Best climbing shoes for very young kids?

I’m looking into getting my daughter (2.5) into climbing as she shows an interest in climbing on boulders and trees outside. Does anyone have experience with the Mad Monkey 2 from Mad Rock? They go all the way down into toddler sizing so that is a plus, but I’m the first of my climbing friends to have kids, so any pointers on getting started shoe-wise would be helpful. Looking to get her on some V0 boulders when the gym is empty or belay her on some beginner top rope routes.

Your daughter doesn’t need climbing shoes the first time she goes to the climbing gym with you, to maybe touch a few holds. She can climb in her regular sneakers. If she has water shoes, those also work great. Climbing in socks is also an option.

I wouldn’t bother buying her climbing shoes, until you see that she really wants to do more than just swing on the rope a bit. My recollection of the Mad Monkeys from back-in-the-day when my kids were little was that they wouldn’t fit someone smaller than ~5yo. But maybe they have expanded the line now. 

agreed you don't need them for a kiddo that young. at that age, my kids climbed everything indoors and outdoors in sneakers.

santa is bringing my oldest her first pair of real climbing shoes and she's about to turn 7.

Thanks! We have water shoes already so we’ll give those a try.

I agree at that age she does not need climbing shoes. As she grows you can find lots of used kids shoes. And by used I mean they usually look almost new. My kids tend to only be interested in a few routes per outing then they want to play and eat snacks. The shoes get only lightly used and then are outgrown.