Best Waterproof Booties for Babies (includes experiments!)

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Waterproof footwear for pre-walkers: there aren’t many options out there! What should you put on your baby’s feet in the winter in the baby carrier? How about if they want to crawl or cruise outside when it is wet? In this post I’m going to be reviewing the various baby winter footwear options that we own. This is based on my own experience over several outdoorsy babies, and also some garden experiments we did for some extra data.

• Summary: Best Waterproof Baby Booties
  • Stonz Baby Booties
  • Reima Antura
  • Playshoes Fleece Lined Footies
  • Baby Bogs
• How waterproof? An experiment
• Thoughts on sizing
• What to wear under waterproof booties

Summary: Best Waterproof Baby Booties

TOP PICK: Stonz Baby Booties These are my personal favourites. They are robust and long-lasting (my pair are onto their third baby), and they stay on better than any other booties I know. Some people will tell you that they don’t fall off. This is not true, as my children can personally attest BUT it takes them at least ten minutes crawling in woodland to get one of these booties off. They are not particularly insulated in themselves, but you can buy Stonz liners. I just use some very thick wool socks from H&M, or lambskin booties. Positives Robust and durable Best booties for staying on Space inside for warm under-layer Downsides Very expensive in the UK (consider Ebay) Water repellant but not waterproof Not very warm themselves (but space to layer up) View at Happy Little Soles
Reima Antura Booties These booties are relatively new to us. They are the most insulated I have come across (Primaloft, no less), and I think these would be a great choice for primarily snowy or cold and dry conditions. The material is water repellant but they are definitely not waterproof to the extent of sitting in a puddle, as there is an eyelet hole for the drawcord. After some experimentation, they seem to work better under the snowsuit leg cuff. Positives Warm and cosy (Primaloft insulation) Cinch onto foot well Downsides Water repellant but not waterproof Less secure than the Stonz booties View at Reima
Playshoes Waterproof Footies with Fleece Lining I am in a quandary about how to review these booties. One of the soles broke open on the third wear, when I was gently tugging it off (it appears to be only glued, not sewn or taped). On the other hand, the remaining bootie was the only design which proved to be entirely waterproof in my experiments (see below). I would love to love this bootie, but I think it could do with some design improvements. Positives The only completely waterproof bootie in my experiment. Least expensive option Good bright colour options (you will appreciate this when retracing your steps on walk to find the dropped one) Downsides Quite thin fabric (think PUL dungaree material) Key seam broke apart on the third wear, and the construction seems poor. View on Amazon
Baby Bogs These are actual boots rather than baby booties, but hear me out. Booties are a very short lived item for most children, so it might make sense to pick an item which they will be able to use for longer. Baby Bogs are a great choice for a first pair of winter boots, being lightweight and in a barefoot style with a flat and flexible sole. If your baby is on the older end, a UK3/US4 pair of Bogs could be a good choice for keeping feet warm and dry in the carrier or when cruising outside, and they can grow into them for day to day wear as they learn to walk. Positives Nice and warm Good longevity (baby’s first winter boots) Waterproof up to the ankle (there is a hole below the velcro strap) Fun bright colours Downsides Hard sole Stay on reasonably well with thick socks, but not as well as Stonz. The foot straps at the bottom of your child’s snowsuit will help in a back carrier. View on Amazon

How waterproof? An experiment

To be fair to the manufacturers, neither Stonz nor Reima claim that their booties are waterproof. But still, I would like them to be waterproof! So I thought I would test them out. All three sets of booties (Stonz, Reima and Playshoes) were weighted and dipped in icy water for ten minutes. The results were as follows:

• The Playshoes bootie was completely dry inside. I turned the whole lining inside out and felt it, and it was bone dry. This was extraordinary to me because the other bootie in the pair broke apart at the seam, which turned out to be only glued together. But that glue holds up against water!
• The Stonz booties were wet on the inside, but not crazily so, because they only have a fleece liner which doesn’t absorb much water. This ties in with my real-world experience. Baby’s feet generally stay dry, unless they literally sit in a puddle, in which case they will get soggy, but normally only patches.
• The Reima Antura booties were absolutely sodden. Reima does specifically say in their product description: “Waterproof material, no insert – product is not waterproof“. I was pretty confident these would leak badly because of the design. The drawcord for the ankle comes out through an eyelet hole! In contrast, the Stonz bungee cord attaches at the exterior-heel and runs around the outside of the bootie. I now realise that this is so that there are no holes in the Stonz bootie fabric. Of course, this is not so much of an issue if you are planning to use the booties in a carrier rather than for sitting in puddles.

Thoughts on sizing

I find sizing baby booties really hard. You get an exterior bootie measurement from a size chart in centimetres, and then you (attempt to) measure your wriggling baby’s foot, and then you think…well how many centimetres should I allow for socks?! And how much for the bootie itself? In case it helps, I’ve measured all of ours:

• The Reima Antura Booties are 12cm long externally in a size 0-12 months. The interior sole is a similar length, but they are pretty padded and slim build, so you wouldn’t get many layers of socks/booties inside them.
• The Playshoes Waterproof Booties are pretty shapeless, so hard to measure definitively. From an imaginary heel to toe, they are approximately 17cm long in a size Small. The separate internal lining also stretches that far. They are longer than a UK3 Baby Bog boot, and there is loads of room inside for insulating layers.
• The Stonz Booties are 13.5cm external sole length in a size Medium. Honestly, because of the wide construction (the sides pretty much go straight up!) this has felt too large on my babies, and I wish I had bought a Small.
• Baby Bogs are 15cm external sole length in a size UK3/US4. For my children (generally fairly small footed) I would say these can usefully be worn from about 12 months onwards. If their feet are too small, the boots just fall off, as there’s a limit to how small you can tighten the ankle.

What to wear under waterproof booties

In autumnal weather, your baby may be fine with just normal socks on under the booties. I often use a thick wool-blend sock. H&M sell some thick ones online called ‘wool-blend socks’ at a very reasonable price. They are 64% wool, and nice and warm. I wash them on Delicates 30 and they do tend to felt a bit over time, but if anything it makes them warmer.

I also have lambskin booties from Heitman Felle which my babies use as slippers and in the pushchair. These are very cosy, but a bit chunkier/more structured than socks. For very cold weather, they fit well under the Stonz and Playshoes booties.

Do you have a favourite brand or style of waterproof bootie for babies? Let me know in the comments section below!