AIBU to think young girls shouldn't have to be skinny?

[Pseudo341]

DD5 is 5 and is what you would describe as a "big child", always at the top end of all the growth charts and a few sizes up in clothes from her age.

Ever since she moved into age 2-3 years clothes (shortly after her 1st birthday) all the trousers are designed to be skinny fit and simply won't fit her. I used to be able to get away with boys trousers but now she's in age 7 clothes they all seem to be tight too, I can't get anything to fit.

It appears I'm now faced with the possibility of having to buy even bigger size trousers and taking the legs up because there's only so many layers of rolls you can manage in the bottoms before they become uncomfortable and look absurd.

She's literally a head taller than some of her classmates, she's not overweight (consultant paediatrician she's seen for years for unrelated issue confirms this). She eats healthily and gets plenty of excercise, she's just got a bit of meat on her.

I appreciate lots of children are naturally thin but there seems to be this assumption that that's how they should be. We seem to be finally getting to grips with the idea that some adults naturally have a bigger build then others, why can't it apply to kids? She's just genetically predisposed to be big and I expect will always carry a bit of weight on her. Why is there anything wrong with that?

In case anyone thinks I have anything against those who are naturally thin, I'm a life long natural stick insect, madam has inherited her size from her Dad's side.

That's my plan too WhoreGasm. My DDs are heavily involved in sports. The more they play, the bigger their thighs get and the smaller their waists get. We just celebrate the strong, curvy body type in our house.

Long torsos are the WORST to dress! (I say that as someone with a long torso and as the mother of a son with a long torso). I can't wear the whole leggings, long top combo, because the tops are never long enough and the leggings are too long. To make it worse I've got wide hips, so it's hard to find pants that fit at the hips and aren't too lose on the legs. Clothes suck in general. I hate clothes. Can we all go naked?

"Long torsos are the WORST to dress! (I say that as someone with a long torso and as the mother of a son with a long torso)."

Ditto. Clearly as a PP said my mother underfed my legs and overfed my body. :)

For long-torsoed grownups, I find All Saints, Toast, and Seasalt good for long t-shirts and shirts. Gap also do longer length tops in some styles.

Oh god yes long torsos.

Dd often looks like she's wearing pillow cases. to get tops long enough they hang off her. of I go by a nice fit she can't move her arms with out showing her tummy.

Thanks for the tip leedy, lets just say I was lucky I grew up in the 90's. Belly tops were in. ;P

I am big-boned. I really am. I inherited my bone structure from my father. As a teenager and in my 20s I was athletic but never skinny.
I was a size 12/14 but never a 10 due to the breadth of my shoulders. So many comments on here ignore genetic factors. And another thing. My son was 6lb 12oz at birth and ridiculously skinny due to me being sick throughout the pregnancy. After he started breastfeeding his centiles shot up. The HV declared it impossible that I was feeding him purely on my own. He is now over 6ft and broad shouldered. Clothes manufactures and some health professionals love to put us into neat categories. Our awkward bodies don't oblige.

Although with us it's legs not torsos, being tall we still have torsos much longer than average, so completely getting the crop top vs pillow case top issue.

I have a slight frame, and my dds are the same, very slender and also slim. I find it really hard getting trousers to fot my dd, school trousers have been a nightmare. I've had to take them to the local tailor to be altered. More companies should do a range of fits in childrens' wear. I'm surprised Boden don't do it actually. In my dds class, even among those of roughly the same height, there is a huge difference in size.
Land's end do quite a few clothes in three different fits, but only on the US site. I buy swimsuits from there for the dds, as they are the only slim fit swimmies I've found. Gap do some trousers in 3 different frame fittings, as do Next, La Redoute, and I think Verbaudet. So you might find something there that will fit your dd better.

Pseudo341 overfeeding torso while underfeeding legs... brilliant line!
Kids vary.
My ds, now 5ft 11 is long bodied and short legged, so also suffered from tops being too short and trousers too long - even as a 6lb 9 oz newborn, his proportions made dressing him difficult. When he left home, and abandoned a few pairs of jeans, I wore them - fitted me perfectly, and I'm 5ft 3. His waist matched his height - it was just in the wrong place!
My dd, 5ft scratch, was fine with clothing until she started maturing - suddenly an hourglass figure, and as a martial arts student, strong, powerful legs, so trousers were and are a nightmare for her, tight around calves, thighs and bottom, gaping wide around her tiny waist. Blouses & jackets never fit well, either - narrow back, massive boobs.
Men can buy trousers in different lengths for different waist measurements - kids should be able to as well.
My '9 stone dripping wet' sister has gastric bloating, too - can put several uncomfortable inches on her waist measurement - it's unpleasant, and nothing to do with how much she eats.
(me, I'm a lardarse now)
The child's doctor said she's fine.
How about this. Even other children who are not fine, who might be struggling with weight issues ought to be able to have clothes that fit them. Why add one problem onto another.

Are you suggesting I'm somehow overfeeding her torso while underfeeding her legs?

No I suspect she's fat all over from your description, or as you euphemistically call it yourself "carrying a bit of weight on her". FYI, for a 5 year old 'carrying a bit of weight' on them (ie being fat) enough for age 7 clothes to be getting too tight, is not healthy. Say what you like, but it's not my kid who has to be shoe-horned into 2 years older clothes, nor is it me looking for any excuse in the book "Oh clothes should be much wider, oh my husband is big built, oh my other daughter isn't fat, other people's kids eat worse and they aren't even fat...". Whilst all that might be true, look at our child, because if, at 5, she is 'carrying a bit of weight' she is overweight.

Vertbaudet trousers are really good - they do 3 hip sizes on all theirs. My eldest DD is in the skinniest ones and DD 2 and 3 are in 'full fit' I'd really recommend them.

Oh now you're just being rude for the sake of it. I'm not about to post a picture of my kid on the internet to prove you wrong but you're clearly picturing something way bigger than reality. She is not shoehorned into clothes two years two old, she just doesn't fit comfortably into the skinny fit girls trousers which seem to be the only style available a lot of the time, that is my complaint. I shall continue to believe the opinion of the paediatric consultant who has all the appropriate medical training, a couple of decades experience in the field seeing thousands of children and who has actually seen my child.

Ooooh, Vertbaudet looks good, thanks.

Pseudo I'm sure your daughter looks great. I don't need pictures to understand what she looks like. Ignore crass comments.

I've just had to buy my DD a swimming cossie 2 years older just to fit her long body. That doesn't make her fat.

ijust Both dd and I have that swimming costume problem. Neither of us can wear a one piece due to our extended length torsos.... When buying costumes for dd they were always a minumum 2 years above her age range, and then they would still nearly split her in two. In fact, she was wearing a 13-14 speedo when she was 10. Same with me, and I don't look good rocking the camel toe look .

So now we don't even bother with a one piece anymore (she gave up swimming last year and they had to wear a speedo) so its two-pieces only now for both of us.

If anyone would like to come and tell dd that she is overweight due to her wearing bigger size swimming costumes, you are very welcome to try. She has black belt in martial arts, wins most of her dancing competitions in championship division, is the top athlete in her year and only gave up swimming as she couldn't fit the training in. Does she sound like she is an overweight child?

You cannot just generalise Trexing.... yes perhaps my dd eats more than my neighbours daughter.... but my neighbours daughter goes to school, gets home and sits on her computer for the rest of the day. My dd eats to fuel her active body.

My dd is 11 and kid size costumes don't touch her. Her new one is a ladies size 8. Therefore I too must just be in denial about my enormously fat and over fed child. Silly me I've been judging from the visible bones and lean muscle, and assumed being 5'7 with breasts was the reason. Clearly the fact a small size 4 is hardly snug width wise in other clothes and people guessing she weighs about 4 stone due to her narrow, skinny kid build isn't valid proof she's far from fat. I too must be in denial about my fat child, as swimming costume size is a far more scientific way to track childhood obesity. Ffs.

My DD gets her long body from me. Tankini tops always too short (except the maternity one i had). Best thing was when the shops started selling bikinis as seperates so could buy odd sizes.

high fives fellow long torso people

Yeah, tankinis looks awful on me and most one-pieces are too short. I have one Speedo suit I use for proper swimming that actually fits (though had to size up to not have the straps dig into my shoulders). Best suits I've got in the last couple of years are a couple of high waisted retro style bikinis, which is a tip for the long-torsoed I got from Oprah magazine of all places (do not argue with Oprah).

Oh yes Leedy, I agree that the high waisted bottoms look so much better. I do have a tankini top, but like ijust we buy mix and match ones so that the sizings can be bought to suit.

Oprah also said to wear empire style dresses too..... I have one, but I don't know - I think I look crap in it....

Hmm, not sure about empire style on me either.

The worst, though, are dresses that are meant to be "regular" dresses but have quite high waistlines (Boden, I'm looking at you in particular) - I think it's supposed to make you look like you have long legs but on me the waistband hits at the widest part of my torso and make me look weirdly rectangular. Not a good look.

(sorry OP for derailing your thread into a long-torso moanfest)

(I also have really short arms to go with my short legs. Am basically built like a T-rex....)