How much growing room should you allow?

One of the most common questions we get asked is how much growing room should I allow when buying my child some new shoes.

We recommend that shoe lengths should be a minimum of 0.5 cm and a maximum of 1.5 cm longer than the longest foot length. How much depends on the age and size of your child, how confident a walker they are and also the type of footwear you are buying.

For example;

• SHOES/TRAINERS - We find around 0.8cm - 1cm is usually ideal for shoes and trainers
• BOOTS (including wellingtons) - We recommend allowing more towards 1.0cm - 1.5cm to allow for thicker socks and extra growing room. An insole and/or a thicker winter sock can help if a boot is slightly too large at first.
• SANDALS - Usually need less growing room due to their more open-toe design and they can be worn without socks. We recommend 0.5cm - 0.8cm.
• SMALLER FEET/NEW WALKERS - Usually need less growing room so aim for 0.5cm - 0.8cm.
• OLDER/LARGER FEET - Can get away with a bit more so aim for 1.0cm - 1.2cm.

You are advised to read the brand and item description pages on our website, for each product, as we regularly update these based on customer feedback for size, width and fit.