feet inside. I recommend a derby style as they HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT SHOE are easy to adjust. Or lace-up shoes with ideally SIZE FOR A BABY? four to five lace holes. They support the foot much better than Velcro straps! At Pom d’Api Ideally, a baby’s first walkers should have our best-selling first walkers, Nioupy, have beena removable insole that you can remove around since 1973. It’s a timeless design and look at how much room is left for your that ticks all the boxes and suits everyone’s style.child’s foot to grow. The big toe or the second toe should be within the limits and HOW DO YOU CORRECTLY MEASURE there should always be between 6mm to 1 A BABY’S FEET? cm of room to grow on a child’s insole. Your child’s toes should never be cramped up To measure a baby’s feet, place their foot against the front of the shoe! Another on a piece of paper and pay special attenonti common mistake: Sticking a finger at to the details. For example, it is important the back of your child’s shoe to see if it fits. to taken into account whether they have a Unfortunately, for babies this technique Greek or Egyptian type foot (Editor’s note: doesn’t work as they have a tendency to A Greek type foot is when the second toe wriggle their feet around too much! is longer than the first one. An Egyptian type foot has a longer big toe, followed by WHEN CAN YOU SWITCH the other toes tapering at a 45 degree angle). FROM HIGH-TOP SHOES TO REGULAR Then measure the length of the foot and WALKERS? divide that number by 0.66 (0.66cmisthe equivalent of one shoe size). Finally, add on Once they are wearing a size 27, in general an additional shoe size to leave some room from around age three to four years old. to grow. And voila! You have your baby’s When babies are still small, they can easily 81 shoe size! sprain their ankles. This is why we recom- mend shoes with ankle support, even in summer. There are great high-top shoes that you can find, which are very light and breezy. WHAT ARE THE BEST MATERIALS FOR BABY SHOES? Babies get sweaty so it’s best to choose natural, breathable materials that stay flexible and supple. Leather really is one of the best materials. But there are also other materials for babies, which have different levels of breathabilityandgoodtaircton. We use these kinds of materials when creating our baby styles as we find they work flawlessly on a smaller scale. At Pom d’Api, we are also working to develop dif- ferent microfibres and vegan products in the spirit of a more ethical production. Thank you Arnaud Bayeux from Pom d’Api for his helpful advice! >> FIND ALL THE LATEST FROM POM D’API ONLINE ediuG gnippohS