to think that jeans should fit the age that they say

[lifesamystery]

I have been looking for jeans for my fairly normal sized 13 year old but have really struggled to get a pair that actually fit her. She found some that she liked in Gap but I have not seen many 13 year olds that would actually fit into their age 13 jeans. They seem to be made for very skinny children!! Is it just me? Do other people struggle to find childrens clothes that fit their children?

Thing is in Gap, for example, they only go up to age 13 so she would need an adult size and these are twice as expensive!!!! This seems to be discrimination against normal sized children!

[BackforGood]

Well, what is normal ? YOu often see threads on here asking where people can get jeans for their skinny ds's that don't just hang off them. Myy dd is 13 and wears quite a few clothes for aged 12, but then, my dd who is 10, also wears clothes for aged 10. There isn't a "standard" size for growing children I'm afraid. It's not peculiar to pre and young teens, twas ever the same with baby and toddler clothes.

[itwasallyellow]

I find Next quite good for sizes.

[MrsSchadenfreude]

My DD is already too tall for children's jeans at GAP. I got her a pair of 25 waist, 32 leg skinny jeans in the sale, which seem to do the trick.

[vigglewiggle]

I have the opposite problem, DD (6) is wearing age 8 skirts for length, but has them all pulled in and gathered at the back to stop them falling down. I guess this proves that there is no such thing as 'normal' sized children. Must be a PITA when you have to start paying VAT on kids clothes though.

[Scholes34]

Nightmare - I have skinny children with long legs. Thank heavens for the button elastics in the waistbands. Fortunately, Mini-Boden do them for 14 year olds - well worth the £17.

[CailinDana]

The age range on clothes is pretty arbitrary really. They can't make a whole range of age 13 clothes, they just make one particular size and label it "age 13." IME 13 year olds tend to very skinny due to the amount of growing they're doing so it makes sense to make them quite small. Since DS was born he's varied hugely in the age/size that has fit him - he tends to be the correct size on top and a size bigger on bottom. That's the just the way he is, no point in moaning about it, although I know it is annoying having to pay more for adult clothes.

I wouldn't bother with Gap jeans anyway. Their other stuff is good but IME their jeans lose their shape. The best jeans I've had are from Primark - they seem to last forever!

[sausagesandwich34]

my DD shares a birthday with her best friend -they are both 8

there are 7 inches difference in height between them and neither wears 8yo clothes

no such thing as normal

[Tuttutitlookslikerain]

There's no such thing as "normal sized children".

I think clothes should be measured in inches/centimetres rather than ages.

[ManifestingMingeHooHoosAgain]

YANBU to expect it, children are all different shapes and sizes. It's finding the shops with the right fit for your children.

I have to buy age 3/4 trousers for my 5.5yo DD, age 5 would drown her. A boy in her class is the size of an 8yo.

I find Next good for slim jeans.

[foreverondiet]

Depends on shop and child. I have posted on this before.

My DS1 is 6 and I can only buy him trousers with adjustable waist elastics or they fall down. In M&S just too massive even pulling elastics right in. In Next only the skinny cuts fit. And he is not so skinny eg in reception the BMI test came back as saying BMI on 55th percentile so basically average weight for his height.

[EdithWeston]

Does anyone know if there is such a thing as a size guide comparison guide available on line?

I'm another parent with skinny DCs and it would be quite helpful to know which makes are most likely to fit (saying which have notched elastic to hock them right in would help too!). And it sounds as if a general comparison chart would help parents looking to fit other body shapes too.

[LimeLeafLizard]

Hmm - as others have said, children vary so widely it would be almost impossible to make one 'age' to fit all children of that age.

It would be helpful if sizes were more consistent shop to shop though (e.g. Next clothes seem to come up huge, especially for toddlers, but Gap are smaller).

YANBU to not want to pay VAT on clothes for a child.

[ManifestingMingeHooHoosAgain]

Sainsbury's clothes often have adjustable elasticated waists, and sometimes Asda. I find Asda sizes are very big though. M and S not too bad for slim waists but sometimes too short on the legs

[IneedAgoldenNickname]

Most trousers from everywhere have adjustable waist in my experience. But even with the adjustable waist, age 4-5 is at risk of falling off my almost 6 year old, despite only just fitting him in the length. The best fit I have found so far, is either gap or primark skinnies

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

Crux of the problem is that not all children are the same size so what exactly do you expect clothing manufacturers to do?

I have a 6 year old wearing age 9 and 10 that I then have to pull the waist in as he is tall but very skinny. The children in his class vary immensely and some of his friends are still in age 5 - 6. How is this supposed to be covered by one size in age 6 fits all?

[BlathersNightOfTheLivingDead]

I have a skinny DS and hate Next! Yes they have adjustable waists but ime, by the time you've pulled them in enough for my 5 year old, he looks daft because he has so much spare fabric around his bottom

[Chandon]

My kids can't wear gap trousers or jeans as they are way too baggy.



In fact I think most kids' trousers are way too big on the bum/waist.

So I guess "normal" covers a whole range of sizes!

[piprabbit]

Look at any class of children coming out of school at home time and you'll see what a huge range of sizes a single year group can come in.

If one brand doesn't fit well, just keep shopping round until you find a brand that does.

[shattereddreams]

I'm with blathers

My kids are normal. Bang on average 50th centile.
All clothes in thier age are too 'fat' for them, waist too big, bottoms and hips too big, circumference of shirts on torso too big.
Length is fine!

My poor 2 1/2 yr old DS keeps losing all his trousers straight to the floor.
Elastic waist adjusters piss me off because if you pull them in to hold the trousers up, the kids can't pull them up and down to go to the toilet independently.

[shattereddreams]

Their !

[alison222]

The thing is that a lot of clothes have the elasticated waist up to about age 10 or 11 and then it disappears.
i am having trouble finding trousers for my 9 year old who needs to wear age 11-12 for the length, has "hips" and a small waist so we need to beable to pull in the waist.
Any ideas anyone? Other than mini-boden which mostly work.

Next boys skinny fit are good for skinny boys - at least some of them - but you need to try carefully. The last ones we were trying lead to comments like "mummy you could fit a baby in here" (skinny 11 year old). Heaven knows what anyone outside the changing rooms thought . Boden trousers are also good.

The school shops do "skinny fit" trousers for boys which are good.
The girls ones all seem to be the wrong shape - but we had success with BHS uniform this year.

Primark jeans have pull in waists at smaller sizes.
H&M clothes seem to be for slim built children

[BlathersNightOfTheLivingDead]

Try Vertbaudet alison The slim fit ones work very well on my too-skinny-for-Next DS even though, on their own measurement chart, he needs age 5 for height and age 2 for waist!!

DD is an equal nightmare at 2.9, especially now she's potty trained and we don't have the bulk of a nappy to hold things up but at least I can put her in dresses :)

[IneedAgoldenNickname]

Gap are way too baggy, just less so than anywhere else iykwim.

[mummymeister]

middle dd is v tall and vv skinny so we go to primark where i can get her size 6 super skinny and they fit like a dream. at 13 they really do start to go into adult clothes i am afraid. eldest dd has been in them since 11 or 12 but DS is 10 and still wearing age 4 to 5 pants!! Agree that H and M are good for skinny ones. m and s does a larger child range in school uniform. we also like new look trousers as they come in super skinny and curvy. hope this helps.

[BegoniaBampot]

I'm surprised you've found that. My kids are what I would call average height and are slim but so may clothes now seem to be very baggy and big, even with the adjustable waistbands, ok you can make the waists fit but the bums and legs tend to be baggy. Always think H&M kids clothes are quite generous size.