I've noticed a trend with some of my young students coming in wearing Jackson Glaciers, which I understand is a recreational skate. My older kids (eight/nine and up) usually do fine with Galciers, but my younger kids have a terrible time breaking them in. They haven't been complaining that they hurt, but they can't bend their knees! I always check that they're not tied too tight, and I usually end up undoing the top hook, but I've had kids who still don't seem to make any progress breaking them in and getting more bend, even at the end of an eight-week cycle.

I should clarify, it's not our pro shop selling these, it's the local Play-It-Again Sports (so some of them are probably fitted wrong, too ). They are new skates, not used, so they really are stiff. I'm not convinced preschool and kindergarten-age beginners should be using these skates; I think most of them would be much better off in the Softecs, the exception being really overweight kids (who I've seen bending the Softecs). When parents consult me before buying the skates this is what I explain, along with that they should go to our pro shop rather than Play-It-Again, but too often the parents just show up with the skates.

Comments? Suggestions? Do other places sell Glaciers to kids this young and low-level, and have you seen the same problems?

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My daughters first skate was the glacier. She just turned 4.
To be honest, she didnt get the whole knee bend thing till we got her those skates and didnt lace the first hook.After that she GOT the concept.She has great knee bend now.
They didnt have the other ones back then, but I know she had no issues with break in or hurting her feet.She used them for 6 months, till we got a used pair of jackson freestyle.We did get them at Play it again, its all we have in town.
They were size 10, we keep them for her

My daughter got her first skates a few weeks after she had her 4th birthday. They were Risport Stars. Admittedly they are not the same as the Jacksons, but I believe they are a comparable entry-level boot.

I was told that the ankle support was more important especially in young children since their bones are still developing and need all the support they can get. That said however, she didn't have any problems breaking them in.

Even now, she's a about 7 weeks shy of her 5th birthday and she has her 2nd pair of skates which were much harder as they are Riedell Model 32's... took her a little longer to break them in but they weren't uncomfortable and the only real difference was her xo's seemed to take a few weeks to master in them. And she had to have the top hooks undone for a few weeks.

I'm thankful that I did go for these skates last time since she is now working on some little jumps and I'm confident the extra support is worthwhile considering she's so tiny (about 27lbs)

ETA: of course, I'm not a coach and don't know much in the ice skating world, but my daughters coach was extremely impressed by her newest skates and was very impressed with the support - she said if she didn't get those skates she may not have started teaching her jumps until she got another pair. She said she is/was more than capable of learning them but does need to have good ankle support which these provide.

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