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Baby shoes are super cute and all, but some of them have an inconvenient tendency to fall off your child's feet. When it comes to the best baby shoes that stay on, it's all about proper fit and secure fastening features to keep them right where they belong — on your little one's tiny feet.
Your baby’s shoes will never stay on if they are too big. So figuring out your child’s correct shoe size from the get-go is super important. Before purchasing, take the time to measure the length and width of your child’s feet, and cross-reference that with the shoe brand’s size chart. You want the shoe to fit snuggly but without leaving indentations on the foot. Be on the lookout for shoes that have a good size range to help you to achieve the best fit possible.
That said, fit is about more than just size. Shoes need to utilize some kind of fastening feature to securely hug your child's foot so that they won't fall off. Look for options with one or more of the following:
- Hook and loop closure: Adjustable straps with hook and loop closure (more commonly known by the trademarked name, "Velcro") allow you to quickly and easily tweak the tightness of the shoe, which is a biggie if you have a little one who doesn’t want to sit still.
- Snaps: While snaps aren’t quite as customizable as straps, they are much harder for a child to undo. If you’ve got a little one who can easily undo hook and loop closures, try upgrading to a shoe with snaps.
- Toggles: Not many baby shoes have toggles, but when you find a good pair that does, they are worth snatching up. A toggle fastener is the ultimate choice when it comes to adjustability; loosen the toggle to slide your baby’s foot into the shoe, then tighten it with one easy motion.
- Laces: Just like adult shoes, some baby shoes have laces that can be tied to varying degrees of tightness. The downsides with shoe laces are that they are more work for you to tie, and might be easy for your little one to untie.
- Elastic: Getting shoes on squirmy feet can be difficult. However, shoes that feature elastic (at the heel or elsewhere) are much easier to get on since they stretch to accommodate your child’s foot for a secure fit. Elastic is often used in conjunction with one of the other fastening methods.
From straps to laces and everything in between, these 10 baby shoes actually stay on your little one's feet — so you'll never accidentally leave one behind.
(And if your baby tends to lose socks as well, check out this list of socks that stay on.)
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