Mummy Must Have Review | Little Blue Lamb Shoes

Do you have a child with slightly larger feet? Bub's always had long feet with a high bridge {which if she was a boy I guess would be considered a good thing, but as a girl it's just inconvenient to say the least} and it makes finding shoes that fit quite difficult. So difficult in fact that every pair of department store shoes I'd bought before she was born never fit properly and cut into her feet leaving really painful marks, so I gave up on them fairly quickly. 

Thankfully I found Tiptoe & Co online when she was about eight months old. They stock a huge range of quality {mainly leather} kids shoes that also cater for little ones with bigger than average feet. Ever since then I've been a huge fan and her shoe collection has been exclusively from them {when you find something that works stick to it I say}, even T raves about their shoes {which coming from a guy who doesn't care less about shoes or brands is a pretty big compliment}. 

Recently however I had a bit of a freak out moment as bub grew out of most of the sizes stocked by Tiptoe & Co so we made a reluctant trip to local department stores to {try to} find her some new shoes. Oh my god, if you think buying shoes with a toddler is hard, multiply that by about 100 when you have to try on literally every single pair of shoes {that are apparently her size} in order to come away with only one pair of shoes that badly fits her foot. She was over it after about five minutes and we were well and truly over it after ten minutes but we persevered for over half an hour, because well a girl can't be without shoes and a toddler definitely can't. We ended up buying a pair of shoes that didn't fit her that well, but was the best of all the options, because we were desperate. That night I contacted Chelsea from Tiptoe & Co to ask beg her to please, please, please order me in larger sizes of the shoes we already have. Unfortunately she couldn't, but she did have a new shipment of styles that had just arrived and had a few options in bub's size! Hallelujah. Why I didn't think to ask her before we went through the hell of trying on every shoe at the shops I don't know {won't do that next time}.

I think she's pretty happy having shoes that fit properly again. Truth be told when Chelsea suggested the new Little Blue Lamb Hayley Ballet Flats I wasn't entirely convinced they would work, because of that big elastic band across the top. We've never had luck with any shoes that have an elastic band, no matter how thick or thin it is, purely because bub has such a high bridge, so I was sceptical to say the least, but I trusted her advice. Sure enough when they arrived they fit her foot perfectly and with a bit of wiggle room to boot.

These ballet flats are unlike any other shoes bub's had before because they're an all in one slip on shoe rather than a velcro fastening shoe. If you have kids with bigger feet you'll know velcro shoes are the bomb, but I have to say these are pretty awesome too. I think the key is they're made from super light leather microfibre so they're not too tight. I also usually stick to open toed shoes or sandals with cut outs because it gets quite hot up here in Queensland and heat = sweaty feet. However, these ballet flats have a unique antibacterial foam insole with a breathable moisture reduction system that keeps her feet dry, and it really works {thankgod because sweaty feet = stinky feet and aint nobody want that}.

When I found out there was also a new leather sandal available in bub's size I couldn't pass it up. I'm a sucker for a pretty pink shoe {because her shoes are all about me, clearly} and I was sold with the velcro strap. The Little Blue Lamb Hazel Sandal is an enclosed sandal with cute pink flower details. It also has little cut outs above the toes and the same antibacterial foam insole with the breathable moisture reduction system to keep little feet aerated and dry while being worn. Apparently these ones are her favourite ones, because they're pink. I love them because they go with almost every one of her outfits, clearly we have way too much pink.

I'm so glad I checked with Chelsea if she had any shoes in bigger sizes, we're now set for another 6 months at least and after that I'm definitely planning on either buying these same styles in bigger sizes or getting some of the other new Little Blue Lamb styles she recently got in stock. There's even a few cool boys styles in grey and neutral colours that I'm thinking would be great for bub. I'm beyond relieved that we won't need to endure another mammoth department store shoe expedition for quite a while. If you have little ones with hard to fit feet you really should do yourself a favour and check out Tiptoe & Co online, Chelsea has such a great range of shoes available and is always happy to help with sizing advice.

Do/did you abhor shoe shopping with toddlers as much as I do?

Toni x

Disclosure - I was provided the Little Blue Lamb shoes mentioned above for the purpose of review {after desperately contacting Chelsea to see if she had any shoes that would fit bub}. All opinions expressed are based on our experience with the shoes. I did not receive payment for this review and have spent a huge amount of $ on Tiptoe & Co shoes over the last 3 years and will no doubt be buying more of the Little Blue Lamb shoes once she grows out of these ones.

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