As my little boy is swiftly finding his feet, I decided it was time to buy him his very first pair of shoes to protect his soles from any rough terrain underfoot.
While he is not properly walking yet, he covers a lot of ground holding onto my hand as well as crawling so I wanted something that would give his feet complete freedom
and avoid restricting development. I also wanted something that looked good. Not asking for much am I?
While there are plenty of designs out there, I was drawn to a label called Bobux which had two immediate selling points – soft soles and elastic instead of laces.
Bobux is a New Zealand company that appears to share my philosophy when it comes to kitting out your child’s feet. In its blurb Bobux stresses that its footwear leaves children “comfortable, happy and free to develop as nature intended” which sounded good to me.
There is a shoe for every stage up to three years old, from a soft sole for indoor wear – which I opted for – a pre-walk design for venturing outdoors and the i-walk shoe for when your toddler is really on the move.
We took the soft sole version for a test crawl and were extremely pleased with the result. As well as being adorable to look at – there are shoes with giraffes and fishes smiling back at you – this pair of shoes is made from eco-leather and is wonderfully soft. Importantly, this meant he could still flex his muscles and spread his toes when crawling or walking. The elastic ankle support also made them so easy to put on and there was no danger of them falling off and getting lost.
The Pre-walk design has a duo-flex sole which is effectively leather round the edges and rubber underneath, so it supports but doesn’t restrict natural movement during those first few steps. The range comes in sandals, ballet shoes and sport shoes.
The i-walk also has a soft, flexible rubber-sole shoe with extra grip that conforms to the natural walking motion of little feet, allowing them to grow and explore without restriction. These come as natty-looking sneakers, loafers, casual shoes or sandals.
Prices start from £20 which is not cheap but who wants to stint on your child’s footwear? To find out more, visit www.bobux.co.uk