“Why are WMS shoes also better in summer?” The bones in growing feet are soft and malleable and, whether it’s a summer or winter shoe, children’s feet are comparatively insensitive to pressure pain. Children cannot say for sure whether a shoe fits or not, either when trying on or when wearing it later. So an ill-fitting summer shoe is just as bad as an ill-fitting lined winter boot.

“Does the thumb test show whether a shoe fits my child?” No. Pressing the tip of the shoe with the thumb actually gives the opposite of a reliable judgment, because the child instinctively pulls its toes in, giving the impression that there is room in front of the toes. This is a completely wrong impression because, as soon as you take your thumb away, the toes go back.

“Is it acceptable when purchasing summer shoes or sandals to buy a size bigger?” Well-fitting shoes must leave enough room to grow. First of all, the shoe needs to provide room for the foot to roll and push forward when running, without being compressed.

And, of course, it should provide room to grow – children’s feet can grow up to 2-3 sizes a year. “Is it better for shoes to be too wide than too narrow?”

This is a widely held misconception with damaging consequences. If a foot is too narrow for a shoe, it is not held in place and slides forward into the gap when walking.

So, narrow feet are squashed if shoes are too wide, in just the same way as if they are too short! The backs of the shoes are also too wide so they look too big. It is especially important that a summer shoe sits well on the foot, because in summer there are no thick socks to keep the foot firmly in the shoe and bolster it.

“Why should I buy W width for my child even though the measurement came out as an M fitting?” The guideline for well-fitting children’s shoes is that a sufficiently long shoe must sit well on the foot, and then the width will be correct as well.

However, because width is determined by both the breadth and height of the foot, it is possible for a sales assistant to take width M (medium) for a flat foot although the measurement was W (wide). If a foot has particularly high arches, the assistant will choose W width even though the foot may have measured up as an M fitting. Only experienced sales assistants can judge this.

“How do I measure children ’s feet properly?” The WMS measuring device measures the length of both feet when standing. The longer foot determines size, whilst width is calculated by the closest clearance. The feet are measured in socks, under pressure and standing up. The WMS length and width scale determines shoe length and width. Of course this only applies to WMS children ’s shoes. Other shoes do not follow these guidelines and are therefore not covered by WMS.

“How can children’s shoes be assessed if they do not follow WMS guidelines?” A large number of shoes that do not follow WMS guidelines should be classed as harmful to health,because they cannot be relied upon to be the marked size. These shoes give no indication whatsoever of width.

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