To wonder about the plus size clothing in next

[MumNWLondon]

Following on from all the threads about taxing fizzy drinks.

I took 4 YO DS to next to buy him some jeans. We picked up almost all the ones they had in an age 4 and headed to the changing room.

I'd describe DS as having normal build for 4 YO, definately not skinny but probably very slightly on thin side of average. Basically normal for 4 YO.

Anyway, noticed once we got to changing room some of the jeans were labelled as being 4+ for pus size kids so we didn't try them on. But even the normal ones were HUGE on the waist and legs, would have required me to really pull the elastic in the waist in and honestly could have fitted both his legs in one of the legs, looked ridicolous. Anyway we did find a skinny fit pair which were fine.

Now I am wondering - how fat would a child have to be to wear the normal fit ones and even more so the plus size one. FInd it quite worrying. AIBU to wonder about the demand for these trousers? There are 20 boys in his class and none of them look fat at all.

I find this with DD's clothes. She's 2.10 and still in a lot of 18-24 month trousers. She's pretty average, as you say, maybe on the small side of average but only very slightly. Yet every pair of trousers she owns would go round her waist twice.

So I have a choice between 18-24 which are starting to swing round her ankles or 2-3 which fall down. It's not just Next though, it's everywhere.

My dd2 is 6 and all her jeans are pulled tight around the waist just to keep them up.

Well DD is 4 and not fat, but chunky - trying to find trousers that fit her is fighting a losing battle.

She has a big belly and a big bum and generally wears age 7-8 clothes.IME children's clothes in the UK are made for skinny children. I see the other kids in DD's class and they really are skin and bones compared to DD.

I'll be heading to next!

Pics of DD on profile btw so you can see she's not obese!

I too have a very skinny 3.9 year old dd, the 2-3 age trousers fit just right at the waist but are too short, so we have to find 3-4 ones with waist adjusters which are pulled tight. She has just had a tummy bug so clothes will be even more loose on her eeek.

cordon bleugh - "IME children's clothes in the UK are made for skinny children" IME that really isn't true. Gap is pretty much the only shop (I've heard Zara too) which fits DS true to his age he is nearly 5 so pretty much the same age as your DD. Marks and are not hugely large but generally I buy one size smaller and most of the supermarket brands are enormous particularly Tesco and Asda. DS is on the smallish side but only marginally below average and certainly not in the slightest bit skinny according to the charts is normally proportioned with height and weight in perfect ratio.

If your DD is in 7-8 clothes at 4, she is unusual.

I've been buying clothes a few age sizes up fro DD since she wasa few months old, she's always been bigger that other children! Yes, She probably is unusual, since most people on here, like this OP complain that clothes are too big, whereas for my DD they are too small!

Perhaps its the places I shop, I know primark kids clothes come up small, as do george and tesco.

Age 4-5 clothes would fit her but only just and they wouldnt last 5 minutes.

Or maybe I'm shrinking all her clothes in the wash!

I quite like the fit of next now dd is 7, most of the jeans etc have adjustable waists, so they last quite a long time. When she was little they were laughably huge, it's only now at 6/7 that she is in the right size for her age.

I think the adjustable waists though go a little bit too far, I bought some blue linen shorts for ds1 over the summer. In fact dd ended up wearing them most. Age 3-4 shorts shouldn't be fitting an average 6 year old surely.

Something odd is going on with kids fittings, not sure what though. Clothes for my ds1 who is 3 years younger than his sister often fit. Neither are particularly thin or chunky, about average I would say.

I think george at asda and tesco are huge - though haven;t bought any in the last year so perhaos they are sizing smaller now. I bought trousers last year in mothercare and Matalan in 24 months which were big enough for DS who was 4! (and really not abnormally small) and we have passed them on to friends after him and they;ve fitted so not just him.

Is she very tall because my friends DD is in 7-8 yr old clothes and she openly accepts her DD is very tall/big for her age, but then her father is 6' 4" so she is probably going to be quite tall She does go through phases of being very chubby though like her father.

I must say though I only buy things now with adjustable waists, or leggings/dresses etc.

yea I accept DD is bigger than average, seeing other children so much thinner does make me worry about her weight sometimes, but her diet is fine and she gets plenty of exercise etc.

She is quite tall, yes, I'm 5'1 and She's up to my armpits. Her spermdonor dad isn't particularly tall, but he's chunky, which he turns into muscle by body building.

Friends have commented that her afro carribean heritage may have something to do with it although I'm not convinced of that one!

Tops and dresses I can get her into 5-6 but anything that fits around the waist she is 7-8.

i have 2 DS, one of whom in fairly skinny
I have no idea who these massive clothes are for?! In my lads class at school there are no chubby kids at all! The kids I see at the school come in all shapes/sizes/heights, but no chubby ones? Where are all these fat kids?

Another thing about next, I bought a few pairs of pjs when pg with ds1, I had an enormo bump (polyhydramnious/large baby). I was usually an 18/20 in trousers so ordered a 22. Honestly every pair I tried on I pulled on, they fell straight down. I must have had an enormous waist circumference at that time, exactly how big a person would have kept those (elasticated ) pj's up, size actual 30 I bet at least, according to measurements.

I had a similar thing with maternity cords last pg, I gave up ordering when the size 16 ones were swinging around my large bump and ample thighs. They are nuts.

Just my DD obviously stillbobbysgirl!

my BF has to buy the bigger sized clothes for her DD. She's very quite short for her age (due to a medical condition that requires regular opertaion to make sure she does at elast keep growing) , but the normal "weight" distribution (actually she's quite skinny). The right "length" clothes don't fit her round the middle they're too small.

I know I have trouble buying for my taller DS's.

Poor DS3 suddenly found himself in the middle of the church path with his trousers down his ankles last weeek. He's recently toiet trained - but can't manage the belts, and if the trousers are too difficult to do up (tight buttons/zips) he can't do those either.......so we're having to go for the looser fit "pull-up" trousers without a belt.

My 8yo DSS is still completely unable to do the buttons on his jeans and trousers because he is so skinny that he has never needed to in order to pull his trousers down.

I have however taught plenty of children (aged 5 - 7) who would need to wear those plus size clothes or clothes a few years older than their age would suggest they need. Despite their parents pleas that they are a bit chunky, eat healthily etc they were overweight and storing up problems for the future. Being the nosy teacher that I am I would have to go and judge examine the contents of their lunch boxes. Some it's true did have lunches that consisted entirely of chocolate and crisps but then so did plenty of skinny children. In general it wasn't the types of food in the lunch boxes but the quantity. Nearly all children with weight issues would polish off far more (probably double) than I did. (I'm 5'6 and 10 1/2 stone so definitely not skinny)

DD is 2 and on the 50th percentile for weight and height so pretty much average. But in every single shop she is still in 18 - 24 months, except Gap in which she is true to her actual age.

Supermarkets are worst. DD is still in some 12-18 month stuff from Asda.

Yes my DS is hovering around the 50th percentile in weight but taller than average and I find it very difficult as trousers are big at 3/4 around the waist and too long from most shops. Then again, his 2/3 trousers with buttons are becoming too small and are ankle swingers. I want to buy him trousers without buttons for nursery school as they encourage them to go to the toliet without assistance but it is difficult as I need to turn the trousers over on themselves. I have found the only accurate fitting shop to be Gap for jeans, right waist, right length but room to grow.

Then again, he is a 4-5 on top so maybe its less to do with the shop sizes and more to do with the fact he has inherited our shorter than average legs as I said though he is quite tall amongst his peers. He is 3.4 but most people think he is 4!

My ds is probably on the skinny side of normal but not unusually so and he can still wear some age 2-3 shorts from Next...he's seven! I think Next's clothes for young boys are vast.

I do agree with the poster above who said that at around 6-7 her daughter suddenly could wear the right size for her age, that's exactly what happened to my dd.

DD1 (2.8) has lots of clothes from Next. She needs age 2-3 trousers for the length but even with the adjustable waist tightened as far as it will go they won't stay up. I've found the same with H&M and George/Tu clothing too. I can't put her in a belt because she wouldn't be able to deal with it when going to the loo, so I spend the day hoiking her trousers back up from halfway down her backside She's going to need age 3-4 very soon and I really don't think she will be able to keep them on

I find that most clothes come up big to be honest (especially the supermarket brands which seem huge most of the time). Brands such as Gap and Zara come up small IME, but are unfortuantely too expensive for me to buy DDs entire wardrobe from!

I find this as well; DD is 2.9 and wearing 3-4 tops which fit perfectly (will only last another 3- 6 months I reckon!) but still in 2-3 trousers with adjustable waists done up very tight, although they are almost too short. She is on 75th centile for height and weight so not particularly skinny or out of proportion.

Cordonbleugh - don't feel alone. Mine are not fat but they are "built". They are bigger now and as they have got taller they have slimmed down, esp ds. We always have had probs with bottoms/waists and neither of mine ever had a tummy! They both have H fitting feet though, and very broad shoulders. DS plays 2nd row at 15 (5'10" and about 10st 5) DD will never be a size 10 but she's not fat. When they were little always had to size up trousers and skirts for waists.

I think as a nation we've forgotten just how 'slim' we can be and still be medically fat, iyswim. Or rather, our view of what is fat and overweight has risen as average weights have risen. It's no use trying to justify being average if that average is medically bad for us. For instance I'm very overweight and bordering on obese according to bmi charts, and I know in my heart that I'm very unhealthy at the moment, but I'm certainly in the bottom half of the weight distribution of our playground mums. I also have a friend who buys age 7 clothes for her four year old, now this child is exceptionally tall but she is also chunky built and there is no getting away from that, it's just how she is. Hopefully she will grow out of the puppy fat and you can't say a word to the mum obviously, but it is not usual and it's not normal.

My DD is 11 and we still have to hunt for adjustable waisted clothes. Like someone else said, she has never undone her button/fly and just pulls them up and down (even though she has hips now). She is not particularly skinny ... kind of average I think.