Many times, we hear parents saying they only need to purchase a pair of shoes for their eldest as the younger child gets the hand-me-downs. But have you stopped to work out if this is any good for your child’s foot growth and development?? Did you know that if your older child has a foot development or walking problem, by handing down shoes you can give the next child the same biomechanical problem?
For very short periods (up to a week or two) and one-off events, a second-hand shoe would be fine and there will be no long-term detrimental damage done to your child’s feet. It’s another story if you continue with pre-loved footwear for the long term.
No two children have the same feet (even if they share the same parents!) Your first born might have wide feet whilst your second born might have narrow feet. Therefore, the choice of size, width or style for one child may not be the same for the second. Even identical twins have different feet lengths, widths and other anomalies that as a parent you may not be aware of.
What you also can’t see is the effects of the first child softening and breaking down the support that is built INSIDE the shoes and the elasticity of the leather being stretched too far. It’s always very easy to flip the shoe over and check the sole to see how much wear a shoe has been through, but only a trained shoe fitter, like us, or podiatrist can assess if the walk pattern on the sole is correct or not.
If you have got a second-hand pair of shoes that you would like your child to wear, bring the child and the shoes and let us give you a free fit check. We’ll asses if the shoes have any “life” left in them and if they are the correct fit for your child. We only sell you a new pair of shoes if you need them.