Passing down shoes. Is it a "Yes"? Or a "No go!"...

Who remembers hearing that study a few years back about the cost of raising a kid these days? It was a staggering number. The facts stated in 2004 gave a cost range of anywhere between $184,123 to $269,520 per child. And those stats have only increased considerably since then. I've heard recent estimates of $435,430 to 1.6 Million per child. Of course various factors play into those numbers, like, whether you are saving for college tuition, the cost of Insurance premiums, and even whether your family purchases bottled water and Satellite television. But we get the drift, and suffice it to say, even in lower income households we can expect to pay at least a QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS per child these days. Wow! That's a chunk of change, no kidding, so it's with that in mind that we parents consider how best to allocate that money.
The economic downturn we have all been experiencing in one way or another the last few years has really determined a redirect in the trajectory of our family expenses. We have all had to cut back and make adjustments in order to adapt to the times. And of course that recalibration of outgoing expenses includes how to reduce that aforementioned great big number attached to the raising of children. One way has been to recycle and reuse clothing within the household. The question is then, in regards to footwear, is this always a good thing?
Lets start with the idea of recycling; I love it! I've been reusing bags, making slaw out of left over broccoli stalks, and passing on used clothing for as long as I remember. As a teenager I considered it a badge of honor to shop secondhand, finding treasures which I would use to express the affinity I had for retro kitsch, for a few bucks at a time. This was before Thrift Store shopping was cool mind you. I've always washed and reused plastic utensils, embellished jeans with the stray beads from broken necklaces, you name it. So I get it, believe in it, and will always support that message of being responsible with resources.
Kids clothes are an item I absolutely can get behind passing on. There is no shortage of virtually unused secondhand kids clothes out there, and I say "Go for it!" when it comes to giving them a longer life. Between family members, the sharing of clothes can also illicit sentimental feelings, triggering memories from the first child that wore the item. But when it comes to shoes, there are a few things that must be considered:

Your child's feet are growing and developing. She/He needs shoes that fit their specific feet properly.  They need growing room for all toes. It's not just the big toe to consider either. Some kids longest toe may be their middle toe! Their shoes should fit properly not only in length but also width. Hand-me-down shoes that are too large or just shaped by another foot can cause problems. Those passed on shoes may even fit most of the foot, but not all of it. I have seen this firsthand, where a young girl I was fitting was quietly suffering because her outer toe did not have the room it required. She was compensating by curling her toe under in order to bear with the circumstances. She never questioned what that constant curling of the toe was doing. Why would she? She's a kid, and to be honest, she was pretty attached to her big sister's hand me downs and therefore, the slight discomfort was a non issue for her. Just because a shoe has the same number size as the earlier child, that doesn't mean the shape is suited for the specifics of the new wearer.

Something else to consider is even some lightly worn shoe uppers don't always tell the story of what is going on inside. Our feet make imprints in the inner soles of our shoes. When shoes are passed down to another child, their feet will not have the same support that they need to start with. No two children have feet that are alike. So, by being worn even a little, the shoes are broken in, or molded, to only fit the original owner. Body weight, gait, and habits are all now recorded in the insides of that pair.

It is also imperative that shoes bend appropriately at the point where the ball of the foot bends at the toes. If this bending occurs at the wrong  place  in the shoe, the shoe will cause severe problems, pain or foot malfunction. Remember, size is just a number, and styles vary in fit. If you take into account the entire bio mechanics of the body, you will observe how everything radiates upward. Foot malfunction leads to knee malfunction, which then causes hip malfunction, and then the spine has to respond, and so on. So it is especially important to start at the ground up. Bear in mind too that we often don't start shopping for shoes for our kids until they say something like "Ouch, these are tight!" And we are lucky if they do have the wherewithal to even express this sentiment. In the case of the young girl I mentioned, our little subject wasn't about to say a word about her compromised situation, so it is vital that parents take on this responsibility.

To avoid these problems, make sure that every foot gets properly measured with a Brannock device that takes into account the heel to ball length, the width and the overall length of the foot. All feet are different and all shoes fit all feet differently.
An additional health consideration is this:

Feet inside of a shoe are creating warmth and moisture to the environment. This can be a perfect storm for certain bacteria and fungus to thrive within the materials and lining. Many of these organisms especially the fungus can survive within the shoe for as long as a year, and then pass along to the next foot to wear that shoe. I hate to say it, but sharing shoes, is a little like sharing dirty towels. In particular when it comes to children who, ahem, break all the rules when it comes to proper hygiene, and I say that lovingly :).

Should you NEVER pass on shoes? I would say the answer to that is definitely "No!" Take heart because there are certainly times when passing on shoes is appropriate, and the first one that comes to mind is infant shoes! Baby shoes and young children's shoes are usually worn very little. Littlest one's feet grow so darn fast, that these types of shoes usually have escaped excessive wear and so are usually perfectly acceptable to pass down. Some tips for passing down shoes are:

1. Make sure they fit properly and aren't too big, or too small

2. Inspect the inside. If they show much wear there, toss them, especially if there is an imprint

3. Check the outsides of the shoes. Are there worn down parts on the soles? Check the inside portion of the foot as well as the outside. Some kids roll in or out. If there is more wear on either parts, get rid of them.

4. Make sure your younger child is not only getting a pair of shoes when the older sibling has grown out of a pair. Children grow at different rates. To be sure, have children professionally sized at regular intervals, by a fitting professional.

Kids are costly, to be sure, but when you consider the overall development of a child's body, and the impact feet will take in a lifetime, I can assure you, you will be doing everyone a favor financially in the long run by giving kids a chance to own a healthy body their entire lives! As for opportunities to save money, I think we are on the right track there as a society. We are learning new ways to be resourceful every single day, and who can argue with that?!

About us:
Little Feet Children's Shoes is a family owned quality Children's Shoe Store. We are located at 24 North Bartlett Street in Downtown Medford Oregon. You can also visit our website at littlefeetshoes.com