Stinky shoes problem

[Marisa's Mom]

What does your LO wear on those hot days?  Shoes with no socks? How do you keep the shoes from stinking?

My DD tends to run hot, with sweaty feet. So with the recent warm weather, I've been letting her wear her sandals barefooted, no socks. If she has socks on, she'll let me know that she wants them off. And I know her feet are hot cuz I have to peel off her damp socks which are stuck to her feet. Anyways ... what do you do about that smelly shoe syndrome from wearing shoes with no socks?  Sigh... I've got some smelly shoes and I don't know what to do about it. Fortunately her sandals are "water" sandals, so I use some soap & water to try to "freshen" them up. What do you do about non-washable shoes?

[Erin M]

I don't put shoes on Katie's feet unless she's actively walking around somewhere like the playground, store, etc.  She never wears shoes at home, in the car, in the stroller, or even just around our front/back yard.  I guess that by wearing them so little, they don't get very stinky.  I think I would probably stay with open sandals or washable ones if it's still hot where you are.

[aisling]

I read in Martha Stewart's magazine or website, that if you put the shoes in a ziplock bag and freeze them overnight, the freezing process kills the yuccky bacteria responsible for the smell.  Never tried it, but was considering it for DH's shoes!  Let me know if you try.

Aisling x

[Marisa's Mom]

It's too bad DD runs hot. I always wonder whether it's just her, or whether most kids "run hot".  I'm just glad her current open sandals are washable. I can't imagine letting her run around outside with bare feet. I think it's partly from my memory (funny how we remember certain things from our childhood) of when I was a kid and insisted that I walk outside  without shoes on. So my mom let me that time, and I ended up stepping into someone's spit that was on the sidewalk. Eeeewww! That was gross. I don't think I ran around barefoot outside again since then.

Aisling: I hadn't heard that about freezing shoes. Hmmm... I might  want to try it with DH's shoes also, LOL, but I don't think I'd find any room in there. We have a lot of stuff in our freezer, in fact, our "overflow" stuff goes into my mom's freezer. Good thing she doesn't really use hers. DD's shoes are small enough to fit, so I'll have to give that a try sometime when I know she won't be needing her shoes for a while.