Talk to me about kids shoes

[dez1978]

My son regularly destroyed Under Armor sneakers, but his last two have been Nike and they have held up. Since that doesn’t seem to be the case for you, I’m not sure. Personally, I wear Brooks for running and they hold up, but I’m not a preteen boy and they are pricey.

My only suggestion is to pick cheaper sneakers so that if you need to replace them often it doesn’t hurt as bad. Do you have a Shoe Carnival or some other discount footwear store near you?

Shoe Carnival is where we usually end up going, because our other options are Dicks, Foot Locker etc. But heck, even there I spent $100 on 1 pair and 50 on the other.

I had luck for both boys with Saucony. My oldest (with wider, thicker feet) does well with Nike. My youngest has long narrow feet and Adidias fit him best...but I don't pay more than $50 for kids shoes. It really hurt to have to raise my price limit from $32. Last fall, my oldest (5th grade) was wearing a 5.5...in January he needed a 7. I was lucky that the wearing out and sizing out seemed to happen at the same time.

I also lucked out with some solid black women's Sketchers on clearance for band concerts. Women's sizes are 1.5-2 sizes larger than men's. If you wear a 7 in women's, a 5 or 5.5 in men's will fit and vice versa.

Where do you find those for $50? Occasionally I am lucky, but I hate to buy ahead now because their feet grow so fast. My oldest is in a 7.5 right now in tennis shoes, but will be in 8-8.5 for cleats and wrestling shoes by fall I'm sure. I missed a 40% off sale at adidas the other day and I was so mad at myself.

 

[unrequited23]

Where do you find those for $50?

Kohls or Dicks. My oldest is wearing these right now: https://www.kohls.com/product/prd-5476516/nike-flex-runner-2-big-kids-road-running-shoes.jsp?prdPV=2

I will have them shop for size and fit in store then check online to see if I can find them anywhere for a better price.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

Have you tried Nike Air Force 1s? They seem like they hold up a little better because they aren’t as soft soled. They remind me of the k Swiss shoes from back in the day, so that’s probably why I like them

 

[fly girl]

Have you tried Nike Air Force 1s? They seem like they hold up a little better because they aren’t as soft soled. They remind me of the k Swiss shoes from back in the day, so that’s probably why I like them

My daughter who is 15 and not a rough and tumble kid has killed 2 pairs of those. lol

Crazy how one shoe is fantastic for some and a pair of junk for others.

 

[DodgerGirl]

When it comes to shoes I myself cannot wear them because they hurt my feet but when I used to wear shoes my shoes would come from Payless Shoesource and sometimes my mother would buy me tennis shoes at the Payless Drug Store if I was going to school. But the shoes that are comfortable for me are Ugg Boots because they are the only shoes I can wear. You might also try Famous Footwear because they have great deals on kids shoes and they usually have sales when school is starting. And another store you can try is Champs Sports because they have good shoes for teens and older kids and that's where my aunt used to buy my cousin's shoes because he would wear them out fast and then my aunt would also buy my other cousins shoes from Big Lots too when they were little and going to school

 

[EACarlson]

Brooks, New Balance, Merril or Keen would be my choice. If you can get them to wear them, HOKAs also. Quality has been horrible the last 10-15 years on Nike, Reebok, etc. Under Armour has never had good quality shoes. I'm a big guy that punishes my shoes and New Balance is all I will buy anymore for anything other than going to the store.

 

[RangerPooh]

My boys feet are growing and I'm replacing them about every 5 months from size and wear and tear. I'm fine with paying for quality, but quality isn't there. I look for sales at Academy and Rack Room Shoes.

 

[MamaMermaid]

My son is little (5) but HARD on shoes. We really like Geox and Saucony! They hold up well. The GEOX look practically new when it's time to size up and he wears them every day - they're his only pair of sneakers.

 

[sk!mom]

I guess my first question is...Do they typically get a new pair of athletic shoes and then wear them almost exclusively and daily? My DS always did. If that's the case then 3 months seems pretty reasonable/typical for how they last.

My DD always switched out shoes for different outfits so a good pair of athletic shoes would last her 6 months or even much longer.

My best advice for saving is to limit their choices to what is a current bargain. All brand websites always have a sale section and my kids had to choose from there except for Christmas or Birthday when they could ask for a "dream" pair. There were always plenty of choices that made them happy that were on sale.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

My kids both like Brooks. They seem to be holding up to teenage boys well. They're not exactly cheap, but there is almost always a style on clearance.

Same. That’s what my 14 yr old wears. I just bought him another pair from Zappos (last years model) and Rakuten was offering %15 back so that helped a lot.

 

[NotUrsula]

Wearing the same pair of shoes every day speeds detioration; they never get to dry properly in between wearings and tend to build up bacteria, which break down the fibers. If you can, buy the closeout models of decent brands so that you can get more than one pair so they can rotate wearing them. (FWIW, my kids never wore sneakers in summer; once school was out they switched to sport sandals that could get wet and more comfortably accomodate growth.) Pre-treating shoes with sealant sprays like Reshoevn8r also helps a lot.

If you REALLY want a pair of shoes to last through constant wearing, athletic shoes are not the answer. All-leather shoes with leather soles and linings hold up much better; I've known men who have worn the same pair daily for 20 years before replacing them, because they are easy to repair. (Doc Martens, for example, or Bass Weejuns.) Of course, no kid is ever going to get that kind of wear time, because they are still growing, but there was a time (back before wearing sneakers to school was acceptable, and I'm that old), when passing leather school shoes down through 3 siblings in a family was pretty normal.

If the problem is that they are wearing the soles to the ground in particular spots, then it's a gait problem, and the only thing that will help is corrective insoles & shoe reinforcement unless the gait is changed. My DH has a real supination problem; he has to put insoles in all his shoes and have the outer corner of the heels reinforced by a shoe repair tech before wearing them, otherwise that spot will be worn down completely in 6 months.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Some of what you're paying for (actually probably a lot these days) is just in the name. Nike is charging what they charge because they can.

I agree about Sketchers too about quality and you are also paying for the name. Got two pairs that were $80 the first time (2021) and then $95 the second time (spring 2022) and the first ones the heel part wore quickly (I'm tough on them on that part but still) and the second ones even though it's the same exact size, same exact shoe but a different color it fits poorly almost like it was not made correctly and is ever so slightly too big causing my foot to slide around and have to tie the laces so tight for the top of my toes it becomes uncomfortable. Both were arch fit ones. I never thought they were worth $80 much less $95. I technically didn't pay the exact pricing (first one was half off and I still didn't like spending that) and second one was a birthday gift (though they got a discount on that) but that was the full price amount they would charge.

Back in my day most of my shoes were from Payless as a kid. I couldn't have cared less about some image people had of it, they were cheap in price and worked well enough. I used to buy ked-like ones a lot. Then they upped their game by getting American Eagle and such. Payless in the end stopped being well pay less lol but yeah that's what I grew up on.

At some point you may have to stop worrying about what other kids may think about some shoes if your growing kids are hard on the shoes.

 

[EACarlson]

Back in my day most of my shoes were from Payless as a kid. I couldn't have cared less about some image people had of it, they were cheap in price and worked well enough. I used to buy ked-like ones a lot. Then they upped their game by getting American Eagle and such. Payless in the end stopped being well pay less lol but yeah that's what I grew up on.

At some point you may have to stop worrying about what other kids may think about some shoes if your growing kids are hard on the shoes.

I was one of those payless kids too, but when I was a kid I would go through a pair a month. $20 for a month or spend 80 for six months?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I was one of those payless kids too, but when I was a kid I would go through a pair a month. $20 for a month or spend 80 for six months?

Going through 1 pair in a month I would imagine is pretty extreme even for payless quality lol. Mine would last me usually the school year if not longer depending on my growth.

I'd also say we didn't just wear 1 pair of shoes all the time. I usually had a few (my slip on ked style ones were a fav of mine as a kid) and rotate through them. Even as an adult if you're wearing the same shoe over and over and over and through tons of walking or differences in terrain you'll wear it out faster no matter how expensive or "good quality" it is.

 

[tcufrog]

My kids have giant feet that are larger than my size 10 womens feet so they were adult mens shoes. They were Merril sandals because they're very sturdy and New Balance sneakers. They don't last forever but they take a beating before they wear out.

 

[leahgoogle]

For the love of all things holy, please give me some suggestions on shoes for middle school boys that last longer than 2 months. Every freaking pair of shoes I've bought my 9 & 12 year old boys the last couple of years have fallen apart in less than 3 months. I'd totally get them cheap walmart shoes, except our walmart sucks and the only shoes they have are the kid that would def get my kid made fun of endlessly. I'm talking dad shoes, or old man velcro white shoes. And with growing kids, they kind of need to try them on, so online is a pain. The last pair I got my kid is a pair of Nikes, that were like $100 (he had to pay half), in mid Feb. The sole is already coming apart. My other kid had a pair of Pumas that I got at the same time and they are ripped up too. So does anyone have a tried and true brand of sneakers/tennis shoes that actually hold up? I wouldn't mind spending the $ if they actually lasted, but dang. I do try to shop clearance and buy a size up if I can find shoes they like on sale, but thats getting harder lately.

Short answer is "no" unfortunately! But, if you bought the Nike's from nike.com, they will give you a credit voucher if you send them in. We have done that a couple times. We have resorted to buying "play" shoes from Ross or Burlington for after school play and "good" shoes that are more expensive that they wear to school. My school requires separate gym shoes used only for gym and my daughter came to me a couple weeks ago saying the sole is coming apart (Nike's) and I told her that school is almost done so try and make them last!

 

[NotUrsula]

Short answer is "no" unfortunately! But, if you bought the Nike's from nike.com, they will give you a credit voucher if you send them in. We have done that a couple times. We have resorted to buying "play" shoes from Ross or Burlington for after school play and "good" shoes that are more expensive that they wear to school. My school requires separate gym shoes used only for gym and my daughter came to me a couple weeks ago saying the sole is coming apart (Nike's) and I told her that school is almost done so try and make them last!

Separating sneaker soles are pretty easy to fix, actually; it's usually a result of getting them wet. Just buy a tube of ShoeGoo, make sure the gap in the sole is clean of debris or water, then glue them back into place, weighting/clamping the layers & giving them 2 days to cure before wearing again. My DH has a pair of sneakers that are still going strong 3 years after I glued the separating sole back together.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Converse still hold up really really well. They are still 'in' and while not cheap they are one of few brands that still have factory store outlets all over who often have great sales.

I like them because the canvas can be sprayed with silicone then dried a few days when new to help prevent staining & can be washed with some oxyclean in the washing machine then air dried to extend the life a bit. One person in the house prefers the black on black and they have lasted years. The white is nice but has a short life because of staining. Soles can be easily cleaned with magic eraser from dollar tree. Overall this brand has stood the test of time. Just be cautious with the ones that don't flex at the sole, no matter how cool they look they will hurt the feet eventually. One kid went through a skateboarder shoe phase and the other a Uggs phase and both landed us at the Dr for foot issues

 

[abdmom]

My sons have worn Van's for years, as teenagers and young adults. They'll last on average about 6 months, with a lot of walking. Some of the styles come in leather.

 

[leahgoogle]

Separating sneaker soles are pretty easy to fix, actually; it's usually a result of getting them wet. Just buy a tube of ShoeGoo, make sure the gap in the sole is clean of debris or water, then glue them back into place, weighting/clamping the layers & giving them 2 days to cure before wearing again. My DH has a pair of sneakers that are still going strong 3 years after I glued the separating sole back together.

We actually have used Gorilla Glue on soles to extend the life of the shoe. I will look into ShoeGoo!