We wrote about how he kept tripping on his old sandals and thus, was left with the only shoes he has. A pair of canvas shoes. He wore that everyday, everytime, with socks, even for a short walk around the estate. It was tedious putting on and taking off socks for him. We then got him new rubber shoes and thought that was it. Until he had a nasty fall and we didn’t dare let him wear it anymore.

Shopping for NEW shoes as an alternative to his canvas shoes

Covered canvas shoes are not convenient if he has to go near water and we have an upcoming trip soon. Hence, the search for new sandals began again.

Criteria : Bendability (see below), MUST not have ridges at the side (the last one caused him to trip), Nice Design, Must Have a Velcro Strap At the back (so would not drop off when he walks), Reasonable Price (<$30) , Comfy Protection – good if there’s cushioning.

After we looked high and low, near and far, in and out of Metro, Kiddy Palace, Fox Kids, Bata (3 times!), we finally found the ultimate sandals for him… IN Bata.

The Bubblegummers brand

One that he would not trip and fall (though still early to tell). At least, he hadn’t when he first walked in them and went up and down the stairs in the shop without holding onto anything. He hadn’t tripped too when he ran about in the neighbourhood. He didn’t whine when he first put on it and walked about.

While out shopping for shoes in various places during the month, we had been frustrated with him yelling and crying the moment we tried on shoes for him. He disliked trying them on for reasons only he would know. So we found out that the strategy was to leave him in the stroller while trying on the shoes. This way, he came to know that the moment he wore them without fuss, he could get out of it and walked about.

Another strategy was to make sure that was really the shoe we wanted him to try on because we would never be able to get him back onto the stroller again. He would whine and twist in our arms to get out of it if we made him try on another one. Ended up, we did made him try on a smaller size because Size 7 Bubblegummers seemed a little big. However, the sales person advised that it was wiser to get a bigger pair with more space in front of his toes as his feet would slide forward. His toes would not get blisters then. It was the end of the day for our shopping trip and the two of us were really relieved that we found it at the last minute.

And true enough, (check out the pic above – his right foot compared to left foot), his feet did slide in front after walking for a while. One thing I look for when I buy shoes for him is the ‘Bendability’. If  I can’t bend the sole of the shoe and it remained very hard, I would not get it for him. Toddler’s feet are still growing and they need good soles that can cater to the contour of their feet, especially for Darius who loves walking.

Initially, we wanted to get Fox Kids Sandals but it was SO hard that we decided it was out. Then, I came across this article and read that Bubblegummers is good. I had been to the Bata shop many times but never once thought to look at the kids’ shoes. So we went and looked at it. But everytime, we just couldn’t find a pair that matched our criteria. There seemed to be only a few shoes for toddlers only. The rest are for babies and older kids. Hence, after looking at all the shops for sandals, we turned back into Bata again for the third time this month, this time really scrutinising every shoe. Finally, I found this pair right at a corner in a box. It was not displayed anywhere and probably an old design but it felt a match the moment I saw it. Darius immediately took to it and wore it like he had been wearing it all along.

The only thing is that the colour wasn’t what I would like. Sure the blue’s bright and cheerful but most of Darius’ shorts are brown, kaki, orange. His tops are usually red, yellow, orange too though recently, I got more blue tops for him. It would greatly contrast as you can see from above. My designer sense screamed, “They do not MATCH!!!”. A darker blue would match better. Oh well… we hope this would be the last search already so I can’t complain.

We also bought a new pair of shoes since Metro was having a sale and we have a lot of cash vouchers that we kept forgetting to use. It was the most expensive shoe we had purchased for him so far. Almost $30 (We believe that his feet would grow fast and it’s a waste to buy expensive shoes). It would offer an alternative to his only pair of covered canvas shoes and probably better support since it’s the sports type. Or maybe it’s Mummy who wish he can have more choices to wear with his outfits cos Daddy doesn’t agree on why he needs two shoes…=.=” Difference between men and women..haha.

The size is slightly bigger though it was the size he wore for other brands. Darius still need getting used to it. After walking a while, he would asked us to carry him so it seemed that he walked better with the canvas shoe.

Love the colour and cute design. Size 15.

No related posts.