Having a new baby in your family must be exciting, especially when you see them grow, start to crawl and learn to stand up and walk. The first step of a child means so much – not only physical development, but also a great leap forward to observe the world around them. However, choosing the first pair of baby shoes is a daunting task for many new parents. Many questions confuse them: do little babies need shoes at all? Which is better, hard or soft sole? How often do they outgrow shoes they’re wearing now? What are reliable but affordable brands …?

If you happen to be a new parent of your first little cutie pie, here are some shoe purchase tips that might make you less frustrated when shopping baby shoes:

• Barefoot Could Be Dangerous. Experts suggest that, when babies learn to crawl or stand on their own, they do not have to wear shoes at all because it’s the better way to learn how to use their feet to support themselves or move around. While barefoot works well on carpets or soft and smooth floor, babies should not go barefoot when walking on hard surfaces (such as concrete)or outside, especially on a gritty sidewalk, let alone some public parks where broken glass shards can be found.

• Anti-Slip Is Important. Another element of a good pair of baby shoes is that they should be anti-skid which provides more friction when babies crawl on the floor and prevent them from slipping and falling when they learn to walk.

• Hard Sole vs. Soft Sole. Next problem is hard sol against soft sole. There’re debates on this issue and our suggestion is that soft and bendable sole can actually help your kid walk better. That’s why our infant shoes are all made of supple genuine leather and highly flexible soles.

• Space for Toes to Grow. According to a recent survey, over 90% of kids are wearing ill-fitted footwear and similar percentage of parents didn’t notice that. You should also make sure that your baby can move his toes freely with shoes on. The premium space between toes and shoes is the width of a little finger and that allows the toes to wiggle and grow healthily. However, too much space between toes and shoes makes the footwear ill-fitted and could even cause babies trip and fall.

• Lace vs. Velcro. We don’t recommend laced shoes for young babies because if the laces get loose and parents don’t notice it, they could trip and fall. The better choice is Velcro. Some babies learn to wear shoes by themselves and Velcro does not pose great challenge for them. In general, Velcro is safer and you don’t have to watch from time to time if your kid is walking in loose shoes.

More baby foot health tips can also be obtained at AOAS.

- Is your kid old enough to access the trampoline and handle some manouveurs?
- Is the trampoline you bought too rigid to absorb the impact of a jumping kid (or adult)?
- Did you place the trampoline far from any sharp or blunt objects that could hurt your kid?

Here’re some more resources for parents with a trampoline in their backyard:

http://www.trampolinesafety.com/
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/085.html

Baby shoes’ fitting is very important in protecting and supporting their feet. New parents may not know that kids’ feet are extremely delicate because they have very soft cartilages instead of bones or visible arch. They fully harden into adult shape at age 18. Therefore, ill-fitting shoes may damage infant’s feet by squeezing or deforming the cartilages and even affect their posture and walking style permanently.

Kids shoes are essential in their foot development.

However, according to a British survey, 91% of the children are wearing ill-fitted shoes and 89% of parents don’t know if their children’s shoes fit properly.

At Kio Trend, we understand that kids’ shoes are not just smaller versions of adult shoes. Our highly professional designers make every possible effort to guarantee that our kids’ shoes support healthy foot development for children of different ages. Besides elegant looks, every pair of Kio Trend shoes features breathable upper and flexible soles.