Children’s feet – Children’s shoes

Science for everyday life

How much room does a foot need in the shoe?

12 mm is the minimum clearance a shoe should be longer than the foot. We know from research that the feet of 3-6 year old children grow about 1 mm per month (length). Seen in this way, shoes with 12 mm clearance would be too short again after just one month.
That’s why we asked ourselves what maximum margin we can recommend so that the shoes fit for a few months. During children’s foot measurement days, we always had children with us who wore quite long shoes. We discovered that a 17 mm clearance can easily be recommended as the maximum clearance.

When does my child need their first shoes?

Take your time with the first shoes! Just because the little feet are already tapping around doesn’t mean that you should get shoes. Small feet develop best without shoes.

Buying children's shoes online: what's the best way to do it?

Again and again parents tell us how difficult it is to buy children’s shoes online: Because the shoe sizes of children’s shoes are usually wrong and we found deviations of up to 5 sizes in our studies, parents usually order several shoe sizes in the online shop. And when you are lucky enough to fit a pair, the others have to be sent back. How to buy suitable children’s shoes online:

Here you can find all questions and answers about children's feet and children's shoes

Plus 12: So that children’s shoes fit!

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News from the kids feet-kids shoes team

Press releases, new research results & tips about children’s shoes

Why do the toes of socks look so strange?

31. July 2022 | English

We thought the same thing when we were examining kids’ feet in preschools. That’s when we noticed that many children were wearing socks that are far too short and too tight. So we started measuring the length and width of the children's feet, first in socks and then...

Barefoot during lockdown

14. March 2021 | English

Are you careful about selecting well-fitting children’s shoes to keep feet healthy? That's good, but there’s something even better. A new study shows that going barefoot has more benefits than previously suspected. In Japan, a team of Austrian researchers were told,...

Children’s shoes: Manufacturers’ sizes incorrect

23. April 2018 | Uncategorized

Inaccurate and misleading sizing is one of the main reasons over half of all children wear shoes that are too small. A current study shows just how dramatic the situation really is: 86% of all children?s shoes are smaller than indicated by the labelled size. How can...

The book

Children’s feet – children’s shoes

Everything you need to know about little feet and shoes.

ISBN 3-00-005879-6

3rd edition 2005, 54 pages, bound

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