by Samantha
The search for adorable shoes that are actually good for your kids’ feet is over! Little Love Bug has stylish and dressy barefoot shoes for little ones, and they’ve been a total lifesaver for our tiny fashionistas.
If you are also trying to outfit your crew in nice shoes that don’t damage developing feet, you need to know about this brand.
Meet Little Love Bug
Leslie Nielson started Little Love Bug in 2017 selling baby moccasins. Once armed with the knowledge of how shoes affect kids’ feet she expanded her store and now offers a variety of chic and affordable foot-friendly shoes for young children.
As the parent of my own little diva, I can’t tell you how nice it is to have shoes we both agree on. Because you might have noticed that it’s hard to find frilly and fun barefoot shoes! But Little Love Bug has styles you just cannot find elsewhere – fancy flats, cowboy boots, chelsea boots with darling details, and stylish sneakers and oxfords. My kiddos love them, and I love that they don’t compromise their foot health.
LLB is located in the Portland, Oregon, but ships worldwide so these lovely shoes can be enjoyed anywhere (however international orders are not eligible for returns). If you’re in the USA, you can enjoy free shipping on orders over $150. And you can use code ANYASREVIEWS for 10% off your first Little Love Bug order!
Little Love Bug Shoes Review
Leather | Sizes US 2-13 (baby to small child) | Ships from USA
Use code ANYASREVIEWS for 10% off your first purchase.
My daughter lives for dressing up and putting on fancy shoes! She has worn Little Love Bug for years now and at 7 years old is about to size out of them, which will be a sad day. Her favorites are the pretty flats and boots, which double for us as Sunday shoes.
My two little boys have worn the low top sneakers and oxfords, and both were hits. Out of all the shoes we own, both boys choose their Little Love Bug shoes a lot. And considering that we are a family of barefoot shoe testers with SO MANY SHOES that is saying something.
We appreciate that the sneakers open up really wide for easy on and off. And thanks to the double velcro straps both boys get a really secure fit despite having different foot types.
Overall, all our LLB shoes have held up quite well for us. Since my kids also wear them for daily activities they do end up with scuffs and some dirt marks but that’s OK because shoes are meant to be worn! We found the sneakers comfy right out of the box, but the flats needed a few wears to break in.
Sizing & Fit
Little Love Bug shoes are offered on a few different outsoles, and it’s important to understand the differences between them. They all are barefoot shoes with a zero drop outsole and wide toe box, but those marked with “Barefoot Sole” have the widest toe box. We like the Barefoot Sole for most kids, but the other sole types work well for kids with slim feet. Learn all about LLB’s different sole options here.
In our experience, the models on the barefoot sole fit as follows:
- True to size – Use this guide to measure your child’s feet
- Average to wide toe box
- High volume (learn what this means here) – low volume feet should opt for styles with velcro closures or plan to wear socks.
- Wide throughout – not good for narrow heels
These shoes are a great fit on my chubby footed toddler, and a little loose on my narrower footed kids.
Little Love Bug shoes have been a closet staple for us for several years. I love having a dressy barefoot shoe option that doubles as an everyday choice.
You can read more about how to find your kiddos the best barefoot shoes for all of their activities in our comprehensive Kids Barefoot Shoe Guide!
Samantha is a writer, researcher, and executive assistant for Anya’s Reviews and stay-at-home mom to 5 littles. In addition to shopping online for footwear for her family, she spends her time homeschooling, reading, weaving, and doing home improvement projects with her husband.
6 thoughts on “Little Love Bug Review – Adorable & Affordable Barefoot Shoes for Little Feet”
We’ve had 4 pairs of LLB shoes now and just loved them! I will say we put our active 3 year old in their adorable closed-toe sandal and they did not hold up. As in they looked like they had been worn all summer after a week, and their warranty was not great. Our Mary janes, boots, and knotted sandals have held up beautifully, so maybe just skip that particular sandal if your kiddo is going to be wearing them all the time!
I want to love LLB but I feel like they aren’t well suited to wide, high volume feet. I have also found the waterproof and minimalist soles a bit slippery (the waterproof ones especially), but I know they are eliminating both of those sole styles and replacing them with the barefoot soles, which have a wider toe box but otherwise appear the same as the minimalist. We did get a pair of the barefoot soles for my kiddo’s next size up, but they still look proportionally narrow compared to his feet and I feel like the vertical toe volume is a bit short. I also wish the insole was removable because that’s how I prefer to check the size of my kiddo’s growing feet. I love that they are leather though, and the neutral styles go with EVERYTHING and can be easily dressed up or dressed down. They are probably the most flexible shoe I have found for toddlers. Right now I am alternating between them and a pair of Watelves (brand found on Amazon) which have a wide toe box and come in a wide width and are the only shoes I have found truly wide enough to accomodate my 2 year old’s feet.
Maybe it’s just my eyes, but the LLB shoes don’t look very foot shaped? The toe boxes look rather tapered on many of their options?
They are relaunching all their styles on a new wider sole, but the older sole is still available in a number of models and sizes. If you shop by sole and then pick Barefoot Soles you’ll see your options. I think the confusing thing is that many of the pictures show the older sole – it looks like she hasn’t updated the product photos after they got updated
I have had the worst experience with this company! And there is absolutely NO way to contact them. The only thing they have is an email that they 100% do not respond to.
We bought three pairs of little love bug shoes for our daughter with two of the sole options and there is no traction on either of them, she slipped and fell so many time in those shoes. The new sole that covers the toe more might be better but I’m still just going to go with another brand.