear, commando-style crawl to rocking horse to some rather positive steps forward.  He has also been expressing a strong inclination to be held in a standing position and taken a few awkward steps with assistance.

Taking a leaf out of our goddaughter’s book, the hubby and I decided that it was high time Gavin learned to wear shoes less he take after his godsister and steadfastly refuse to wear shoes by walking age.  So a couple of weeks ago we started looking for shoes that he could wear after discovering that the Adidas sport shoes (below) that I bought, when I first discovered I was pregnant, did not fit.  Gavin’s foot got stuck just after his toes went in.

The problem wasn’t with the length of the shoe - it was with the height of the shoe.  I’m not sure if this is common to all babies, but Gavin’s foot is rather chunky and thick (see picture below), although it is not unusually wide or long for his age.  Many of the baby shoes we saw in the shops did not cater to Gavin’s foot shape - the thickness of the shoe (from top of foot to the sole of the foot) were designed like adult shoes.

Despairing that we would never find a shoe to fit, we stumbled across Pigeon infant shoes in the new Parkson at the Pavillion and bought the walking shoes in the picture below.  You might notice from the picture that the shoe has a dome like top (where the fake laces are) which fits Gavin’s foot just perfectly.  The good news is that it only cost us about RM30 (as opposed to the RM80 I paid for Gavin’s Adidas shoes that he never got to wear).

Although Gavin has developed a strong fascination for his new shoes and has already discovered how to take them off, we’re hoping that by the time he can walk, he will have grown so accustomed to wearing them that he will hardly notice us putting his shoes on for him.

Popularity: 16% [?]

A couple of months back I wrote a post about Crocs shoes that weren’t advisable for young children because they trip more easily wearing them.  It seems that isn’t all that is wrong with these shoes…

On September 17, CNN reported on the dangers of children wearing Crocs on escalators.  It appears that there have been quite a number of accidents on escalators involving children who wear Crocs. 

Here are just some of the articles on Crocs, children and escalators:

ABC News: Crocs Can Pose a Danger on Escalators
Got Crocs? Be careful on the escalator - Yahoo! News
Your child’s favorite shoes could cause serious injuries…

I have a friend who swears by Crocs being one of the most comfortable shoes ever.  She wore them all through her pregnancy and because of their roomy fit, they accommodated the swelling of her feet easily.  Comfortable they may be, but if there is a potential danger involving a child wearing it, I can’t imagine any parent who would want to take the risk.  There are plenty of comfortable baby shoes around.

Popularity: 7% [?]

When I first saw a pair of Crocs, I thought they were the most ugly pair of shoes I had ever seen. Well I guess I’m no fashion expert because they have been all the rage ever since they appeared. Even if I can’t see why everyone is so fascinated about them, I figured that there had to be something good about them.

With their overnight popularity, Crocs have expanded their range to include Crocs for kids. Even though Gavin isn’t old enough to wear a pair yet, I have already heard a couple of complaints with Crocs for kids. The first was from my MIL commenting that she had heard a lot of kids trip when they wear Crocs. Since I wasn’t particularly fond of the shoe in the first place, I never thought much about it since I was planning to put Gavin in Clarks shoes.

Recently I heard from my cousin that her son has suddenly developed two left feet and it began ever since he started wearing a pair of Crocs bought for him by his aunt. J who has been very steady on his feet has no problems whenever he wears any other pair of shoes. On the days he wears his Crocs, my cousin finds that he falls over at least twice each time.

If anyone else has Crocs for kids, perhaps you might like to share your experiences whether you agree or disagree with this finding.

Popularity: 4% [?]