A shoe for use in training an infant to walk. The shoe includes an upper sized to receive an infant's foot and a sole that is attached to the upper. The sole extends a distance D.sub.1 beyond a front side of the upper adjacent to the toes of the infant's foot, with the distance D.sub.1 being from about 10% to about 30% of the length L of the infant's foot measured from heel to toe. Preferably, the sole also extends a distance D.sub.2 beyond a rear side of the upper adjacent to the heel of the infant's foot, with the distance D.sub.2 being from about 5% to about 15% of the length L. The present invention also provides a method of training an infant to walk. The method includes fitting a shoe according to the invention on each foot of the infant, encouraging the infant to walk while wearing the shoes, and removing a portion of the sole so as to proportionally decrease the extent to which the sole extends beyond the upper as the infant learns to walk.