Why won't she buy clothes that fit??!!!

[BabyLlama]

This is NOT a MIL bashing thread. My MIL is an extremely generous lady and has helped us no end - however she keeps buying my DD too-small clothes. My DD is almost 3 and is very tall for her age and has been wearing 3-4 year clothing for the last 3 months. My DH and I have both told MIL this and she she does see our DD regularly and is always buying her a new outfit (which we are both grateful for), but it's always 2-3 years. I don't like her wasting her money on something that our DD will never even wear, and we have tried over and over again to tell her that 2-3 years is too small.
I don't want to come across as grabby or ungrateful, but also feel bad that my DD simply doesn't fit into the clothes that MIL has so generously bought for her.

Mines the opposite, 2.5 and in 12-18 month clothes. Children are not one size fits all. I would like to think I would say something but I am too polite so would probably just exchange it!

Would you be able to return the clothes and swap for next size up? We got a load of stuff for DS which was either wrong size or not to our taste and we just took it back to where it was from and were pleased we had.

My 6yo wears 8-9y clothes. She is tall but mostly it's due to her being very long bodied. Always had to buy tunic style tops as if I bought t-shirts the correct length the sleeves are too long.

People don't realise if clothes say age 5 it's best to think of it as 4-5 rather than 5-6.

I hate anyone buying DD clothes as she has always had her own taste and tends to dislike clothing gifts, especially from those who rarely see her so have no clue.

My niece has just turned 6. My tall DD will be 7 in the new year. Yet the same relative always buys them identical PJ's in the same bloody size, so DD will get age 6 too which are far too small. Relative just won't listen.

I find primark sizes tiny and H+M dresses are always too short.

My in laws tend to do this too despite my boy being over 12.5 lbs at birth! He has remained big for his age, lovely and tall with a nice healthy amount of chub. Last time when I exchanged something for the bigger size I did notice there was a price difference. Hmmmm.

All 3 of my kids were well below the 50th centile for length( height) at birth but rocketed to above the 91st centile by a few months old. My middle child has remained at or just above the 91st centile but my youngest and eldest are now outside the boundaries of the centile chart as they are very tall.

Raving is raving mad! Oddest comment I've read in a while! How can she presume to know the size of children she has never set eyes on?!

Cindefuckingrella I've had the same problem, why do they do that? It's not like adults have or pay more for bigger sizes. I find it a right con...

Maybe if she hasn’t listened to the verbal hints suggest that next time you go with her and you daughter and get her to try in the clothes that she likes and thinks will fit. She’ll soon learn literally that she’s buying clothing that’s too small. Explain to her that you prefer to get clothes in a larger size for your daughter so that she can get maximum wear from it.
Yes, it’ll be a pain shopping on a day when you’d rather avoid the shops, and then there’s the petrol to factor in too.
However, hopefully when she sees the size she normally buys clothes in and notices they’re too tight and that you like extra room for growth she’ll catch on that she needs a bigger size. Maybe then write your daughter’s size with her name and ask her to slip it into her purse she she can remind herself in future. Maybe put a note in your wallet too and make a joke about remembering everything when children are growing so fast. Point out that even toys have an age range, next time your shopping.
Hopefully, she’ll get the right end of the stick!

I do wonder whether some of the unhelpful posters on MN at the moment even have kids? One look at the children from same year group lining up in playground shows you everything you need to know about children’s sizes. From very small to very tall and everything in between! DC1 more or less followed store sizing at first but now takes smaller than average, DC2 started smaller but now takes just bigger, DC3 always bigger than store sizing... none have been over or under fed. All kids are different. OP sorry I don’t have any helpful advice for you other than maybe directly asking MIL why she keeps buying the wrong size?

I find it hard to believe a 2 yo is as tall as a 3 or 4 yo - especially considering most child sizes are quite big nowadays

Well, your beliefs are extremely narrow indeed in that case. People buy bigger sizes to allow growing room, for one thing. Age 5 clothes fit DD2 when she was 3, because she was on the 99th centile for height.

My DIL loves putting my gd in supper baggy clothing....think 2 yr old in size 4...rolls up the cuffs and worn like a tunic.
A very different dress sense to my daughter.
I don’t buy the little one clothing for the most part. If I find something it’s a very good sale and if she doesn’t like it she can donate it to charity.

I'd say either it's a memory issue or she is passive aggressively making a point about the child being too big, or something.

They wear such huge sizes because of their ‘heights’ right

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."

DD2 is now nearly 9, wears age 11 clothing and has size 4.5 feet. Her height is on the 99th centile and weight on the 35th- i.e. she is tall and very slim.

My mum does this with Ds1, always buys him a size smaller despite me constantly telling her the correct size. Perversely, she always reminds me that dn needs a couple of sizes bigger when buying her clothes. I've stopped bothering, I just put the too small stuff aside for Ds2 to grow into and take Ds1 shopping for replacements, he's at an age now where he's very particular about what he wears anyway 😁

My dd is almost 3, she is tall (yes really!) but her size varies between shops just like adult sizes vary between shops. She has a 2-3 skirt from Sainsbury's that falls down on her waist, a 3-4 dress from primark that is tight on her shoulders, a 2-3 dress from boots that needs the arms rolling up and a 3-4 top from Tesco that is a bit short in the sleeves, I don't know why anyone would find it hard to believe children need different clothtes sizes from their ages when women's clothes vary so much between shops.

My son has always been rather tall for his age. He was hitting the 91st centile line on the chart and I was buying age 7 trousers with the adjustable waist line so I could take them in at the age of 5. Now at the age of 14, I am having to seek out 16 year old trousers or buy suit trousers for school with the waist size of 22, and inside leg 32. This is what you get when you've got a 6ft 1 lanky child.

It's nice to know I'm not alone in this. Age 4-5 for my tall almost 6 year old
I found it was worse around 3, as MIL was still looking in the toddler clothes ranges, which stopped at 2-3, and just buying the biggest size there was.

If anyone does find a reason for or solution to this please tell as I have yet to understand or stop it.

My MIL will occasionally ask why my DD doesn't wear the clothes that she buys which can be so frustrating after we've told her time after time that the things are just too small. She did buy her a beautiful cardigan that said age 3 inside, but alas, that was far too small too. I did put it on my DD and it showed a couple of inches of the stomach and arms. You could see it was too small just looking at it. I think I'll just send them to the charity shop from now on. I can't keep telling her if she doesn't take on board what's being said.

I've had this problem with MIL - she comes to visit every two / three weeks and brings clothes for DD. They are always too big, I'm talking tops that are like a dress, trousers that fall down as soon as she moves. I have explained that they are too big, I have told her what size to buy, she never buys the right size. However she bitterly complains OH and anyone that will listen that she buys all these clothes for DD and she never wears them and that I must be throwing them out.
I eventually told her that if she can't buy the right size not to bother buying anything as I was running out of space to store the clothes!

DD is 22 months and is wearing 9-12 months and has been since she was 12 months - she's just really small for her age!

Raving

My almost three year old has been wearing age 3-4 clothes since August. She's on the 4th centile for weight.

My eight year old wears 11-12 clothes. She is 142cm tall and weighs 30kg. So yes, it's clearly because she is fat. Not because she's tall. You're absolutely right

My ds is 12 and 5ft7 and family members still insist on buying him age 12-13 clothes, they also comment loads on how tall he his, i don't understand why they can see he taller than the average and taller than said family members who don't fit in age 12-13 clothes but insist on buying them...don't get me started on teenage girls clothes, dd is 14 with a huge chest not inherited from me teenage girl clothes are made to fit tiny build, flat chested teens!

Raving is bonkers, let’s just ignore that daft comment.
I’d hand the clothes back then and there (get DH to do it) and Say mil needs to change them for the next size up.

Tell her you've got loads of clothes for her at the moment and you'd like to be a bit organised for the future because she's growing so fast. Ask her to look for stuff in ages 6-7 for next year because you're really short of stuff and you need to plan ahead and get her wardrobe organised. Or find a catalogue that you like and circle things in the right sizes. Tell her you've found a really good deal and that you're buying some stuff from there and would she like to join you. Say that you know she gets lots of stuff for your dc and you're so grateful and that you really love the stuff from this catalogue and so does DD. Maybe DD and her could sit down with the catalogue and choose something together? DD wants to go shopping with granny!