Please can anyone tell me what they did about shoes for their children?. My little one is now getting desperate to walk outside and it's both freezing cold and I still have not cracked this issue!  
 
Clarks, who are supposed to maintain good records of what goes into their shoes, are not being very helpful at present. They say none of their shoes can be gauaranteed not to have been glued with latex based glue. They advise buying shoes with PU or EVA synthetic soles but have totally failed to tell me which of their current stock this might be. The website does state rubber for a lot of their soles but just gives 'mixed' for most of the others.  
 
Waiting to hear back from Mothercare...
 
All help gravely appreciated.

Thanks Bob I would really appreciate that.
 
He has been wearing  Shupeas (http://www.shupeas.com/) until now which are mostly leather but do have a little covered elastic on top but it hasn't caused me any issues. They assured me ths elastic was latex free...
 
I don't seem to struggle with shoes myself although I am careful about what I choose. I have reacted to children's shoes in the past though - perhaps they tend to be made from more pliable rubbers?
 
Here is a moderately helpful reply from Startrite:
 
 
" I have spoken to our resourcing team and we are unable to recommend anything from our range which may be suitable as most of our products use latex to make the uppers as well as in the soles.
 I am sorry that I have been unable to help on this occasion, but IFRA on 01295 738726 or ifra11@btinternet.com may be able to recommend alternative suppliers or manufacturers that could offer latex free footwear. "
 
 
And a somewhat more frustrating one from Clarkes
 
"Latex based adhesive is commonly used in our shoe upper construction.  Because this is a commonly used adhesive, Clarks unfortunately cannot guarantee products to be free from this substance.
The general advice with rubber allergies is to select lightweight, unlined footwear with either a PU or TPR sole.
Removing adhesive from any stuck in sock will also help, or use a one piece separately inserted foot bed which does not contain materials bonded together by adhesives.
We don�t have any unlined shoes in our first shoe collection.  So we wouldn�t advise any of our shoes for anyone with a latex allergy.
I appreciate this may not be the news you were hoping for and I'm sorry I cannot give you a more positive response on this occasion."
 
 
Hmm.
 
 

Finally a breakthrough! Our little man is now the proud wearer of his first proper shoes.
 
I have found a really excellent independent childrens shoe shop in Bolton called Little Wanderers. It is run by an extremely helpful person called Claire Hiles who approached her reps for information on our behalf. She also has a degree in textiles so has a particular interest in materials used in the shoes. Below is the information she provided - with usual provisos about double checking current information...
 
 
 
"Here is the information I have for you so far from my suppliers I  
have put links to my products so you can see what I'm on about.
 
Hush Puppies Pre-walkers have a TPR sole and they will confirm the  
glue used in manufacturing later today.
http://www.littlewanderers.co.uk/index.php/hush-puppies.html?gender=6
6&style
=140
 
Pediped Originals have a compressed leather sole with a non-slip  
coating and no latex is used in Pediped production the originals can  
be worn outside even though they have a leather sole. Pediped have  
confirmed that there is no latex used in their production but I will  
go back and ask them to confirm the sole construction of their grip and
go range just to be certain.
http://www.littlewanderers.co.uk/index.php/pediped-shoes.html?gender=
66
 
The whole Ricosta range uses PU and it is injection moulded so there  
is no glue used at all in production. They do not have any  
pre-walkers in their range but our best selling boys shoes is the  
Ricosta Nippy and once your son is up and about the Ricosta range  
would be perfect. It is a light weight 1st shoe so depending on the  
size of your son he may be able to go straight into this range.
http://www.littlewanderers.co.uk/index.php/ricosta.html?gender=66&sty
le=137"
 
 
Hurrah for Little Wanderers!