Having a Hard Time Finding Shoes for 13 Month Old with Chunky Feet

Frustrating, right? I remember wondering what toddler fit into all those skinny toddler shoes - neither of my boys! We had good luck with Payless wide shoes, and once an Adidas. I stuck with stretchy materials when possible. A friend of mine recommends Merrells for wide feet. Haven't tried them, as we're still in the Adidas ones that fit!

My oldest grew out of the wide/chunky feet thing (he's 5) and my youngest has not (3). So you may have hope that shoe shopping won't be such a pain forever!

Besides being wide, he probably has a high instep which makes getting shoes difficult. Stick with velcro and once you if d a shoe that fits, stick with it.

My son has extremely wide feet and they are also tall feet. I feel your pain! We have had the same issues with him since he was a baby (he is now 8). We were given a pair of baby shoes that we could never get on him or if we did manage to squeeze his foot in, they wouldn't stay on. That was the start of our troubles! In the beginning, we found the DC brand or Etnies (I think that's the brand) worked as they had a more square toe and didn't narrow down as much top to bottom as most other shoes. We found a store in Madison, WI that advertises "hard to find shoe sizes" and they weren't joking. My son wears an EXTRA WIDE shoe, which we can't find anywhere. We have also had him to a Stride Rite store with no luck. We have found that Extra Wide New Balance is about all we can get his feet into because of the width and height. They are extremely difficult to find, and our town doesn't carry them. So we make the trip to Madison (luckily only 45 minutes away) several times a year just for shoes, and spend usually a minimum of $50 per pair just to get a pair that fits him. We also have to buy his sandals there and they also aren't cheap. But nothing else fits. We also found that not all Extra Wide shoes fit him. Sometimes the soles are just a little bit more narrow than other shoes, and it's just enough to make them not fit. We don't buy him ANY shoes unless he is there to try them on for that very reason. Flip-flop sandals are even worse, nothing's made wide or tall enough for his foot. I did find the Nerf brand (crazy, I know) of flip flops sold at Walmart usually work for him but just barely, but even the velcro ones in that brand don't fit. It's a lot of trial and error and frustration. Forget trying to buy the most trendy, stylish shoes for him.... It's all about finding what fits. The website for the store where we get his footwear is www.mononabootery.com. Don't know that you can order off their site but you may find some helpful info! Good luck!

Do you have a Nordstrom nearby? They have a great selection of wide shoes for kids.

I have great luck with Payless Wide widths. I have a chucky monkey myself and I had a really hard time fitting him into the Stride Rites. I got him a brown pair of sandals from Payless and they go on easy and fit great. When I do get his Stride Rites on, they leave his foot all red. The Payless don't leave a mark on his foot. Best thing about it they are only $15. He's had them for months and they held up great. The only reason we got new ones because he outgrew the old ones. If you don't have a Payless near you they have great selection online.

I'd try see Kai run. Great toddler shoes.

I'd also go to a store that will do a proper fitting. The big department stores will do this, as will local shoe stores. I take my kids to a local store that my mom bought my shoes at. I love getting them properly fitted. I didn't start doing this until recently, but it is so worth the extra money to have an actual shoe person fit them in shoes.

You can take him to any show store and get him measured and buy shoes online. I use Stride Rite because one of mine has narrow feet the other wide.

My daughter also had Flinstone feet. Not necessarily wide (although they were a little), but fat little chunky feet. It was like they were too thick for most shoes. Even a fitting at Stride Rite wasn't too helpful for us.

Robeez were about the only shoes that worked until she was almost 2. There are many Robeez "knock offs" that work just as well. I know Target sells some. Our pediatrician said those shoes are great for early walkers because it is very similar to being barefoot.

We still had shoe issues at 2, but it wasn't as severe and if we were careful we could find her shoes that fit without hurting her.

Stride Rite extra wide and New Balance (wide or extra wide?) were the only shoes I could put on my oldest's fat little feet. They both should have extra wide.

Both brands are worth the money. Try a half size up and extra wide!

Stride Rite does have XX Wide in SOME styles.
They will order them in to try on if they don't have them in the store.

Stride Rite is the way to go. My oldest grandson had what I call 'Flintstone' feet. Stride Rite had a great selection of extra wide shoes.

Do you have a Marshall's or Kohls? Take him with you and try on lots of different pairs. One of my friend's kids had a xx wide and she found Nike or NB that came in that size. So do a bit of hunting. Maybe even try Zappos - I think returns are free. Good luck.

My youngest had feet that looked like little blocks at that age (they're still a bit on the wide side, at age 8). Anyway, Stride Rite is the way to go, but you'll likely have to get one of their extra-wide widths. It's tough if there's no store nearby (how about an outlet?), but I have been able to successfully mail-order shoes for my daughter by carefully measuring, and then ordering a few close sizes, trying them all on, and just returning what doesn't fit.

Payless has wide width for babies and toddlers.

When my son first started walking and wearing shoes my pediatrician asked "Does he wear expensive shoes?" I said no and started to explain that I did make sure they were flexible and such and she didn't even let me finish. She just said, "Good. He doesn't need expensive shoes. Just make sure he has several pair to rotate between!"

I know some people consider Payless shoes "cheap", but I had great luck there!

Stride Rite extra wide and New Balance (wide or extra wide?) were the only shoes I could put on my oldest's fat little feet. They both should have extra wide.

Both brands are worth the money. Try a half size up and extra wide!

When I lived overseas I would print out the shoe size form for Stride Rite and then order online. It worked well for us. Just hard to get the kids to hold still LOL. My second little guy has huge fat feet. I buy him extra wide from Stride Rite. Those are the only ones I have found to fit him. I have also ordered Nikes from Kohls that were extra wide as well.