Since 1964, Nike sneakers have been incredibly popular among people of all ages. While the Beaverton-based sportswear company used to make sneakers exclusively for adults, over the past couple of years they’ve started rolling out trainers for children and even babies.
All of the most hyped silhouettes from the Air Jordan 1 all the way to the Dunk are available in toddler sizes, which are basically shrunken down versions of the adult pair. That said, while many parents want to invest a pair of these for their little ones, are they actually good for kids? If this is a question that you’ve wondered before, you’ll find everything that you need to know in this article, so let’s get to it.
Toddler Dunks are essentially a much smaller and more compact version of traditional Dunks. With that said, they have been redesigned from the ground up to accommodate small children aged from 0 to 3.
While they look identical to the adult ones, the leather used is a lot softer to conform with growing feet. They also feature additional padding, and the midsoles are made of highly durable rubber. This offers additional grip and traction to prevent kids from falling over as easily.
While we can’t try these trainers on for ourselves to test whether they’re comfortable, we can honestly say that Nike has always been renowned for its comfort, and the company definitely did not cut any corners with these tiny trainers.
Toddler Dunks are incredibly comfortable and feature a lot of extra padding for younger wearers. But we have found a number of problems that might not be ideal:
It goes without saying that the shape and size of children’s feet can vary massively from child to child. Generally, toddler Dunks tend to only accommodate conventional feet, and not those of kids with larger insteps or wider feet.
If a child has a bigger instep, it simply means that the top part of their foot is much higher. This means that they’ll need sneakers that will specially accommodate for this. Unfortunately, toddler Dunks don’t provide this as an option.
If a child has wider feet, these Dunks will also not be a good choice because there’s no option to purchase wider versions. This will cause the shoes to rub against their foot, which can be extremely uncomfortable in the long run.
Not only should kids shoes account for these issues, but they should also account for differing toe shapes as well. Toddler Dunks have only one shape of toebox. This means that children with wider toes may find that they are uncomfortably squished together. All of these issues can lead to joints becoming misaligned, which may, in turn, restrict growth.
It goes without saying, but kids shoes need to be incredibly supportive. The heel counter needs to be very firm to offer adequate support to the back. However, compared to many other children’s shoes, the one found on these Dunks is very flimsy and can be folded fairly easily.
The ankle support is also too flexible and it doesn’t offer enough support. This means that, over time, your little one may find their feet growing tired very quickly. This could even lead to lasting damage in the long run should they overexert themselves
For the most extensive range of kids and toddler Dunks, we recommend shopping directly at the Nike Site. Alternatively, the following retailers offer a wide range of children’s Dunk options:
Toddler Nike Dunks are very cool to look at, but unfortunately they are largely inadequate when it comes to providing enough support for unconventional feet shapes and sizes. If your child has a high instep or wider feet, we would recommend that you buy a different pair of shoes instead, so that they can be as comfortable and as supported as possible.
