How to choose the right size of baby and kids’ shoes?

To avoid the headache of choosing your baby's shoe size, find all our advice and the printable shoe size chart!

Welcome to the wonderful world of baby shoes!
Because the numbers of the very small sizes for babies or kids don't mean anything to us now that we have become adults, we help you to see more clearly to choose the right size for your little one.

How do you choose your children's shoe size?

What size at what age for a baby or kid?

How to measure shoe size?

As with adults, sizes for babies and kids are based on measurements in centimetres of the length of the foot, which are then converted into a number system (why make it simple when you can make it complicated?).
The width of the foot will also be taken into account, especially if the foot is between two sizes.

In this article, we will talk about French sizes.
Baby sizes for the UK and the USA use different numbers.
So be careful if you order internationally not to get confused!

What shoe size for what size at 1 month, 3 or 5 years?

We all know 3-month-old babies who are already big and wear 6-month-old clothes.
When it comes to shoes, too, we are not all born in the same boat, nor do we all grow in exactly the same way (well, if all goes well, your kid will still be in the growth curve zone).
Even though on average, the sizes of baby and toddler clothes and shoes correspond fairly well to the ages indicated on the clothes, this is not a perfect rule!
The best thing to do is to try them.
But it's not easy to take baby on a shopping trip...

Size 15, 22 or 19 for which age? Not easy to find your way around the subject.

If you want to have an idea of the age to which baby shoe sizes correspond, here are the EU equivalents:

• 15 or 16 = 0-3 months (most brands start at size 16)
• 17 = 3-6 months
• 18 = 6-9 months
• 19 = 9-12 months
• 20 = 12-15 months
• 21 = 15-18 months
• 22 = 18-21 months
• 23 = 21-24 months
• 24 = 2 years
• 25 = 2.5 years
• 26 = 3-4 years
• 27 = 4-5 years
• 28 = 5-6 years

How to measure baby’s feet?
The guide:

You know more about the size system. But that's as far as you've come?
There are two ways to find out the size of your baby's foot without having to leave your little cocoon: a size guide so you can put sizes next to centimetres and (if you have a printer), a printable shoe size chart to easily find baby's foot size.

Normally, with these two solutions you should find the right size for the next pair of baby shoes!

Shoe size chart for babies and kids, in cm

Baby shoes (from size 19)

Kids shoes (from size 39, we switch to the adult range)

Our printable shoe size chart to make like easier!

Download our shoe size chart to measure your baby's right shoe size!

Be sure to set your printer to print full page.
After printing, check that the dimensions have been respected by placing a ruler or tape measure on the centimetre scale.
Now you can take a pencil and go and get your baby or kid to measure their foot.

STEP 1/ FOLD THE FOOT MEASURE

First of all, fold the sheet along the dotted lines.

STEP 2: POSITION YOUR CHILD'S FOOT CORRECTLY

Ready to take the measurements? Let's go!
To position your child's foot correctly on the foot measure, he/she must stand up, place his/her heel on the back of the measure and the inside of his/her foot on the dotted lines previously used to fold the measure.
STEP 3: LOOK AT THE LENGTH OF THE FOOT FIRST

First of all, look at the line where the big toe stops, this will be a first factor in choosing your shoe size.
You can draw it with a pencil so you don't forget it.
STEP 4: LOOK AT THE WIDTH SIZE INDICATED

Finally, look at the line on which the outside of the foot lies. The same here, you can draw a mark with a pencil.
If the line above the big toe indicated 21, but the width of the foot is on another size (22 for example); choose shoes in the largest size (22 in this example), so that the foot does not feel cramped.

There you go! Now all you have to do is go and buy and/or order the new pair of shoes for your kid with this information!

Our tips for choosing your kids’ shoes

Our tips if you go to the store

It’s not easy to try on pairs of shoes with your kid: very young children are not always able to communicate their feelings to you (the "subject-verb-complement" system is not operational for some time...), so you will have to estimate whether the size fits. For older children, even if speech is present, communication is not always crystal clear.

Here are "grandma's tips" on how to tell if a shoe is the right size:

Method 1: fit the shoes on your kid (with the right socks, so as not to distort the thickness). Have them put their foot as far forward as possible in the shoe. Normally you should be able to slip a finger between the heel of your kid’s foot and the shoe. But the scale is different between your adult hand and their tiny toe, so we recommend method 2 to be really sure.

Method 2: ditto, but your kid should place their heel fully against the back of the shoe. There should be a few millimetres (no more than 3-4 mm) at the front of the shoe: when pressing the toe of the shoe, you should therefore feel a tiny bit of space.

Our tips if you are ordering your kids’ shoes online

Although shoe sizes are theoretically the same everywhere, for all brands, some shoe brands won’t have the same "size" or "fit" as others (narrower, etc.).
If you are ordering online, we advise you to refer to the size guide on the brand's website, where your kids' foot size measured in centimetres with our size chart will be very useful!

You now have all the information you need to measure your baby's foot size for their next shoes!

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Maguy

Quechua hiking enthusiast

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