I buy the size that the kid is measuring now, unless I haven't seen growth for a while.

Anonymous wrote:i buy full.

Me too, but I can see how it might depend on the kid's foot shape and growth history.

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. Why aren't people buying the correct size? Why deliberately buy shoes that are too big?

I'm one of the PPs who does NOT buy up when I do it on my own through Zappos. We end up keeping two sizes usually. However, I have gone to Stride Rite and they measure and actually recommend the 1/2 size up. And that works out since they know their shoes and how they fit. And I think lots of parents don't want to spend $50 on shoes that don't last the whole year, and Stride Rite knows how to size for a year.

I'm confused. Why aren't people buying the correct size? Why deliberately buy shoes that are too big?

Full size

I take them to be measured and buy the appropriate size.

Half size up from the bigger foot, which sometimes measures a half size larger than the other foot. My life is clumsy enough without wearing shoes too big for his feet.

1/2 size. My older child is a slow grower.

I buy a half size up...

i buy full.

PP here. My kids really wear out their shoes and only have two pairs at a time so we're updating pretty frequently. I've even ordered the same size a few times. Would be different if they were kids with lots of pairs of shoes which I realize is rare but not unheard of around here.

1/2 size. I was just having my kid try on the shoes I ordered online and they fit great.
A few times I tried going up a size for the "next" pair of shoes and they were too big so I learned my lesson.

Nope. My kids' feet must grow slowly because whenever I buy up, they flop around in their shoes! So I buy their right size now and save the bigger ones. Zappos is good for this. I keep the big ones too, for later.

Full size but we do stride rite. They seem to recommend shoes that are tight.

There isn't a big difference in half sizes but a full size seems too big. Shoes are for early elementary kids.