Skates for Toddlers - Any Tips? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Draug · 12-23-2008, 12:21 AM

Hey folks,

I am going to buy my 3 year old daugther (just 3) some hockey skates so that we can go skating for the first time.

Any tips?

I want to make sure that I get a skate that will not hurt her feet. I speak from experience; sore feet will take the fun out of any activity. Is there somewhere special I can go that will take the time to find a skate that properly fits her foot, or will somewhere like Sport Chek or Canadian Tire do?

Thanks!

4X4 · 12-23-2008, 12:28 AM

Here's a tip: don't let the acne-riddled teenager do the tying when you take junior to Crappy Tire to buy them. Tie them yourself and look at your kids face while doing them up. When I was a kid, some ######ed skate guy practically broke my foot lacing up my skates. Then I was too chicken to say anything to my dad. My foot hurt for a period of time that seemed really long. As you can probably guess, I'm pretty traumatized by it. Damn teenagers.

Dion · 12-23-2008, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4X4

Here's a tip: don't let the acne-riddled teenager do the tying when you take junior to Crappy Tire to buy them. Tie them yourself and look at your kids face while doing them up. When I was a kid, some ######ed skate guy practically broke my foot lacing up my skates. Then I was too chicken to say anything to my dad. My foot hurt for a period of time that seemed really long. As you can probably guess, I'm pretty traumatized by it. Damn teenagers.

My parents always bought skates that were too small. The line i got is give em time brake in. Feet would always hurt so much that avoided skating altogether. As a result i never did learn to skate.

rockstar · 12-23-2008, 01:08 AM

Bob skates!

Twice the blade, twice the fun.

I still use mine.

Locke · 12-23-2008, 01:14 AM

Goddamn kids cant do anything. Cant even skate. WTF are they good for?

rockstar · 12-23-2008, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

Goddamn kids cant do anything. Cant even skate. WTF are they good for?

They're really easy to beat up.

Well, depending on how many there are...

fredr123 · 12-23-2008, 07:47 AM

What's the smallest size anyone has been able to find?

Madman · 12-23-2008, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockstar

Bob skates!

Twice the blade, twice the fun.

I bought bob skates for our 3 year old last year and had terrible results with them. Regular skates are on the list this year.

macker · 12-23-2008, 09:22 AM

Go to Walmart and pick up some up for about $40. We went to Play it again and they were charging close to that for used skates. If the skates don't work you can always take them back with Walmart. I figure I can have both my kids use no name brand skates until they are old enough to call me on it

BTW both my kids use Walmart skates and have never complained about them and have no trouble skating.

pope04 · 12-23-2008, 09:51 AM

My advice? Just make sure you get skates that fit. Don't be chintzy and get skates that they'll "grow" into.

millhouse11 · 12-23-2008, 09:52 AM

sportchek used to do the 'buy it back' plan like they do with skis for kids. You purchase skates for kids and then take them back the following and get 50% back towards a new pair. when the used pairs pile up they just unload them for cheap. Two options there. I'm not sure if they still do this and I don't know how small they carry.

Buff · 12-23-2008, 12:23 PM

I bought my son the adjustable size skates from Canadian Tire. They don't have them on their website, but I saw them there a couple of weeks ago. I bought them last year, and they fit my son pretty good, and this year I adjusted the size and they seem to fit pretty good. If he doesn't grow too fast they'll fit next year too.

Edit: I am blind. Here is a link to that skate: Clicky on me!

Flash · 12-23-2008, 12:35 PM

We bought our son his first pair of skates for his second birthday at Sport Chek. The only advice I have is to make sure they fit properly. We bought them one size biger than his shoe size to make sure his toes weren't squished. He's never complained about them being sore, only if they're tied too tightly. As for sizes, the ones we bought are size 9, but I'm pretty sure Sport Chek had at least a size 7, maybe smaller.

Draug · 12-23-2008, 11:34 PM

Well, I looked at a couple of Sport Cheks. I was impressed with the youth skates they had, but unfortunately they didnt have small enough ones. They had size 11, but I needed size 8.

I'll try some other locations tomorrow.

Berger_4_ · 12-24-2008, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flash

We bought our son his first pair of skates for his second birthday at Sport Chek. The only advice I have is to make sure they fit properly. We bought them one size biger than his shoe size to make sure his toes weren't squished. He's never complained about them being sore, only if they're tied too tightly. As for sizes, the ones we bought are size 9, but I'm pretty sure Sport Chek had at least a size 7, maybe smaller.

Not to be that guy...but skates fit a size and a half smaller (roughly). So really, you should be getting a skate smaller than his shoe size if you want them to fit properly.

Of course, this is for a two year old kid so I doubt it matters...just tossing it out there.

droopydrew19 · 12-24-2008, 01:17 AM

Having gone through this with 3 kids I can recommend to lose the bobskates and get real ones. Also do not buy figure skates (yes they make them that small) The toe picks screw them right up.

I also strongly recommend picking up a skating aide. They are usually red framed with foam on them so the child can hang onto it and learn to push on their edges. We got one when the 3rd kid started and I wish I would have got it sooner. It would have saved my back a lot of pain and anguish having to balance them and pick them up.