Hellobee Boards

hmm ... DD has used *a lot* of hand me down shoes ... in fact, we are looking forward to when she graduates to size 8 (she's a 7 now) because we have 5 or 6 pairs of sneakers and sandals in that size from her cousins. So far there aren't any obvious signs of trouble! I'm hoping there won't be any in the future. I think this is one of those things where it might be okay to play the ignorance card .............

although I'll now follow this thread in case there's a podiatrist bee who chimes in saying to avoid hand me downs!

I think it depends on the wear of the shoe! If its super worn or has really obvious foot marks in the bottom - then I would avoid them. Most shoes in the smaller sizes - they aren't in for that long so significant wear is unlikely. That's my school of thought- so I guess it depends on the shoe!

I would agree on the smaller sizes, my son barely wore them and when he did, it was inside and the shoes weren't really damaged. But now, I wouldn't consider giving him hand me down shoes OR giving away his worn shoes. He needs them to fit well because he goes on hikes at preschool and in turn, he's rough on them.

I also notice when I take out the insoles, they're pretty squashed too.

I bought LO 2 new sneakers because her feet are so different from LO 1's feet at the same age. (Extra wide vs. extra narrow) Her feet have plumped up and some of the hand me downs shoes look like they will work and they are in great condition!

I've always read that you should never reuse shoes that have been worn as everyone's foot is different and it's important for toddlers to have good foot support. For that reason, I haven't kept any of DD1's shoes for DD2 (and all of DD1's shoes were brand new), with the exception of a pair of Stride Rites that she wore exactly two times before she grew out of them.

That being said, I think infant shoes that they aren't walking in yet are fine to reuse. They don't have any support or anything anyway so I wouldn't worry too much abou that, but once they start walking, yes definitely new

I think this becomes more important as they get older. Some of E's shoes are BARELY worn in by the time she outgrows them. So I can't see that being an issue all the time.

Actually, a friend of mine gave me some New Balance kids' shoes that both her sons wore. I had them sitting out and now she's obsessed with them and wants to wear ONLY those. Oh well. They're probably a little more worn than is ideal, but she'll be out of that size herself, very soon.

I think shoes LO is going to wear most days should be new! If they are special occasion to wear every now and then, by all means use hand me downs.

As an infant before they are walking, I'm ok with hand me down shoes. However, not once they are actually used, especially on a daily basis. Barely worn dress shoes would be ok.

My husband was the 3rd boy in his family and got everything as a hand me down including tennis shoes. He says DS2 will always get his own brand new shoes. I agree!