When it comes to buying footwear for children for school you often have a wide choice as to where you can buy them from and how much you want to spend. Buying the correct footwear is very important for toddlers and children as the foot is a complicated part of the body and wearing ill fitting shoes when they are young can cause them problems when they get older. From a baby the foot is soft and pliable and if the wrong footwear is worn for a long time it can cause damage and lead to problems later in life. Before a child is walking they do not need to wear shoes, but you may wish to buy them pram shoes just to keep their feet warm and to give them something to wear. It is vital that shoes are the correct size and fit. Some shops will only sell shoes in sizes but not widths, this may be ok if your child has narrow feet, but if they have wide feet then you may need to go to a more specialist shop to get the right fitting. Some children benefit from being in firm shoes before they walk and most physiotherapist will advise this.