Kids Shoe Size Chart by Age: Toddler, Little Kid, Big Kid

Kids shoe size chart by age

This is the complete kids shoe size chart from Nike's published kids' footwear chart, which covers babies, toddlers, little kids and big kids in one continuous scale. Use the foot length column first and the age column only as a rough guide.

Where the ages come from. Up to 7C, the ages are Nike's own (its chart prints an age in months under each baby and toddler size). Nike gives no ages above that, so from 8C up the age is where the average foot length for that age lands in a 2024 study that measured 3,490 children aged 3 to 18 in Beijing. Averages hide a wide spread, the study's youngest groups were small (16 to 37 children per age at ages 3 to 5), and children elsewhere may differ, so read "about 7" as "a typical 7 year old", not "every 7 year old".

Two notes on reading Nike's chart. Its CM/JP row is a Japanese shoe size, not your child's foot length, so don't use it as a measurement. And on the Little Kids chart, the metric foot lengths for 8C to 13.5C simply repeat that CM/JP row (it lists 8C as 14 cm, while the baby chart and the inch figures both put 8C at about 15 cm). In the table above, those sizes use the baby chart or Nike's inch figures converted to cm.

What shoe size does my child wear at each age?

If you'd like the age first, this table shows the average foot length for boys and girls at each age in the 2024 study, and the size on Nike's chart that fits that average foot.

A few patterns stand out:

• Boys and girls are within half a size of each other up to about age 9. After that, boys' feet pull ahead.
• The average 12 year old boy in the study is already at Nike's biggest kids size (7Y), and by 13 he's into adult sizes.
• The average girl's foot in the study barely changed after 12 (23.1 to 23.5 cm up to age 18), which on Nike's chart is a 5Y to 5.5Y, the same as a US women's 6.5 to 7.

For babies and toddlers, Nike's own ages are the simplest guide: about 2C at 6 months, 4C at 12 months, 5C at 18 months, 6C at 2 years and 7C at 3 years. Stride Rite's chart gives similar ages: size 2 for 3 to 6 months, 3 for 6 to 9 months and 4 for 9 to 12 months. Stride Rite doesn't publish an average size by age, saying simply that "All children grow at different rates".

How do kids shoe sizes work?

US kids' sizes are one numbered scale that starts at 1 for a tiny baby foot, climbs to 13.5, then starts again at 1 for the big kid range and runs to 7. The letter after the number tells you which half of the scale you're in:

• C marks the first half (1C to 13.5C) on Nike's chart: babies, toddlers and little kids.
• Y marks the second half (1Y to 7Y): big kid sizes, which many shops also call youth sizes.
• T stands for toddler. You'll see it on some toddler shoe listings, and it's also the toddler clothing size system (4T, 5T), which is a different thing: a 4T T-shirt doesn't tell you anything about shoe size. Our toddler size chart covers the clothing side.
• K usually just marks a kids' size (13K is a kids' 13). There's no single standard for these letters, so treat them as labels and check the foot length on the brand's chart.

So a "C5" or "5C" is a baby size 5, about 18 months on Nike's chart. A 13C is a little kid 13, for a foot of about 19.2 cm. A 1Y is the first big kid size, and a 4Y (big kid 4) fits a foot of about 22.4 cm, the same as a men's 4 or a women's 5.5.

Baby, toddler, little kid and big kid ranges by brand

The brands draw the lines between age groups in different places, which is why "is 11 a little kid size?" has more than one answer:

Nike's ranges overlap on purpose: 8C to 10C appear on both its baby and toddler chart and its little kids chart, and 1Y to 3Y appear on both the little kids and big kids charts. The size itself is the same either way. Nike's site menu also groups the ranges by age: Baby and Toddler 0 to 3 years, Little Kids 3 to 7 years, Big Kids 7 to 12 years.

So yes, 11 and 13 are little kid sizes at Nike and Clarks (Stride Rite files them under big kids), and a 7 is either a toddler 7C (about 3 years) or a big kid 7Y (about 12), which is exactly why the letter matters.

When do kids go from toddler to little kid to big kid shoes?

Going by Nike's age groups, children move from baby and toddler sizes to little kid sizes at about 3 years and on to big kid sizes at about 7 years. In practice, the switch happens when the foot outgrows the last size in the range, not on a birthday:

• Toddler to little kid: after 10C (a 16.7 cm foot) at Nike. In the study, that's around age 5.
• Little kid to big kid: after 13.5C (a 19.7 cm foot) comes 1Y (20.1 cm). In the study, that's around age 8.
• Big kid to adult: after 7Y (a 24.6 cm foot). The average boy in the study got there at about 12 to 13; the average girl's foot stayed within big kid sizes.

What size comes after 13.5 in kids shoes?

1Y. The kids' scale doesn't go to 14: Nike, Stride Rite and Clarks all go from 13.5 straight to a big kid 1, which is the next size up in length (Nike: 13.5C fits a 19.7 cm foot, 1Y a 20.1 cm foot). If someone asks "what shoe size comes after kids 13?", the answer is 13.5, then 1Y.

What size comes after 7Y, and what's the biggest kids shoe size?

On Nike's and Stride Rite's charts, 7Y is the biggest kids' size. Nike lists a 7Y as a US men's 7 or a US women's 8.5, so the next size up is an adult men's 7.5 or women's 9.

Not every brand stops there. Clarks' kids and babies chart on its European site runs all the way up to UK 10 (EU 44½, for a 27.8 cm foot), so if your child has big feet, a brand with a longer kids' range can keep them in kids' styles for longer.

Big kid shoe sizes to men's and women's sizes

Because big kid sizes overlap with small adult sizes, teens and adults with smaller feet can often wear big kid shoes, and parents of tall kids often need adult ones. On Nike's chart, the conversion is simple: men's = the same number, women's = the number plus 1.5.

So a big kid 7 is not the same as a women's 7: it's a women's 8.5. Adult models can be cut differently from the kids' version, so check the Nike shoe size chart or our guides to men's shoe sizes and women's shoe sizes before you switch. For converting between adult men's and women's sizes, see women's to men's shoe size conversion.

Kids shoe size by foot length in cm and inches

If you've measured your child's foot, this is the quickest table to use. It shows the size whose chart foot length is equal to or just above your measurement, in three brands, because Nike and Stride Rite both say to go up a size when a child is between sizes.

For example, a 16.5 cm foot is a US 10C at Nike and a size 10 at Stride Rite, which is a UK 9.5 at Nike but a UK 10 at Clarks. Half a size between brands is normal, which is why the foot length matters more than the size number. The finder at the top of this page does the same lookup for any measurement.

Kids shoe size chart UK and EU

On Nike's chart, a kids' UK size is half a size below the US number right through the range (US 10C = UK 9.5, US 1Y = UK 13.5, US 4Y = UK 3.5), with 6.5Y and 7Y both listed as UK 6. Clarks' US fit guide shows the same half size gap. Stride Rite's help page says UK baby sizes are a full size smaller than US, which doesn't match either chart; it's one more reason to go by length.

UK kids' sizes climb to 13.5, then restart at 1, the same shape as the US scale. Some UK shops label the larger sizes from 1 upward as junior sizes; they're the same UK scale.

EU kids' sizes are a single number that rises with foot length, and they vary a little by brand. Here's what each EU size is on Nike's and Clarks' charts:

So a kids EU 24 is about a US 7.5 (Clarks UK 7, between Nike's 7C and 8C), an EU 25 is a US 8C, an EU 28 is a US 11C, an EU 30 is a US 12.5C and an EU 32 is a US 1Y. For adult conversions, see our US to UK shoe size conversion and US to EU shoe size conversion, or the shoe size converter.

How to measure your child's feet

1. Have your child stand, wearing the socks they'll wear with the shoes. Small children can hold your hand.
2. Put a sheet of paper against a wall and stand your child on it with their heel touching the wall.
3. Mark the tip of the longest toe. It isn't always the big toe.
4. Measure from the wall to the mark in centimetres or inches.
5. Do both feet and use the longer one. The American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) says to "always buy with the larger foot in mind".
6. Match the length to the chart's foot length column, then check the toe room in the actual shoe.

Our step-by-step guides cover measuring children's feet for shoes and measuring a baby's foot, and for older kids, how to measure foot length and width.

How much room should kids' shoes have?

Every source agrees on the principle, room in front of the longest toe, but they express it differently:

To check, press gently at the front of the shoe while your child stands. If the toes are at the end, the shoes are too small. The AAP is blunt about it: it's "better to have no shoes at all than shoes that are too tight."

How fast do kids' feet grow?

Fast in the early years, then more slowly. Clarks says children's feet "can grow as much as two whole shoe sizes each year" in the first three to four years, then about one whole size a year. Stride Rite gives a more detailed schedule:

According to Clarks, feet have stopped growing for most girls by about 14 and most boys by about 16, which matches the study above, where girls' average foot length levelled off in the early teens.

How often should you check their shoe size?

The advice varies, so check more often the younger your child is:

• AAP: a toddler's first pair "won't last more than 2 or 3 months"; check the fit about once a month.
• Stride Rite: measure every two months.
• Royal College of Podiatry: check that shoes still fit "every eight weeks or so".
• Clarks: measure every 6 to 8 weeks for toddlers and every 3 months for older children.
• APMA: check sizing every 4 to 6 months.

Kids' shoe widths

Length isn't the whole story. Some kids' shoes come in widths, and Stride Rite publishes a foot circumference for its medium (M), wide (W) and extra wide (XW) fittings:

To use it, wrap a soft tape around the widest part of your child's foot while they stand. If a medium feels tight across the top or leaves red marks, a wide fitting in the same length is a better fix than sizing up, which only adds length. Our guide to N, M, W and XW shoe widths explains the width letters.

First shoes, barefoot time and hand-me-downs

First shoes. The health guidance is consistent: babies don't need shoes before they walk. The AAP says babies' feet "develop best if they're not confined in shoes", the APMA says "barefoot is best", and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust advises that children "should not wear shoes at all until they can walk, so avoid pram shoes". The same NHS page notes that many children take their first steps between 10 and 18 months, and that walking barefoot, where it's safe, is good for feet. Shoes are for protection outdoors once they're walking.

Hand-me-down shoes. The Royal College of Podiatry generally advises against preloved shoes "as shoes shape to the feet", Oxford Health NHS says to try to avoid second-hand shoes, and Stride Rite strongly discourages used shoes. So for shoes, the advice is to buy new where you can.

Mistakes to avoid when buying kids' shoes

• Buying by age alone. The age column is an average. Measure.
• Assuming the size number means the same thing in every brand. A 16.5 cm foot is a UK 9.5 at Nike and a UK 10 at Clarks.
• Reading Nike's CM/JP row as foot length. It's a Japanese size; use the foot length row.
• Confusing 7C and 7Y. One is a toddler size (about 3 years), the other a big kid size that equals an adult women's 8.5.
• Measuring only one foot. Use the longer one.
• Leaving it too long between checks. Stride Rite says babies under 15 months can grow half a size in two months.

Selling kids' shoes online?

Kids' shoe sizing is confusing for parents, and that confusion turns into returns. If you sell on Shopify, our app adds a size chart to each product, so parents can check foot lengths against your brand's sizes before they buy. Our guide to size chart best practices for kids' stores covers what to include, and the kids clothing size chart helps with the clothing side of the store.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and standards

1. Nike: Kids' footwear size chartUS, UK, EU, foot length and age in months for baby sizes, and men's and women's equivalents for big kid sizes.
2. Stride Rite: Sizing helpUS size, foot length in cm and foot circumference for M, W and XW widths, with ages for baby sizes.
3. Stride Rite: Kids' foot factsGrowth rates by age, how often to measure and advice on used shoes.
4. Clarks: Fit guide (Germany)Kids and babies chart: Clarks EU, UK and foot length in mm.
5. Clarks: Kids FAQ (US)Size ranges for toddler, little kid and big kid, and how fast feet grow.
6. Clarks: Check the fit (UK)Toe room guidance.
7. Clarks: Measure and fit guide (UK)How often to measure toddlers and older children.
8. American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org: Shoes for active toddlersFirst shoes, toe room and how often to check the fit.
9. American Podiatric Medical Association: Buying children's footwearBarefoot advice, toe room and how often to check sizing.
10. Royal College of Podiatry: Back to schoolToe room, how often to check fit and advice on preloved shoes.
11. Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust: Children's foot healthShoes before walking, barefoot walking and second-hand shoes.
12. Wu, Zhang et al. (2024), Frontiers in Public HealthFoot length by age and sex for 3,490 children aged 3 to 18 in Beijing; used for the average foot length table.