Sustainable children’s shoes
It is particularly important to ensure children wear healthy footwear, especially between the ages of one and five. This is the period when children’s feet develop: the muscles build up, the arch of the foot forms, the sense of balance develops, and much more! For this reason, we recommend barefoot shoes not only for learning to walk, but also for the years that follow. Our barefoot shoes are made from natural materials and, like the adult barefoot shoes, are handcrafted in a family-run shoe workshop in Portugal.
Sustainable children’s shoes – find out more now
What makes Doghammer’s sustainable children’s shoes stand out?
For our sustainable children’s shoes for girls and boys, we use natural materials such as cork, wool and natural rubber. We firmly believe that children’s feet don’t belong in ‘plastic shoes’! These natural materials not only provide a comfortable foot environment, but are also significantly softer and more flexible than synthetic shoe materials. Don’t we all love dressing our children in merino bodysuits or woollen jumpsuits? With our sustainable children’s shoes, you now have the chance to dress your child entirely in natural materials. As well as sustainable shoes for children, you’ll also find sustainable first-step shoes in our range, made from 90 per cent natural materials!
Where are the sustainable children’s shoes made?
Like all Doghammer shoes, our sustainable children’s shoes are also made in our family-run shoe factory in Portugal. Through our regular visits to the site, we have built up a friendly relationship with the factory’s staff over the years. We know our suppliers well and select them very carefully. For example, we ensure that we work exclusively with suppliers from Europe, and preferably from Portugal. Thanks to this careful selection, we can avoid long transport routes and unnecessary CO₂ emissions in the production of our barefoot children’s shoes.
What should I look out for when buying sustainable children’s shoes?
When buying sustainable children’s shoes, there are a few things you should bear in mind:
- A good, wider fit: In the early years, children’s feet go through several stages of development. It is therefore particularly important that children’s feet are able to develop healthily and naturally. This is only possible if the feet have enough space in the toe box whilst still having a secure fit at the heel! This contrast between a wide forefoot and a very narrow heel is particularly noticeable in children.
- A flexible sole: The muscles in children’s feet are still developing, so don’t wrap them in ‘cotton wool’ (by which we mean lots of cushioning and a hard sole), but make sure they can build up healthy foot muscles.
- Soft materials: It’s no use if a sustainable child’s shoe has a good fit but the materials are completely stiff and bulky! That’s why we recommend looking out for soft materials when buying children’s shoes.
- Don’t buy them too small: Children’s feet can grow by up to three shoe sizes in a year! So never buy sustainable children’s shoes that are too small. Especially with children’s shoes, it makes sense to leave a thumb’s width of space at the front.
Are sustainable children’s shoes prone to getting dirty?
The designers behind the sustainable Doghammer children’s shoes have children of their own and know exactly how quickly a child can end up running through a puddle, the sandpit or a muddy field. That’s why we use natural materials like wool and leather for our sustainable children’s shoes. Now you might think that wool is particularly prone to getting dirty – but you’d be wrong! For our sustainable children’s shoes, we use only undyed sheep’s wool from Germany or Portugal. The undyed sheep’s wool still contains lanolin (wool grease), which forms a protective film around the wool fibres and thus prevents dirt from sticking! Incidentally, this protective film is also highly effective at repelling moisture, making our sustainable children’s shoes strongly water-repellent. Click here to view our first-step shoes.