As a “pre-walker”, our daughter never wore shoes. She was always barefoot or in socks or footed clothing. But then she began to crawl, and then pulling herself up to stand. She was on the road to walking, and her feet needed to be protected and safe from dangers such as slipping, stepping on hot concrete when outside, or stepping on something sharp.

I wanted to do some research to see what type of shoe would be best for her. My daughter’s pediatrician recommended we start her off in a soft, flexible shoe. Her pediatrician explained that either walking barefoot or in a flexible shoe was best for when my little one takes her first steps, because both allow the foot muscles to develop and strengthen properly. A flexible shoe helps mimic the natural flexibility of the foot, which is important for the normal development of the arch of the foot.

With that in mind we got a pair of the Zutano Cozie Baby Gripper Booties. These soft, flexible, booties feel like fleece and are warm and cozy and great for cold weather. They are smartly designed– the booties snap securely around the foot right at the ankle. This design impressively keeps the booties snugly on my daughter’s feet. The snaps also adjust so our little one can grow into the booties. Our daughter is eleven months and we got the 18-month sized booties so she could grow into them. They fit her nicely now, especially when paired with socks, with plenty of room for her to grow into the booties for a while.

The grippers on the bottom are perfect for newly walking babies and also to prevent falls on slippery floors. The booties do tend to get dirty quickly as they collect a bit of dust with all the crawling and walking over our tile floors, but they are super easy to clean we just toss them in the washer and dryer and they come out looking brand new again.

The Zutano gripper booties come in a wide range of sizes, colors, patterns, and fabrics, and I feel they are reasonably priced (ranging from $18-$24) as they are nicely made and I expect my daughter will get a lot of use out of them before outgrowing them. Zutano also offers a stylish line of clothing, toys, accessories and they even do monogramming! I loved reading about the company on their website, especially their very progressive employment benefits such as a “bring your baby to work” program, reimbursement for childcare, and scheduling flexibility. I’m happy to support a company that values their employees (and their families) and helps them attain a work-life balance!

You can find the Zutano Gripper Booties on Amazon for around $22.