How Often Should You Buy Girls Shoes For School?
It is often difficult to know when you need to replace your daughter's shoes.
You do not want to buy new shoes unnecessarily.
At the same time when it comes to buying girls shoes for school you need to consider that they will be worn for around 8 hours a day and 5 days a week! It is therefore imperative that school shoes are fitted correctly to ensure your children's feet stay healthy & happy with no long-term damage.
As mothers of school children ourselves and having worked as technologists in the footwear industry for many years we compiled this short article to act as a guide to help you when buying new school shoes for your daughter.
Their Young Fragile Feet Did you know that the bones in your foot represent an eighth of all the 206 bones in your body.
When children are born their feet contain only cartilage which gradually fuses together over their early years to create 26 bones by the time they are 5 years old.
Their feet continue growing and developing until they reach the age of 18.
For this reason and to ensure the healthy growth of your daughter's precious feet during these critical years we would strongly recommend having their school shoes professionally fitted on a regular basis.
How Often Should You Have Your Children's Feet Measured? Between the ages of 0 and 5 years children's feet grow, on average, two and a half sizes in a year.
For this reason you should get their feet measured every 8-12 weeks throughout these early years.
So, in terms of buying school shoes, your child will need regular measurement and re-fitting for school shoes from day 1 of school up to the age of almost 6.
This could make those early school years an expensive time! Can The Huge Expense of School Shoes Be Reduced? Yes - you can save money without adversely effecting the development of their growing feet! You can achieve this by allowing an additional half-size growing room in your child's shoes above the measured size.
This not only allows sufficient room for movement and expansion but also means they will not out-grow their shoes quite so frequently which will save you money.
However, do not be tempted to get anything which measures more than half a size larger than their measurement as the shoes will be too big and will allow too much movement inside the shoe.
The consequences of this is rubbing and calluses.
Between 5 and 10 years of age foot growth slows down to an average of 1 size a year.
We would still recommend that you get your child's feet measured every 3 months as you do not know at what point in that year that they will grow that one size! It could be in the first month, the last or just gradually - you just do not know! You may be lucky and get away with one pair for the year - my 8-year-old daughter managed this, once!! So the main problem you will face during this time is how much wear and tear your child's school shoes can take! So here's some tips to make them last a bit longer: How To Make School Shoes Last Longer 1.
Buy leather, not a cheaper synthetic version - this lasts longer and if the shoes are leather lined too they allow the feet to breathe helping to prevent smelly shoes! 2.
Give the shoes a good clean with a damp cloth, let them dry, then use a soft cloth and shoe cream to protect the leather and give them a lovely shine.
Ideally this should be done once a week, but in the real world once every 2 or 3 weeks is better than not at all.
3.
Talk to your child about not dragging their feet and toes when they walk or run.
This is a big factor in wear and tear of school shoes.
It is not easy to stop them doing this but girls may be persuaded by reminding them that they may want to keep their shoes looking nice! School Shoes for Teenage Girls - Don't be a fashion Victim From the age of about 11 your child's foot growth slows considerably.
The foot is in fact the first part of their body to stop growing.
Nevertheless, the bones are still developing until they are 18 so measuring and fitting remains very important until then.
This is often overlooked by teenage girls and they may well rate fashion over comfort and support when it comes to choosing their footwear.
It should therefore not be a surprise to find out that this is a period during which a lot of damage is often done to girls feet leading to all types of foot and back problems in their adult life.
Buying School Shoes On-Line Many parents choose to buy girls shoes for school on-line as this can be a great way of saving time and finding the best deals.
If you do decide to go down this route be sure to choose a reputable on-line retailer which is aware of the needs of children as they grow and who are able to provide specific advice tailored according to your child's foot history and measurements.
You do not want to buy new shoes unnecessarily.
At the same time when it comes to buying girls shoes for school you need to consider that they will be worn for around 8 hours a day and 5 days a week! It is therefore imperative that school shoes are fitted correctly to ensure your children's feet stay healthy & happy with no long-term damage.
As mothers of school children ourselves and having worked as technologists in the footwear industry for many years we compiled this short article to act as a guide to help you when buying new school shoes for your daughter.
Their Young Fragile Feet Did you know that the bones in your foot represent an eighth of all the 206 bones in your body.
When children are born their feet contain only cartilage which gradually fuses together over their early years to create 26 bones by the time they are 5 years old.
Their feet continue growing and developing until they reach the age of 18.
For this reason and to ensure the healthy growth of your daughter's precious feet during these critical years we would strongly recommend having their school shoes professionally fitted on a regular basis.
How Often Should You Have Your Children's Feet Measured? Between the ages of 0 and 5 years children's feet grow, on average, two and a half sizes in a year.
For this reason you should get their feet measured every 8-12 weeks throughout these early years.
So, in terms of buying school shoes, your child will need regular measurement and re-fitting for school shoes from day 1 of school up to the age of almost 6.
This could make those early school years an expensive time! Can The Huge Expense of School Shoes Be Reduced? Yes - you can save money without adversely effecting the development of their growing feet! You can achieve this by allowing an additional half-size growing room in your child's shoes above the measured size.
This not only allows sufficient room for movement and expansion but also means they will not out-grow their shoes quite so frequently which will save you money.
However, do not be tempted to get anything which measures more than half a size larger than their measurement as the shoes will be too big and will allow too much movement inside the shoe.
The consequences of this is rubbing and calluses.
Between 5 and 10 years of age foot growth slows down to an average of 1 size a year.
We would still recommend that you get your child's feet measured every 3 months as you do not know at what point in that year that they will grow that one size! It could be in the first month, the last or just gradually - you just do not know! You may be lucky and get away with one pair for the year - my 8-year-old daughter managed this, once!! So the main problem you will face during this time is how much wear and tear your child's school shoes can take! So here's some tips to make them last a bit longer: How To Make School Shoes Last Longer 1.
Buy leather, not a cheaper synthetic version - this lasts longer and if the shoes are leather lined too they allow the feet to breathe helping to prevent smelly shoes! 2.
Give the shoes a good clean with a damp cloth, let them dry, then use a soft cloth and shoe cream to protect the leather and give them a lovely shine.
Ideally this should be done once a week, but in the real world once every 2 or 3 weeks is better than not at all.
3.
Talk to your child about not dragging their feet and toes when they walk or run.
This is a big factor in wear and tear of school shoes.
It is not easy to stop them doing this but girls may be persuaded by reminding them that they may want to keep their shoes looking nice! School Shoes for Teenage Girls - Don't be a fashion Victim From the age of about 11 your child's foot growth slows considerably.
The foot is in fact the first part of their body to stop growing.
Nevertheless, the bones are still developing until they are 18 so measuring and fitting remains very important until then.
This is often overlooked by teenage girls and they may well rate fashion over comfort and support when it comes to choosing their footwear.
It should therefore not be a surprise to find out that this is a period during which a lot of damage is often done to girls feet leading to all types of foot and back problems in their adult life.
Buying School Shoes On-Line Many parents choose to buy girls shoes for school on-line as this can be a great way of saving time and finding the best deals.
If you do decide to go down this route be sure to choose a reputable on-line retailer which is aware of the needs of children as they grow and who are able to provide specific advice tailored according to your child's foot history and measurements.
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