Attach return addresses to your baby's shoes

I always feel a tinge of maternal protectiveness when I see a lost baby shoe (or a lost mitten). I can't help but think about the kid somewhere with one cold foot or hand. Rachele's clever hack gives those lost shoes a way to get back home:

After losing a ton of baby socks, I found they stay on my little ones better if I put shoes on them, too. The only problem is that then they will occasionally wiggle out of a shoe! When my first son was little, I was worried that I would lose a shoe somewhere, so I dug some return address labels out of a drawer, stuck them on the soles, and covered with clear packing tape. I did the same with my new baby's shoes. Last week, I got home to find that we had dropped a shoe while at the store, but this afternoon, it showed up in my mailbox!

I've mentioned this before, but Robeez were always my favorite shoes for keeping socks on my babies' feet. Bonus: they up the cuteness factor by at least 5. Amazon's got a bunch of adorable Robeez leather shoes on sale, many for 50% off.

Related: Baby powder helps Robeez shoes slide on more easily

Comments

[haddock]

Glad you got your shoe back. I think this is an extremely foolish idea. I don't want total strangers knowing where I live and that I have a small child. There are too many creeps out there and shoes just aren't worth it.

[Matt]

I have to agree with haddock. In an age where we are getting less personalized items for our kids (sweatshirts, backpacks, t-shirts) it seems foolish to put that much information on an infant's clothing. I wish it wasn't something we, as parents, had to worry about, but, unfortunately, it is.

[Heather]

I disagree.

If you have a carseat in your car & park in your driveway then strangers know you have a small child that lives at your home.

If you have a swingset in your backyard, strangers know you have kids.

I think this is a great hack & will be using it!

[Zed]

I also think this is a great hack.

The reason items of clothing are less personalized these days is so that a stranger can't convince your kid that he knows him or her by talking to the child on a familiar level, using a first name. This isn't an issue with babies.

As far as the address label goes, there's as much info listed in a phone book, and about 1 in 3 of those listings has a minor in the home. Why would an infant shoe be of any interest to a "bad guy"?

[Zed]

I picture the bad buy picking up the shoe, letting out a wicked cackle, and saying "FINALLY!! The address of someone with a child!"

I'm not trying to make light of the fact that a terrible number of children are assaulted in this world. I'm just saying..... seriously. A shoe with an address?

[Fabian]

Heather
Okay, a carseat in your car and swingset in your house are givens. But to compare it to a shoe with your address that is lost out there away from your house? I'm sorry, but realize the world we live in, it sucks but there are serious crazy people out there. Its just to much unneeded info to give away by doing that.
Zed, still the same reason, a baby shoe I think it just helps a bad guy zero in. Where a random phonebook or a random carseat are hit and miss, an address on a baby shoe is a direct hit.
There are really horrible people out there, why add to their ability to get to your kid. The shoes are just not worth it.
I applaud the idea, but it wont work where I live.

[Rockabye Baby!]

Who knew this would be such a controversial issue? lol

[Fabian]

I guess it has a lot to do with where you are live and the environment there. Maybe in nice friendly towns this would be an option. For me, I just have heard enough news stories about absolutely horrible acts committed against kids/babies. Its just to much a risk factor to open yet another avenue of opportunity for s a nut to get to my kids. Of course a P.O. box address may be just the ticket here ...