OP back again. Thanks everyone! You've all pointed out excellent things, and I understand now that the shoes idea is bad. It's interesting to learn about your various experiences. I'll makes sure to go for something much more safe like some type of baby clothing. Again, really appreciate the help!

If you want to buy a gift the baby will never use, shoes are perfect! Your size will be wrong, the kid will not wear them, the parents will think they're ugly and 12-18 month old kids could wear a HUGE range of sizes and widths. I worked at Stride Rite when I was in college and had so many returns from "gift" shoes. If you really want to do shoes, get a gift card to Stride Rite or some place similar and let the parents pick. Kids at this age really need to be fitted for shoes.

Just think, what if someone wanted to buy YOU a pair of shoes but didn't know your size? "Oh, you know, something for a 30-year-old woman." Doesn't work.

I would not give shoes as a baby present. I STILL have trouble finding shoes that properly fit my DD, and she's 3!! There's lots of other cute baby stuff out there.

And for contrast, my 19 month old DD wears a size 3. She's 90th percentile for height and weight so she's no peanut otherwise!

My DD's first pair of shoes were size 5, TRIPLE WIDE. And she had to wear orthotics. No one bought her any shoes, but if they had, they wouldn't have fit.

I hate getting baby shoes as gifts. They never get worn. They are somehow always the wrong size/ structure for whatever stage my kid is in. Newborn baby shoe/ socks, however, those I love.

The sizing on shoes for a child that age is really difficult to guess at, and when they're just learning to walk, the fit of the shoe is incredibly important. I wouldn't purchase shoes for a baby gift. My DS had super fat feet and was a late walker. We had to search and search and could only find one brand we could even get onto his foot.

I'll bite. If you really want to buy the shoes, if they're really cute and *not too expensive* - as in, you found them at Target and think the parents would really get a kick out of them, because, for example, the mom loves her Converse shoes so much she wore them to her wedding and you found an IDENTICAL pair in a baby size - really, something that cool - go for it.

I would err on the side of tennis shoes with a sole for 12-18 month olds - based on my sample size of two kids, by 12 months our girls were walking, running by 18 months. Kids shoes don't fit for long before they're outgrown, and you don't know what time of year the kid's feet will be the right size for the shoes. Really cool sandals or flip flops, for example, will only be really cool if they fit during the summer. If it's wintertime when the kid's feet are the right size, it's not going to work. And returning after I put in the last paragraph - don't get boots. The chances of both the "foot" part and the "calf" part fitting at the same time are low.

If you're looking for size, my kids are around the 50% in size, and at 18 months they wear a toddler size 5, though will soon be moving into a 6. Their 4s stopped fitting at about 15 months.



(Says the person who bought $10 UGG knockoffs at the grocery store the day I was discharged from the hospital and left my twins in NICU. Found them while waiting for the pharmacy to fill my painkiller meds. The girls never wore them - the calf parts were too skinny when the foot parts fit - but that day I needed to do something that made me feel connected to my babies. So I get it - sometimes shoes just feel like the right thing to do!)

Shoes can be hard to fit - especially for a walking baby. My youngest has very, VERY small feet and finding hard soled shoes for her when she started walking was tough. Some folks are not shoe fans in general not using them at all with small babies and keeping their kids in soft soles for a while. Personally I loved shoes on my girls and had them in good Stride Rite type shoes once they were walking but I wanted them fit to my child. Random shoes for that age group would be very tricky. My advice - stick with clothes instead!

OP again. As I mentioned, I saw some cute shoes, and thought the parents may like them. I did consider there may be issues with sizing, type, and that is why I am posting here. Any other feedback is still appreciated. Thanks again.

I'm the PP that said not to. For one, sizing could be an issue. If the kid is an early walker, the soft soled shoes won't be of much use. If kid is a late walker, shoes might be of almost zero use.

Why do you want to get shoes?

^ sorry, advise

OP here - could you elaborate, and do others agree that shoes aren't a good idea? If you support this idea, please let me know about the type you'd advice (like I ask - soft vs. hard sole).

Don't buy shoes.

I'm interested in buying my friend a pair of shoes for her baby, probably something for the age 12-18 months. But I'm not sure what's best for that age group. For example, I saw a very cute pair of shoes that have a suede non-slip sole; is this better for that age group than going for something more hard soled? I guess the suede sole is better for use inside the home (versus the hard sole for outdoors)? Thanks for any advice