Kids' Shoe Size Chart: EU–US, Fit Checks & How to Measure

Clothing sizes forgive. A tee that's half a size big still works all season. Shoes don't — half a size wrong and you hear about it by the second recess, or worse, you don't hear about it and find the blister at bath time.

This is the reference page for getting kids' shoe sizes right: the EU-to-US conversion chart, how to measure feet at home with a pencil and paper, the fit checks that take thirty seconds in a hallway, and when a growing foot needs the next size. Bookmark it — you'll be back roughly twice a year until they stop growing.

Kids' shoe size chart: EU to US

Our shoes are listed in US kids' sizing — the T sizes up to 13.5T, then youth sizes from 1 — so if you're holding an EU number, this is the conversion you need, with foot lengths to measure against:

EU size	US size	Foot length (cm)	Foot length (in)
28	11C	17.1	6.7
29	11.5C–12C	17.8	7.0
30	12.5C	18.4	7.2
31	13C–13.5C	19.0	7.5
32	1Y	19.7	7.8
33	2Y	20.3	8.0
34	2.5Y–3Y	21.0	8.3
35	3.5Y	21.6	8.5
36	4Y	22.2	8.7
37	4.5Y–5Y	22.9	9.0
38	5.5Y–6Y	23.5	9.3
39	6.5Y	24.1	9.5
40	7Y	24.8	9.8

Three things to know about reading any conversion chart, including this one. US kids' sizing runs in two tracks — C (child) up to 13C, then Y (youth) restarting at 1 — which is why a 13C foot's next stop is 1Y, not 14. Where a EU size straddles two US half sizes, we list the range. And when a measured foot lands between sizes, take the bigger one: growing feet only move in one direction.

For the shirt-and-pants half of this problem — the 120/130/140 numbers on our clothing labels — the kids' clothing size conversion chart is this page's sibling.

How to measure kids' feet at home

Parents ask how to measure kids feet without a store visit more than almost anything else, and the answer has been the same for a century: shops use a Brannock device, kitchens use paper. The paper works fine if you follow four details:

1. Measure in the evening. Feet swell through an active day — an evening measurement is the honest one. Socks on, the kind they'd wear with the shoes.
2. Stand, don't sit. Weight spreads the foot. Have them stand on the paper against a wall, heel touching the baseboard.
3. Mark the longest toe, not the big toe. On plenty of kids the second toe wins. Draw the line where the foot actually ends.
4. Measure both feet, use the longer one. A half-size difference between feet is common and nobody's told the shoes.

Wall-to-mark distance in centimeters, straight into the chart above. Total time: about ninety seconds, most of it convincing someone to stand still.

The fit checks that actually matter

A number gets you to the right shelf; the fit checks tell you the shoe is right. With the shoe on and laced the way they'd actually wear it:

• The thumb check. Press at the front while they stand — you want a thumb's width (about 1–1.5 cm) between the longest toe and the end. Less means it's already too small; much more means tripping and heel rub.
• The heel hold. Grip the heel of the shoe and have them rise onto tiptoes. The heel should stay seated — sliding up and down now means blisters later.
• The width read. The upper should follow the foot's outline without the pinky pressing a visible bulge into the side, and without the material folding into ridges when they flex.
• The walk-off. Thirty seconds of actual moving — walk, jog, one direction change. Kids' shoes shouldn't need breaking in; a pair that's uncomfortable in the store stays uncomfortable.

One habit worth stealing from coaches: run the thumb check on the first of every month. It's faster than waiting for a complaint, because kids reliably don't complain until the toe is fully against the front.

Shoe size by age (and why it's the weakest guide)

Age charts are the least reliable tool on this page — two healthy eight-year-olds can be three sizes apart — but they're useful for buying ahead or gifting, so here's the honest version:

Age (approx.)	Typical EU range	Typical US range
5–6	28–30	11C–12.5C
7–8	31–33	13C–2Y
9–10	34–36	2.5Y–4Y
11–12	37–38	4.5Y–6Y
13+	39–40	6.5Y–7Y

Treat it as a starting shelf, then measure. When the measurement and the age chart disagree, the measurement is right.

When growing feet need the next size

Rules of thumb that have held up across a lot of feet:

• Under about 6: feet commonly grow a size or more per year — check every two to three months.
• School age: roughly a size a year, arriving in bursts rather than on schedule — check quarterly, and after any growth spurt you noticed in the pants first.
• Move up when the thumb gap is gone, the toe area shows a bulge or wear spot, or the kid quietly stops wanting to run in a pair they used to live in. That last one is the most reliable signal nobody talks about.

Buying a full size up "to grow into" is tempting economics and bad mechanics — a shoe that's too long bends in the wrong place and slides at the heel. Half a size of room is growing space; a full size is a different shoe.

Socks, insoles and other wildcards

A few real-world factors move the numbers on any chart:

• Sock thickness. Winter sport socks can eat close to half a size. If the shoes are for cold-season use — rink mornings, muddy Novembers — measure and try on wearing the thick socks, not the ankle ones from the summer drawer.
• Insoles and orthotics. Anything added inside the shoe raises the foot and shortens the effective length. Bring the insole to the fitting; sizing around it afterwards rarely ends well.
• Wide feet. Length charts say nothing about width. If a correctly-sized shoe still bulges at the pinky or leaves lace marks on the top of the foot, the answer is a roomier cut, not a longer shoe — going up a size for width just adds tripping length.
• Afternoon feet. Feet measured at 8 a.m. run smaller than the same feet at 5 p.m. If you must measure in the morning, mentally add a couple of millimeters.

The hand-me-down question

Between siblings, shoes are the trickiest hand-me-down. A footbed molds to its first owner within a few months of hard wear, and heels wear down at that kid's particular angle — so a well-loved pair passes its quirks to the next foot along with the savings. The workable rule: pass down lightly-worn pairs freely, retire anything with a visibly compressed footbed, a worn-round heel edge, or an upper that leans. Sizing still applies — a hand-me-down that skips the measuring step is how the too-small pair sneaks into rotation unnoticed.

Matching the size to the right pair

Size is half the decision. The other half — what the shoe is for, how it closes, what the outsole grips — is covered in our guide to choosing kids' shoes for active feet, and if it's a running pair you're after, the running shoes edit breaks down our lineup by how kids actually use them. Across our range, the sizing intent is simple: true to size — measure once, pick the usual number, and the thumb check should land.

Fast answers

Measure in the evening, convert on this page, thumb-check on the first of the month. That's the whole system — and it's cheaper than guessing.