My toddler (God bless him!) has had three different sets of orthotics in the last 8 months 🤦. He is growing like a weed and is taking his first independent steps, which is the best feeling in the WORLD. His first set of orthotics was in January, which were an AFO/SMO pair, then we received bilateral AFOs in March/April, and now we’re back to an AFO/SMO pair again in August. This also means we’ve had multiple trips to the doctor’s office, new socks, new fittings, but most of all – new shoes.
Arggh. New Shoes. Those two words instill fear in every mother in America.
Seriously, ya’ll, I think us special needs parents dread the day when our children receive new orthotics because they are always different, bigger, smaller, whatever – and we must go shoe shopping. I can think of a laundry list of things I’d like to do besides take a toddler to multiple shoe stores to try on different pairs of shoes!
So, to help anyone out there who is faced with this dilemma, I’ve found a few shoes we love.
PLAE Shoes (the MIMO sneaker)
If you are short on time or just simply don’t want the hassle of carting your child(ren) in and out of shoe stores all day (really, who can blame you?), try ordering PLAE Shoes. My son wore these shoes for his bilateral AFOs all summer, and I lovedddd them. We had the gray ones but they come in so many different colors and are wide enough to accommodate the bulkiness of AFOs. I liked them for summer because there are little holes in them, too, so their feet can breathe! You can even wear them to the splash pad and let them play in the water with them, and just let them air dry afterwards. We get asked about these shoes all the time, even from parents whose children aren’t in AFOs. I feel like I’m saying “Plae, P.L.A.E” to at least one parent per day, whether at the grocery store, park, or just out and about. I didn’t need the extra long straps for these, but I hear you can buy longer straps to go across the shoe to Velcro on the other side if needed. What I love most: they’re really cute + lots of colors + perfect for summer!
NIKE FlyEase
We’ve had a few different pairs of these over the last year, and I love them because the zipper in the back goes over the AFO/SMO. Keep in mind they are fairly narrow, and they fit my son’s feet pretty well when he was a year old and much smaller, but now that he’s a toddler and his feet are bigger/wider, I have a harder time putting them on (they seem to have the best prices on FlyEase shoes at Zappos). What I love most: they slip right over the AFOs and zipper in the back. So easy!
Thrift Store/Consignment Stores
I found a pair of Nike’s and a pair of Fila’s at the local second-hand shop for cheap (under $15 for both pairs). It can be expensive to constantly buy new socks and shoes for our kiddos, and I found these awesome little shoes that are wide and fit over Alex’s new AFO/SMO (plus they have laces – who thought I’d ever see the day where my boy could wear shoes with laces)! If you have a free moment and can run into a local shop, usually these stores have bins of hand-me-downs, and I just rifled through a few and bought what looked wide/big. These Fila shoes look similar. What I love most: if they don’t fit, you’re only out a few bucks, and if they do fit – score! What I also love is because these shoes are second-hand, they’ve been broken in a little and are usually quite easy to get over the AFO.
I believe others have had success with Cat & Jack at Target, New Balance XW and Billy Footwear – however, I found the Cat & Jack shoes to be too narrow and Billy Footwear to be too clunky! However, my son is a size 9 in AFO shoes, and I had a hard time finding the right size in Billy Footwear, so that is probably why they haven’t worked for us yet. I’d be willing to try them again in the future, though, because their shoes are just so darn cute. I think it’s worth trying any of these for your kids.
A few last minute tips:
#1: I always buy a few sizes up from his actual foot size. If your child is a 7, a good rule of thumb is to buy a 9.👍
#2: I have found most of this is trial and error, so don’t be discouraged if the first pair you try doesn’t work. Ship them back and try again.
#3: You can remove the insole in a lot of these shoes to give some extra room for the AFO/SMO to fit, if needed.
#4: Of course your kiddos and orthotics will (inevitably!) change, so the shoes will, too. It’s best that we embrace this task and help out other mamas when we can with our best shoe finds!
Have you found any that have worked for you that aren’t listed above? I’d love to try them! #bestshoesforafos