These shoes have been our saviour. 
Sounds silly doesn’t it when Rory can’t even walk independently yet! At the moment, Rory spends lots of his time barefoot still, as I don’t want to hinder his walking and want him to have as much chance to get to grips with his balance as possible. However, when we’re out and about, those little tootsies of his need some protection from the elements. We really do love our various pairs of moccs and booties and for most situations, such as cruising around nursery, these serve the purpose perfectly. But, I found that on occasion I wanted to have something more, whether that be when he was off exploring on Grandpa’s farm or when he was wanting to clamber around the local park.
So, as everyone does, we set off for a certain high street store to purchase some of their shoes designed for babies who were cruising and crawling. Problem solved I thought! However, as I watched Rory making his way along the furniture, crawling around and walking along holding my hands, it soon became apparent that these just weren’t the right shoes for him. They were heavy, affected the way he walked and just kept getting in his way. He started walking like he’d got bricks on his feet and was getting very frustrated.
Now, well fitting, comfortable shoes are something I will always be prepared to pay for and so I began researching alternative shoe companies that might be able to offer a more lightweight, comfortable shoe that would allow Rory to continue moving as freely as he could barefoot, whilst still offering a little more protection for the soles of his feet.
Welcome Bobux.
I’m sure some of you will have heard of this company, particularly those of you who are a fan of barefoot shoes, but I’m sure there will also be many of you like me who weren’t aware of them. I discovered Bobux through Instagram after noticing their shoes on a few little ones on there. I knew they created shoes for walkers but was delighted to find that their shoe range was very helpfully organised into the sections; newborn and pre walkers, first walkers and toddlers and pre schoolers.
Just two examples of the gorgeous shoes available in the newborn and pre walkers stage.
Bobux’s website is excellent and provides detailed information on the concept of barefoot shoes but also on how to identify which stage of shoe your child requires and how to accurately size your child’s foot. After reading up, I decided Rory required a shoe from the step up range in a size 18. When browsing through the options, I knew straight away that I wanted to order a pair of the new xplorer city plus in grey and white. I love how cool they are and that they go with so many of his different outfits.
When they arrived, it was love at first sight. They were so light, much closer to the weight of Rory’s moccs, meaning straight away I knew he would find it easier to walk in them. They felt beautifully flexible and had a lovely wide toe box to give that much needed toe wiggling room. Not only that but when I put them on Rory he immediately pulled himself up and started cruising comfortably around the furniture and was able to move between crawling and cruising without the shoes getting in his way. Another feature of the shoes which I love is that the toe section has a more hard wearing layer across it, which is just ideal for Rory whilst he is still crawling a lot of the time. I wasn’t sure quite how to describe this but after looking on the Bobux website they describe it as a micro-armour plated toe cap, which sounds much better than my layer over the toe section!
It seems that not only do I love these shoes, other people have taken a liking to them too, I have had a fair few people compliment Rory on them already. And I have to admit every time someone comments on them I find myself going in to a bit of an over excited rave about how much I love them and I really can’t wait for more opportunities for Rory to explore in them as he begins to walk.
In fact I already have my eye on a couple of pairs that I am desperate for Rory to have for the winter, which are from the same step up range and would go perfectly with so many of his outfits. I am completely in love with the gorgeous tan ‘Wander, boots shown in the first picture below. Now just to hope Rory’s feet grow enough that I can justify buying some more, however judging by how slowly they’ve grown in the first 12 months I very much doubt it!
So what more can I say, if you’re struggling with first shoes – head over to Bobux and see what you can find!
Just a quick note to say I have in no way benefitted from writing this review. This is just my honest opinion. Also, all photos belong to either myself or Bobux so please don’t use without permission.
Baby, me and a cold cup of tea 