To think Halloween costumes for small children are..

[meekenough]

becoming far too grotesque?

I have a four year old and costume shopping is becoming limited increasingly as IMO the costume faces are either too frightening/disturbing/gory for children that age, and that alot of the decorations are going the same way,
I am by no means a prude I like my horror films, but horror film imagery is for adults not kids, I love halloween but when I was a child it was a bin liner cape, witches hat and then watched hocus pocus...., things seem to have changed a lot ...

Or maybe I', gerrin' old and joyless.....

AIBU..

Maybe this will counteract it a bit..www.costumecraze.com/BABY348.html

www.costumecraze.com/BABY348.html

YANBU though, I went to a party shop and some of the outfits for young children had gone way too far

We've cobbled together an outfit this year. She's being the Wicked Witch of the East (black scraggly tutu, black polo neck, black & white stripy tights, red sparkly shoes, broom, witches hat, lots of green face paint - I am trtung to decide if I have the wherewithall to make a little house to glue to the hat).

We did look at the costumes in store but they were either too flouncy or too ugly - not that she is difficult to please!

Dunno - we found some nice ones at Tesco for DD, not offensive or scary at all

I thought exactly this last year when my Facebook feed was full of pictures of little children dressed as really gruesome looking zombies. When I was little I didn't know what a zombie was! YANBU.

I've never seen any grotesque outfits for small children. Just capes with smiley bats, normal witches dresses and pumpkins that come with stripy tights.

Where do you shop?

I saw them in a party shop

YANBU!

witches, ghosts, pumpkins or black cats are fine but anything with blood and gore, IMO, is not appropriate. Just bleurgh.

Then again, I hate Halloween with a passion and we have NEVER done it, at all.

It's boo humbug actually

They have lovely ones in TK Maxx if you have one near you?

There are a few that l9ok a bit much. I took ds 2.6 to tescos and asda to try and find one. There were a few scary looking scream type ones.

We came back with a pink tutu, cats ears, vampire teeth and pumpkin face paint. .....fair enough ds.

At the party shop I saw zombies, scream outfits and bloodied nurse outfits for 4-6 year olds

yes zombies, bloody stuff, my DP got my DS a v. scary devil mask last year didnt like it at all.

Mothercare and M&S always do nice ones. Dd has a witches dress from Mothercare that she's been wearing since 2009. It just stretches to fit her every year.

I have a problem with book character costumes though. Last March I tried to find dd a nice costume for world book day and when I googled little red riding hood or goldilocks all these disgusting big breasted women with hardly any clothes on would come up. I find it unsettling when a child's book character is sexed up like that for adults.

yep totally 2tiredtoScare, lol that outfit is cute.

DS is 5yo and had insisted on being a zombie this year. I brought his costume home today and he has adapted so that it now includes nothing but pants, socks and a scary mask. He is having a whale of a time surprising me from behind my laptop.

I think it depends on the child TBH.

Ds was a pumpkin for 3 years ( think it was from Asda) Now he's almost 7 he's chosen a vampire outfit. Pumpkin really cute with hat, vampire not gritesque so YABU!!

I dont think the mainstream shops seem to sell things like the outfits in stand alone shops

Yes some stuff is quite yukky, the zombie nurse is a bit wrong but it's up to us to guide them isn't it?

Yes well I had to guide myself away from the baby Frankenstein outfit as it was 24 quid

My DS (nearly 4) chose a really freaky clown costume this year There's no blood or gore but it scares the ever living shit out of me (I obviously read too much Stephen King as a teen)

YANBU, I have noticed this too, need to tone it down a bit and make it a bit more cute!.

Surely you would expect " more extreme" costumes, in a costume shop, as otherwise at the prices they charge ( or cannot compete with) everyone would stick to Tesco/Asda and the discount shops?

I haven't seen any that could be deemed as unsuitable in any of the Supermarkets.

The little girl dresses with Black Cats etc on makes we wish we had a toddler in the family.

Yes, Tilly I saw that clown one too bloody scary looks the double of IT.

www.amazon.com/Scary-Ghoul-Costume-Small-Size-Years/dp/B000UO1GW2

this ^^ is specifically 3/4 years.

HotDog- in the nicest way, its not really the point although I see your point. Putting parents in that situation isn't v. responsible of the shops/manufacturers.