Advice & Info

Measuring Kids Feet

Cordners Shoes Sligo & Navan - Children's Fitting Specialists.

How to measure your feet

1. Place your feet on a flat surface with your heel against a straight edge.

2.Place a ruler beside your foot touching the straight edge your heel is also touching, then take the length in millimetres from the tip of your longest toe to your heel. (Please be aware that your longest toe may not always be your big toe.)

3.Remember to measure both feet, making a note of the longest.

How Tiny Feet Grow

Clarks Shoes have conducted much research into children’s footwear needs and have broken a child’s foot development into the stages outlined here (by Clarks Shoes).

Stage 1: Crawling

A baby’s foot contains no fully formed bones at all. The shape of your child’s foot is mapped out in soft, pliable bone that is similar to cartilage, and at this stage the foot has no discernible arch.

Stage 2: Cruising

The soft cartilage-like structure in your child’s foot will be starting to ossify- gradually forming most of the bones that will become the complete structure of their fully grown foot.

Stage 3: Walking

There will be 25 bones forming in your child’s foot at this point. The navicular bone-situated at the point where shoes are usually fastened- is yet to form at this stage, and there is a fatty pad on the instep where the arch is gradually forming over the next few years.

Stage 4: Pre-School

Between two and four years. The bones in your child’s feet won’t be fully formed until they’re old enough to drive which means that throughout their childhood their feet are susceptible to being misshaped by ill-fitting footwear.

Our Top Fitting Tips

Why should you get your child’s feet fitted by a trained fitter? To allow us to walk correctly, shoes need to fit much more precisely than any other item of clothing. A child’s foot will grow approximately 3 whole sizes in their first year and then approximately 2 whole sizes each year after that until they reach about 5 years of age.

We provide a free fitting service by trained fitters in Cordners Sligo and Cordners Navan for shoes purchased in our stores. Our fitters recommend the following to ensure your child’s shoe are a correct fit.

The Width & Depth

Your child should be able to wiggle their toes. Feel along the inside and outside of the shoe with your hand to ensure there is no pressure or pinching at the sides. Your child should be able to wriggle their little toe. Put your fingers across the front of the shoe, there should be sufficent depth for comfort.

The Length

Feel for the end of your child’s longest toe. Tip: Get them to wiggle their toes. Check there is sufficient growing room. We recommend a 14mm growing room for all styles of closed toe shoes, except for open-toed sandals and
Pre-Walking styles from our First Shoes range for which we recommend 10mm growing room.This is approximately a thumb nail length.

You should regularly check the length of your child’s shoes to ensure there is enough room in them. From their first pair of shoes until they are about two years old, you should aim to get their shoes fit checked by a trained shoe fitter after 6-8 weeks. If you purchased your Child’s shoe in Cordners Sligo or Cordners Navan, then we will happily check them for you for free.

Comfy Around the Ankles

Feel around the top edge of the shoe. There should be no gaps and the leather should not rest against the ankle bone unless it is soft and padded.

Walk to Check the Fit

Watch your child to see if she/he can walk in the shoes naturally. Check the shoe grips their feet when walking, shoes should not gape at the sides.

Heel Grip

Ask your child to sit down and gently pull the shoe on each foot to make sure it grips the heel well.