To think they make kids clothes far to big

[WhyDoesItAlways]

I have a 3 year old DS and I struggle to get him trousers that actually fit him in both length and waist. Clothes for his age range fit perfectly in the length but literally fall off him at the waist. Smaller age clothes fit on the waist but are too short. I have some that you can tie up but he struggles to get them down to use the toilet which is not ideal when potty training.

I thought it was just that he's a skinny little boy but having spoken to some friends and many are having the same problem.

DS literally came home from nursery the other day wearing some of their spare clothes after messy play which I thought were long shorts but were actually 6-9 month trousers that whilst obviously not fitting as trousers for length were perfect round the waist.

Anybody got any recommendations for children's clothes that are slimmer in the waist?

I agree. I’m always a bit when posters are on here saying their 4 year old is in age 6 clothes but not fat. All clothes are made bigger now. What is even weirder is that I got one of my boys (admittedly very skinny!) to try on some age 9 girls jeans (jeggings I think) as they should be skinnier, right?

Wrong. They were not only too big, they had hip space in them . For nine year olds.

I find Next good for slimmer jeans. H&M and Gap also pretty good. Not as skinny as my skinny boy likes them tho - currently won’t get rid of his age 7 ones when he’s 10 and they’re ankle swingers

Isn't the issue more that there isn't a standard sized 3 yo?

Mine are almost grown up now but I found DS1 was always one size ahead of his actual age, DS2 wore the age he was. They're 6'2" and 5'11" now, so tallish boys, but for them , no children's sizes weren't too big.

I did find that to get things long enough, especially for DS1, they were usually too wide though.

Eliza, it isn’t unheard of for 9 year old girls to have begun puberty, so some may need the beginnings of ‘hip space’.

Yes we need adjustable waist in all trousers, and I buy long leg shorts in a smaller size. My nearly 6yo is still in age 2-3 shorts from M&S.

Top tip when looking at school trousers, buy long leg trousers in a smaller waist (also with adjustable elastic waist). My son is just about to start September in age 5 long leg trousers (when he's age 6).

If they're almost grown up then you probably haven't bought age 3 clothes for over a decade. They've definitely gotten bigger even over the last few years.

But children come in all different shakes and sizes. DS is 10, wear age 13 for height, but still wears some Age 8 shorts (they started below the knee, now mid thigh length). He has always been a size or 2 up from his his age for height in clothes, but much skinnier in the waist. Thank goodness for adjustable waists.

YANBU! My DS who's 3 and a half is tall and I've always thought of him as slim but really he's probably average weight. All summer he has worn age 2-3 shorts that I bought last summer for potty training! Just bought him some polo t shirts in age 3-4 for nursery in September, and trousers in 3-4, and they're all generous on him despite the fact that he's turning 4 in December and as I said, not small!

I hear you. DS1 (age 6) was complaining that his shorts had become tight...err...no that’s DS2’s age 3 shorts you’ve got on. And he’s 50th centile for weight. Given he’s 91st for height I accept that even elasticated adjustable waisted trousers never work. And as they got older fewer and fewer trousers have them. It can be a bit of a hunt.

Our situation is a little different, as I have an almost 3yo with medical issues that mean he is a lot smaller and skinnier than the average child of his age - but he’s in the “normal” range for height
I find that Asda trousers come up very long compared to other places, so I’ve started buying 12-18 months and they fit in the leg and the waist! Whereas most other places, 12-18 would be half way up his shin!

Yep agree. I guess it's because they only make one waist size that has to fit all body types.

I just take them all in at the waist. I'm crap at sewing really but it's pretty easy to get a batch of leggings etc and pinch off a bit of material and sew over. My friend takes a batch to a sewing lady to do same. It's a pain though!

Duvetfan, have you tried M&S extra long school trousers? I get them for my skinny DSs. You can size down for waist size but get the extra long length.

Thank you all for the shop recommendations I'll definitely check these out and going to France in a few months so will check out a few shops there too.

I know he's 25th centile for weight but no idea about height. I'll give him a measure later and check.

I think I'm just jealous because I don't have the tall slim gene

I've been trying to get skinny long-legged boys into nonfallingdown trousers for the best part of 25 years now, and I must say I'm delighted that DS2 will be going to a sixth form college where he can wear jeans. It seems much easier to buy small waists with long legs when shopping for jeans. I don't know why it's so hard when they're younger. Adjusting the waists is all very well to stop them falling down, but that still leaves a huge bunching of material around their poor skinny hips.
When mine were small, once they were out of nappies I always put them in dungarees.

This is not new as my youngest left school over 6 years ago and even then buying school uniform was a nightmare.
School trousers even with an adjustable waist would swamp him. Adjusting the waiste might mean they would stay up but you still had all that extra material hanging around the bum and thighs. School shirts were just as bad with so much extra material they would flap about. He looked like he was a toddler playing dress up from his dads wardrobe 😩
In the end I started to buy men’s black suit trousers and white fitted shirts from top man in size extra small as they were a better fit but a lot more expensive than a Tesco school uniform.
Seems to me that the cheaper end of the market only caters for larger kids and is adding to the problem that people are losing sight of what a healthy weight/Size actually is.

I have this with both my DS. They are 4 and 6. I just put it down to them being tall.

6YO needs 8YO size for height. But could probably still fit into 5YO size round the waist.

4YO isn't as bad, he's in 4-5 for height, but he still has shorts that fit in the waist that are age 2-3.

Boden do super skinny jeans for boys. My skinny 10 year old DS lives in these and we buy them every year.

Yanbu. My DDs drown in most age-appropriate clothing, except leggings which are always too short.

I also find the labelling confusing. A lot of shops label Age 7 or Age 8 rather than 7-8, but in some places my DC will fit in the smaller age and in some places the bigger age.

Yep the only good ones are with elastic inside and buttons pulled as far as it will go

My DDs are 16 and 17 now but when they were babies/toddlers they were almost exclusively clothed in monsoon (which seemed to be less generously cut) and Boden which at the time were one of the few doing adjustable waists. They were both tall for their ages and slim built, it was a nightmare, an expensive one too

I'm finding legs too long if anything for my DD (under 1), but then I have very short legs so she may well have shorter than average

Zara is good for slim children. Thank goodness for those adjustable elasticated waistbands. Try getting clothes in the US or NZ - the kids clothes can be absolutely massive (I even saw a ‘husky’ size range that was really large, poor kids).

As kids have gotten fatter, the clothes have gotten bigger round the waist to fit the larger average.
We have always had same issue with a lean DD. She is 18 now and a size 4 (UK). DH used to have to take in the waist on school uniforms every year.

We usually buy from Gap or H&M and these fit my boy true to size.

We always had th e best luck with Next, and, after they re-jigged their kids' sizes to stop being so wide, M&S.

DS1 used to wear adjustable waist, roll up skinny jeans with the hems rolled back down.

There's so little in it, though. DS2 wears the Next basic jogging bottoms for school. He's 13 and well into puberty, now, but not so long ago, we had to but him size 14 for the waist. They were rather long on him, but the cuffed hem stopped them from trailing and wearing out too badly. They got a bit snugger on him and I was dreading having to get the next size up. Almost overnight, they were hanging off his waist AND too short for him! I've had to buy some 15s for the new school year and know they'll be too big around the waist for a few months.

Another one who struggles to buy stuff long enough that will remain around his hips.

Shorts. I've just retired my 10 year olds school shorts - in age 6. Unfortunately, he needs age 8 extra long trousers (M&S), and they are still baggy on the smallest adjustment on the waist.

I know there are loads of kids sizes available but the addition of some "long" of each age group would save a lot of headache.

H&M for us.