When our Isabooties arrived in the mail, our one-year-old had been wearing Robeez for a couple of months, mostly while crawling and standing. Over the next couple of months as he transitioned into full-on toddling, we alternated between a pair of Isabooties and a pair of Robeez soft-soled shoes as we compared their wear, design, and function.

Isabooties are made of Ultrasuede breathable fabric that is truly velvety soft. The soles are made of Toughtek, a non-skid, grip fabric. One of their superior design features is that they are machine-washable. It had never occurred to me to throw our son’s leather Robeez in the wash, even after he smashed a cereal bar into the bottoms of them like he was stomping on grapes. But after reading about the Isabooties' washability on their website, I threw both the Robeez and the Isabooties in the washing machine. I dried the Isabooties in the dryer too, but hung the Robeez to dry.

The results? The Isabooties live up to their claim of no wear, no cracking and no fading after both washing and drying. They look the same as the day we bought them. The Robeez, as you might expect from leather, acquired a more worn look from their trip through just the washing machine. They are not damaged in any way that would affect their function, but we suspect multiple washes of each would lead to even more significant differences in appearance.

Another impact of the difference in materials is that Isabooties are very thin, top and bottom. This means more sensitive foot contact with the floor for early walkers, but for outdoor excursions, we found ourselves favoring the thicker Robeez where our son would be walking on cement, stone, playground woodchips, etc. This is not to say that the Isabooties would not have performed under those circumstances, but we felt the Robeez offered a little more protection. (Robeez now offers a "sneaker" sole in its Tredz line as well.)

Lastly, Isabooties’ website boasts that they are the shoe your child will never be able to get off. However, we found that the Isabooties were sized just a bit bigger than the Robeez and at least in the earlier months our son stepped out of them on more than one occasion by stepping on the extra footprint of fabric around the side, but not so often as to be a nuisance. Keep that in mind as you're picking out Isabooties sizes for your little ones.

Overall, we think Isabooties are a great choice in footwear, with the added bonus of being vegetarian- and vegan-friendly. They cost $29 a pair and can be purchased on Isabooties' website. - Sylvia