Taking a Toddler Hiking

[caswana]

Hello Everyone,
It has come to my attention my daughters shoes might or might not be a good choice for hiking. I am aware that if this rain continues I might need to get her boots.
My question is, her shoes are nike, with grips made to act like toes. They don't have much wear to them and they are not water proof but will be sprayed with waterproofer. Will did this growing up. So I do not know of the correct shoes for hiking.
Thank you for any help with this.
Cassie
:fish:

[PrtyMolusk]

Howdy-

I don't think that she'll do any serious harm to her feet if she just uses Nikes or any other department store shoe. At her young age it's not like she's going to pull a 5 mile hike; she's going to walk until she gets tired or bored.

I stick with your plan (waterproofing) if you are going to be in wet, dewey foliage. If going on a day hike after sun up, that may not even be needed and might improve breathability of the shoes.

Until she becomes a serious hiker, that should do the trick.....

[caswana]

Thanks Les. I just want to be sure things are good for the trip and see if this was something I need to put on my to get list. Thank you for your help.

Cassie

[Burksee]

Hi Cassie,

Once again from experience comes a couple of suggestions. We did buy my daughter a little pair of hikers from Wal-mart or Kmart when she was three/four. Always soaked with the Scotch Guard stuff, they were great and gave her the impression of being like dad's hunting boots. What we found was at that age they're so light on there feet that it didn’t matter if she had boots or shoes. Foot support in a pair of tennies was about the same as the boots. She actually did better in the $5.00 tennis shoes than the $12.00 hikers! The best thing we figured out was to take at least two pairs of shoes/boots (or combo of one or more of each) so if she did get'em wet she had something else to wear while the others were drying. Also, pack lotsa extra socks! Have fun!

[Bow Hunter Brandon]

I dont know how old your daughter is but we took our son 18 months old at the time on a 4 day 3 night trip in the up. He had boots but shoes would have worked just as well. He just didnt do that much walking. This year when we go again he will be doing more walking I would think. We will go with boots with waterproofing on them just to atempt to keep his feet dryer. I think its easier to waterproof leather boots then tennis shoes. I also find that set of "water shoes" is really helpful they can double as a second pair of shoes if they need them or if you catch them in time you can put them on before they start walking in the lake :)
Either way though I think you will be just fine. Just keep her feet dry and she will have a blast.