Regardless of age, children need shoes that will protect their feet against injury and external factors. Footwear should be selected taking into account the shape and dimensions of the feet and should match their length and width, allowing full freedom of movement.  

Healthy rules for selecting footwear for children 

When choosing footwear for our little (and bigger) ones it is important to pay close attention to several aspects: 

1.  The shoe should be lightweight. This will ensure that the muscles are not unnecessarily forced to make an extra effort. 
2.  The sole of the shoe should allow physiological movement of the foot and not constrain the freedom of movement. It is recommended that in the forefoot area (that is roughly at the border between the toes and the foot) it bends at a 90-degree angle. 
3. Toes should have enough room to wiggle freely – if the shoe is too narrow, it may cause the toes to cramp. 
4. Shoes should not have any parts and seams that may press or rub anywhere. To check this, just examine the inside of the shoe with your hands.  
5. A shoe should fit closely the foot’s shape. Lace-up or Velcro-fastened shoes are the best as they offer ideal support and fit and the ability to adjust pressure. Lace-up shoes should be tied up from the lower to the upper eyelets applying even pressure. Velcro shoes should be fastened in the following order: middle strap, bottom strap and top strap.  

Remember that children’s feet grow quickly. Their shoes must be the right fit in terms of both length and width. In order to take the most accurate measurement, technology comes at hand, in the form of the esize.me scanner available in selected CCC and eobuwie.pl stores. The three-dimensional feet model, created just within seconds and added to the user account, allows to use product hints and filter a list of products to select the best shoe size. In order to be able to use product recommendations when shopping online, offline and via the mobile app available for iOS and Android, you need to add your foot scan in your user account. For details and a complete list of the scanning points, visit: https://ccc.eu/pl/esizeme

Given that children’s feet are more swollen in the afternoon (by about 4%), the scan should be made at that time of day. It is recommended to check the fit of shoes every 2-4 months for children aged 1-4, and every 6 months for children aged 4-6. In addition, the esize.me scanner will predict how fast a child’s foot will grow depending on age. All you need to do when shopping on ccc.eu (or eobuwie.pl) is to use a scan of the child’s foot to check how the shoes will fit: you will then see information on how long the scan is valid (that is whether it can be used to select the shoes) and how the footwear you want to buy will fit the child’s foot in one, two or five months. 

But if you cannot go to your nearest esize.me scanner, here are some tips on how to correctly measure your foot size at home: 

1. Put your foot on a piece of paper. Place the heel and the paper against the wall. 
2. Draw a line where the longest toe ends (remember that your big toe is not always the longest!). 
3. Measure the length between the end of your heel and the line. 
4. Be sure to repeat these steps with the other foot as your feet may be different lengths. 

A shoe is also protection 

“We should remember that during the summer children spend a lot of time at swimming pools or water parks and resorts. Although flip-flops are not the most sturdy footwear for walking, they protect feet from viruses and fungus in the shower or in public places. If you decide to choose and pack a pair of flip-flops in your backpack, they should fulfil several important functions. One of them is the grip on wet surfaces, usually a sole made of rubber to prevent falls. It is worth looking for flip-flops with cushioning and support for the arch of the foot. For instance, flip-flops with a wide supportive sole will help reduce stress on the feet and ankles when standing or walking. Straps are just as important. When selecting this type of footwear, it is important to make sure that the straps of the flip-flops fit comfortably but fairly tightly as this provides stability to the foot when walking,” adds Ilona Vollmer, Vice President of the Polish Podiatric Society.