baby shoes

[jewels]

Well my little Ellie will be 9 months come wednesday, and she has been cruising a little over a month now, so I've been thinking of getting her some walking shoes.:) I want her to have a good pair of shoes that will help support her well, that is vegan. Now that's my question, where do you get a GOOD pair of vegan baby shoes?

[Erin Pavlina]

To my knowledge there is no source of vegan baby shoes. I hope someone has a different answer, but in my day of trying to find some for Emily, it just never happened.

All the vegan shoe companies say it's not worth it to make these special products for kids since they grow out of the shoes so fast.

If you do manage to find something, please let us all know!

[frenchie]

Have you tried Payless Shoe Source? They make alot of shoes out of manmade materials. I buy shoes from there all the time. Infact, my friend bought my son a pair of shoes that aren't made of leather from Payless.

[go4green]

I haven't found any...we bought the dress shoes at Payless and Walmart (manmade materials). Some sport sandals from baby gap and old navy (even though my husband hates these companies for labor practices) they fit really well and seemed to support Elle the best. I have purchased a little pair of tennis shoes that may have leather on them from consignment, I justify it because I am recycling, and I haven't purchased any new. She had a canvas pair before that.

I know a lot of kids wear paddlers, they have a leather bottom, which I can't bring myself to buy. I wish a company would at least make those. And Uggs should make a vegan alternative, my daughter received a hat that looks and feels just like sheepskin, so I know the technology is out there. I look forward to hearing what other people have found.
Jenna

[camark4177]

I agree with the other posters on the Payless tip. They have a lot of baby (and adult) shoes that are all man made. There are also a lot of canvas shoes to be found at baby retailers like gap and gymboree. Good luck!

[EricP]

Hmmm, I wish I could help you, but I don't remeber where we purchased our daughters shoes from... they were vegan, and we found vegan shoes at regular stores (walmart, etc.) without 'many' problems.

Regards,

EricP

[Krystal323]

I wanted something that was gonna not restrict her feet too much--after much research on the issue, I came to the conclusion that basically only Nike, New Balance and Stride-Rite make quality baby shoes--whether or not they are leather is another issue entirely. Stride-rite seems to have the most all-man-made materials shoes avaliable, and they are high quality; however, you better get them on sale 'cause I don't know who wants to pay more than $20-$25 for baby shoes that will be outgrown all too soon! All my non-veg friends buy Robeez religiously--and they ARE awesome shoes--maybe one day they'll have a non-leather one avaliable =(

[camark4177]

I found this link, though it might be helpful.
http://www.vegetarianbaby.com/products/shoes.html

[veganmamma]

Those pipsqueakers are cute, but babies need soft soled shoes. NOt soft rubber soles, they need to be as if they are walking barefoot so the bones in their feet can develop properly. I am on the prowl for some vegan shoes like this, I will get back to everyone. :)
Lauren

[Janine]

I think that www.padders.com has vegan shoes. In particular, their "trampers" have fabric uppers and PVC non-skid soles. The other kinds don't specify, but I just sent an email asking them if all their shoes are non-leather. They look nice because the soles are thin and look like they'd be comfortable and allow flexibility.
Edited to add that the "fashion" and "classics" lines have leather soles, but the others don't.

[Janine]

Here are some really cute ones-- they look like robeez: Daisy Roots (http://www.daisy-roots.com/sh_showcatcontents.asp?cat=15) . Sorry to keep this post going, I just know that it's hard to find vegan shoes.