The most common cause of foot trouble in children isn't the wrong kind of shoe. It's the wrong size. And children rarely tell you, because toes would sooner curl than hurt.
You don't need a shop or a special gauge. You need a sheet of paper, a wall and a ruler.
The method
- Do it in the evening. Feet swell over the course of a day. An evening measurement reflects the size the shoe actually has to fit at its worst, not its best.
- Put a sheet of paper flat against a wall. Skirting boards get in the way — if yours sticks out, use a book or a flat box against the wall instead.
- Have your child stand on it, heel touching the wall. Standing matters. The foot lengthens under body weight, and a measurement taken sitting down will read short by several millimetres.
- Mark the tip of the longest toe. That isn't always the big toe. Roughly one child in five has a second toe that's longer.
- Measure from the wall to the mark, in millimetres. Millimetres, not centimetres — the difference between EU sizes is only about 6.6 mm, so rounding loses you a size.
- Do the other foot. Most people have one foot slightly bigger. Always work from the larger one.
Then add growing room
Take your longest measurement and add 10–12 mm. That's roughly 0.4–0.5 inches.
This isn't slack or carelessness. It's the space the foot needs to move and spread inside the shoe as your child walks — and it's the margin that stops you buying new shoes every six weeks.
For winter boots, add about 12 mm even with a thick sock on. The air around the foot is what insulates it. A tight boot is a cold boot.
Picking the size
All Littlestride shoes are listed in EU sizes. Match your measured length plus growing room to the nearest size. If your child lands between two sizes, take the larger one — children's feet grow in bursts, and the bigger size will be right sooner than you think.
How often to check
Every eight weeks or so. Children's feet don't grow steadily; they grow in jumps, often a full size in a single quarter. Check again just before a school term starts — many children go up half a size to a full size over a summer.
Signs the shoe is already too small
- Red marks or indentations on the toes or across the top of the foot after a day's wear
- Your child pulls the shoes off the second they get through the door
- Wear showing on the inside of the toe box
- Toes that curl when your child stands barefoot
If you're unsure, measure the foot standing, add the growing room and send us the number. We'll tell you which size to pick.