Children’s Foot Size by Age: How Often Should You Measure Your Child’s Feet?

Children grow quickly—and every child grows at a different pace—so there’s no single children’s foot size by age chart that perfectly matches foot size to age. While age can provide a rough guide, the best way to find the correct shoe size is to measure your child’s feet regularly.

Whether you're buying school shoes, trainers, sandals, slippers or barefoot shoes, regular measurements help ensure the best fit and support healthy foot development.

How Often Should You Measure Your Child’s Feet?

Children’s feet can grow surprisingly quickly, especially during the early years. We recommend checking your child’s foot size at the following intervals:

• Toddlers: every month

• Preschool children: every 2 months

• Younger school-age children: every 3 months

• Older school-age children: every 4–5 months

• Teenagers: every 6 months

It’s also a good idea to remeasure your child’s feet before the start of a new season—for example, before buying school slippers for a new term or taking sandals out after winter.

Don’t rely on guessing by eye or simply buying one size larger. A child’s feet may have grown by more than one shoe size since the previous season—or they may not have grown much at all. Measuring their feet is the only reliable way to choose the correct shoe size.

How to Tell When Children’s Shoes Are Too Small

Looks can be deceiving. Simply pressing on the toe area from the outside or placing a finger behind the heel won’t reliably tell you whether a child’s shoes are too small, as children may curl their toes. Asking children themselves isn’t always reliable either, since younger children often can’t tell whether their shoes fit properly.

A better way to check the fit is to remove the insole (if it is removable) and have the child stand barefoot on it. This allows you to see how much space there is in front of the toes. Even this method has limitations, as the height and shape of the toe box can vary between shoes.

The most reliable way to determine whether it’s time for a new pair is to compare your child’s foot measurements with the shoe’s internal length.

Regularly measuring your child’s feet and checking the internal length of their shoes helps ensure a comfortable fit, supports healthy foot development, and reduces the risk of discomfort caused by shoes that are too small.