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.

Having just done a load of washing, I actually checked the sizes on DD's clothes -

Nighties were age 5-6
Trousers/joggers (elasticated waist) 6-7
Tops from primark - 7-8 (primark sizes are smaller IME)
School polo shirts - 5-6/6-7
School Cardigans - 5-6
School Skirts - 6-7 (elasticated waist)
Knickers - 7-8
Leggings - 5-6/6-7 (again, stretchy waistband)
She has some pyjama bottoms that are now up to her knees but fit her round the waist and are age 2-3.

So a whole range there, all different sizes from different shops.
Trousers are the hardest to buy due to her sticky out belly and big bum.

Cordonbleurgh, I was on your side, until you made remarks about kids with 'ribs sticking out' ie my DD. Why is it cow like to comment on your DD (not that I would) yet you can say that?

Nikki1978 went onto her profile and then came back to make comments about her daughter. No one has looked at a pic of your child and made comments specifically about her. That's the difference even if CB's comment was ill advised.

Rockbird , yes nikki was very wrong, but two wrongs don't make a right..incidentally I wouldn't comment on anyone's child like that.

i think i have made my profil public again, might be pics of dd's on there

I didn't remark about anyone's kids in particular, just said I'd rather have DD being chubby than a child where bones are visible.

Already said sorry if it came across as nasty, and I already stated that I didn't mean it like that.

Nikki came back with the sole purpose of making another comment direct to me about my child.

CB invited people onto her profile to look, so I don't see why that's such an outrage.

I don't think Nikki was necessarily out of order, she was not rude in her initial wording and apologised in advance for what might be seen as offensive. CB's dd is large compared with other 4 yr olds. She may well slim down/grow up and not out as time goes by. She may not.

And as for ribs "sticking out" - I think that comment reflects upon CB's view of what a 'good' weight is, wrong or right.

I remember when I was a kid we used to have rib-counting competitions and were quite disappointed when we got bigger and they were better covered!

Just to compare, my DD age 4.9, 3'3" and 2st.

PJs (M&Co): age 2-3
Jeans (Next): age 2-3 with adjustable waistbands fastened 3 buttonholes in on each side
Tops (Next): age 2-3
Tops (GAP): age 3-4
Leggings (GAP): age 2-3 but fall down as are too baggy but the 18-24 month ones are too short
School polo shirts (M&S): age 3
School pinafores (M&S): age 3
School jumpers: age 1-2 (I had to have them embroidered for my DD as the smallest size they stock is 3-4)
Knickers (Mothercare): 18-24 months
Coat (Trespass): age 2-3.

The hardest thing to buy is trousers as if they are small enough around the waist they are never long enough. Which is why she wears pinafore dresses to school.

She has sticky out ribs, and a waist small enough for me to fit my hands around. She eats like a horse, 2 breakfasts (one at home and one in school) and 2 cooked dinners a day.

It just shows how wide the range of normal is, and neither mine nor cordonbleugh's DD are "wrong".

CB, my dd2 was probably seen as obese as a toddler. however betwen the ages of 3-4, she just lost all her baby fat. throughout that time she was perfectly in proportion height and weight wise but was off the charts. now her weight is lower than her height (8yrs old and 136cm tall), and she is superskinny.

she packs away food like anything, but is very active, never still, always fidgetting.

ds3 is on the the 99% height and weight and has been since birth, he also has severe autism and is still in nappies. He is 4 and ds2 is 11 and small. I have bought them the same size trousers and just took them up for ds 3. I will be having a look in next though as having to take trousers up all the time is a pita.

Leggings (GAP): age 2-3 but fall down as are too baggy but the 18-24 month ones are too short

This is exactly the problem I have with the exact same leggings (DD 4.2). And Gap are the skinniest leggings I've found anywhere.

About ribs sticking out, surely this is normal for small active children? At four or five, most people are as thin as they will ever be. People tend to get fatter later on, not thinner, IME.

uploaded 2 pics of dd1. the one on the climibing wall was summer 2009, she had had the 8+ jeans for a year by then.

then the one of her in school uniform is her 10th birthday, stil lwearing the 8+ school trousers.

she has finally grown this summer, and is wearing age 10 clothing hooray!

A few points:

I agree that build and ethnicity play a part. Was just surprised that whilst the normal fit jeans were totally huge on DS1, just couldn't imagine a child wide enough for the plus size.

I have the same with DS2 - he is 7 months still wearing 3-6 months trousers that are now too short but still falling down on his waist.

a) A child who is on the 90% for height and 90% for weight could well be overweight as percentiles are based on averages - ie out of 100 children that age, 10 will be taller and 10 will be heavier. But lots of children are overweight!!! It DOES NOT follow that because its the 90% for both the child is a healthy weight. Much better to do a BMI calculation and get the percentile for that.

b) Its totally normal for a child's ribs to be visible, perhaps even a cause for concern if they are not.

Well, I've learnt something new today then, as I would be extremely concerned if DD's ribs were visible!

There have been studies in children (in this country) that suggest ethnicity (but not social class) contributes to the likelihood of being obese or overweight.

Afro-Carribean girls are more likely to be overweight, Afro-Caribbean and Pakistani girls are more likely to be obese, and Indian and Pakistani boys are more likely to be overweight. here

But the study also suggests Afro-Carribean girls are heavier and taller in general than the general population (and Chinese girls are lighter in general)...which explains the comment on the NHS website about BMI varying between ethnic groups.

Also, there may be better ways to measure obesity than BMI.

i think for that children under 5, particullly boys clothing, they are cut bigger.

but once you hit 7+ for girls clothing, they seem to think all girls are superskinny and tall. doesnt work like that. girls clothing particularly jeans and trousers hae a shorter rise and smaller wasists. as an example, i actually ended up buying dd1 boys jeans from tesco suring the her 2 years of not growing taller, as they were cut bigger than the girls ones in the same size.

I hope you are right misdee, and if you are right I can't wait until DD hits 7+ clothing!

"they seem to think all girls are superskinny and tall"

No they don't DD is thin (now age 13 and 5'5 and an adult size 6/8 BMI on 50th centile for her age) and we had lots of problems finding clothes that fitted her waist. She was on the 50th centile for height but lower for weight.

I noticed clothes got a lot bigger about 4 years ago, when waists got a lot larger.

My kids are thinner than most of their friends, I remember crying after toddler group because another mum had pointed out that you could see DD's bones and she looked "terrible" (She was my PFB, over sensitivity was allowed.) she was 50th centile then, and is 50th centile now.
DS1 does look too thin, he is 5 and easily fits 18-24 trousers in the waist (he was wearing them as shorts all summer, lol) but he is still in the healthy weight range (50th centile for weight, 98th for height) although his hips stick out. DS 2 is 98th for height and weight, and in my eyes is overweight - he's got a fat little belly and chubby arms and legs. I'm keeping an eye, he's only 22 months and seems to be beginning to slim down. But all three are in the healthy weight zone on the BMI thingy, just shows the range IMO.

am def right, as dont have to take in dd2 clothes as much as i did two years ago. she wears age 10-11 stuff mostly as is v tall for her age but superskinny. i find boden trousers fit her very well.

bruffin your dd is taller than me! girls clothing is very odd, and i will say its hard to find stuff to fit generally.

My DD is 7, and she also came with to next.

I'd also describe her as average, but whereas DS1 is on thin side of average she maybe is very slightly bigger than average.

Anyway, was worried about how she'd feel as she picked up a pair of "skinny cut" jeans. Was worried they'd be too tight! But no they were fine, even had to take the waist elastic in.

I have body fat scales and they work for children from 3 foot. Will measure them both tonight.

Sorry if I have offended but I was just being honest.

She is a lot taller than me as well Misdee
Sorry I missed out a bit she was always on 50th centile for her height for many years until she got to 11 then shot up and became one of the tall ones rather than average.

I remember standing in Adams trying on a little elasticated skirt for her when she was 9 and the skirt just dropped past her hips down to her knees.