Kids shoe sizes confuse everyone, and it is not your fault: the scale climbs from toddler sizes up through little kid 13.5, then restarts at 1. So a "size 1" shoe can fit a one-year-old or a fourth grader, and the box will not always tell you which. Once you know the ladder (toddler, then little kid up to 13.5, then big kid 1 to 7, which flows straight into adult sizes), the whole system snaps into focus.
This converter handles the three questions parents actually ask: what a US kids size is in UK, EU, and centimeters; what a youth size is in women's; and what a youth size is in men's. Nothing you type here is stored or transmitted. All calculations run in your browser.
The money tip: youth sizes fit women's feet
Here is the conversion worth driving to the store for: women's size = youth size + 1.5. A youth 4.5 fits like a women's 6, a youth 5.5 like a women's 7, and a youth 7 like a women's 8.5. Many popular sneakers are sold in youth sizes at a noticeably lower price than the identical women's model, so if you wear up to a women's 8.5, the kids wall may have your shoe for less. The one catch: youth models sometimes run a touch narrower, so try them on if your feet are wide.
How to measure a squirmy kid's foot
Age charts and size labels are guesses; the foot is the truth. Have your child stand (standing matters, because a foot spreads under body weight) on a piece of paper against a wall, heel touching the wall. Mark the tip of the longest toe, then measure from the paper's edge to the mark. Do both feet and keep the longer number, measure in the afternoon when feet are at their biggest, and turn it into a game if you have to: one measurement per silly voice. A sliding foot gauge makes this a two-second job if tracing turns into a wrestling match.
The formulas
EU (big kid, youth) ≈ US + 32
Little kid US size = 3 × foot length (in) - 9
Youth foot length (in) = (US size + 22) ÷ 3
Women's = youth + 1.5
Men's = youth size, continued
US is the size printed on the box, UK subtracts half a size across every kids range, and the EU estimate follows the big kid scale (EU kids sizing genuinely varies by brand, so treat EU as approximate). The two foot-length formulas come from the Brannock system: little kid sizes follow US = 3 times the foot length in inches minus 9, and youth sizes on the continuing adult scale follow length = (size + 22) divided by 3. The last two lines are the adult crossovers.
Worked example
Conversion tables
Both tables are computed from the formulas above. Foot length is the length of the foot itself, not the inside of the shoe; a well-fitted shoe is longer than the foot by about a thumb's width.
Toddler and little kid (about ages 1 to 8)
| US kids | UK | EU (approx.) | Foot length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 7.5 | 25 | 5.67 in (14.4 cm) |
| 9 | 8.5 | 26 | 6 in (15.2 cm) |
| 10 | 9.5 | 27 | 6.33 in (16.1 cm) |
| 11 | 10.5 | 28 | 6.67 in (16.9 cm) |
| 12 | 11.5 | 29 | 7 in (17.8 cm) |
| 13 | 12.5 | 30 | 7.33 in (18.6 cm) |
| 13.5 | 13 | 30.5 | 7.5 in (19.1 cm) |
Big kid / youth (about ages 8 to 12), with adult crossovers
| US youth | UK | EU (approx.) | Foot length | Women's | Men's |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.5 | 33 | 7.67 in (19.5 cm) | 2.5 | 1 |
| 2 | 1.5 | 34 | 8 in (20.3 cm) | 3.5 | 2 |
| 3 | 2.5 | 35 | 8.33 in (21.2 cm) | 4.5 | 3 |
| 4 | 3.5 | 36 | 8.67 in (22 cm) | 5.5 | 4 |
| 5 | 4.5 | 37 | 9 in (22.9 cm) | 6.5 | 5 |
| 6 | 5.5 | 38 | 9.33 in (23.7 cm) | 7.5 | 6 |
| 7 | 6.5 | 39 | 9.67 in (24.6 cm) | 8.5 | 7 |
The men's column looks like a copy of the youth column because it is: the scales are continuous. A youth 6.5 leads into a men's 7 as the next half size, and a boy who outgrows youth 7 simply moves to a men's 7.5.
Age guide (approximate, and honestly the weakest method)
Ages and shoe sizes are loosely related at best, so use this table only for gift-buying emergencies. Measuring the foot always wins.
| Range | US sizes | Typical ages |
|---|---|---|
| Toddler | 4 to 7 | 1 to 4 |
| Little kid | 8 to 13.5 | 4 to 8 |
| Big kid (youth) | 1 to 7 | 8 to 12 |
Growth: check fit every couple of months
Kids feet can grow up to half a size every few months, faster in growth spurts, and kids rarely announce that shoes are tight; they curl their toes and carry on. Every couple of months, press the front of the shoe while your child stands and feel for the longest toe. You want about a thumb's width (roughly half an inch, or 1.2 cm) between toe and tip. Less than that, start shopping. Buying two sizes up to "grow into" backfires: a floppy shoe trips kids and wears out wrong.
Converting your own size next? See the shoe size converter for adult US, UK, and EU sizes, or the Converse size chart for a brand that famously runs large.