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?

Duvetfan, we get either skinny or slim leg extra long trousers. The adjustable waist still needs pulling in and often the hems altering, but they are the best fit I've found.

Soubriquet, I don't know if you've already tried them, but M&S also do longer length skirts.

My eldest is 18 and I’ve had this problem with all my children for years. Last year DS (11) put on a lot of weight when he was taking steroids, he still had space in the waist of some of his trousers!

H&M has always been good for my children, usually a size smaller. I also love the face that there trousers have really and not fake drawstrings!

I have a tall skinny 9 year old stepson.
His current swimming shorts are age 4-5 and fit perfectly.
We normally buy cuffed pants and roll them down, and hunt for adjustable waist pants or tracksuits with actual drawstrings that work.

@10brokengreenbottles. I had a look and everywhere is out of stock in DS2's size but thank you so much for the tip and I will definitely try that when he grows out of this size and I will also try with DS1 who is slim but not quite as waif like as DS2. This is so helpful. Thank you again.

H&M and Zara have always been the best for my DC; both are very tall and skinny and always have been (DS1 is 6 foot 2 at 13 and wears mens clothes now because nowhere sells boys clothes for teens his size.

La Redoute's own brand clothes often use European sizing, too, and seem slimmer cut.

Haven't RTFT so maybe somebody has said this- but you need to find a couple of brands of clothes that fit your particular DC. I read on here that there are no standardised sizes for children's clothing.

My v tall and broad DS always wore Boden stuff because (albeit a couple of years up) fit sideways and downwards.

He's now 9 and the age 13 matalan stuff fits fine if the buttons are pulled right in at the waist on trousers (luckily as it's cheaper).

I expect we'll have to change brands again as he becomes a tween.

My boys always had to have bigger sizes than their age but I always bought adjustable waisted clothes so wasn't too much of an issue. My girls however are so tall it's getting silly, clothes for girls are ridiculous my daughter is 5 and is growing out of 7-8 clothes in length, they are always massive in the waist and very few nice girls clothes have adjustable waists. Most tops are far too short but look ridiculous in bigger sizes as the are too wide. They live in tunic tops with tights and jumpers and leggings in the winter but I hate trying to get T-shirt's in the summer they always look ridiculous. Thankfully H&M have lots of lovely summer dresses in the strangest age sizes. Age 6-8 is fine and doesn't drown them!
I found that once the kids were out of nappies they were able to wear trousers again that were previously getting too short.

Completely agree DS is nearly nine months, still in 3-6 months and some 0-3 tops, he's 50th centile for weight and between 75th-91st for height so he's not dinky. I found some of the French companies a better fit la Redoute or vertbaudet, I tend to put him in leggings rather than trousers, joggers or jeans for the slimmer fit. DN is 3 weeks older and has been in 9-12 for a couple of months though. Not heavier weight wise but chubby baby rolls/stockier, whereas DS is quite lean and has little calf muscles from all the climbing!

I just buy what I like and then fold the waistband over at the back to take it in by 2 inches. Works for us!

I had (still have) this problem with mine. The adjustable waist is really not working because it had to be pulled so tight they were not able to pull the trousers down to go to the toilet, etc.
For the little boys up to thr age of 5 decathlon joggers are brilliant, I actually used to buy in several sizes. They actally fit in the waist. Vertbaudet have some with fairly slim waist. I also found some trousers in Next that actally fitted at waist without adjusting. Now if I find the trousers that fit I buy the current size and the size up just in case.

@Mrsfrumble I'm glad it's not just me! My almost 7 year old dd is also wearing 3-4 shorts still, she is so tall and leggy but tiny waist. I bought some 5-6 recently to try and they fell down as soon as she put them on!

I have two opposite children. Both 75th centile for height but one is a beanpole (50th for weight) and the other is a chunk (91st for weight). That doesn't sound like a massive difference, but apparently it is. With DS1 his arms and legs really do look like sticks... I was forever trying to winch adjustable waistbands ever smaller and now he is too old for clothes with those he complains that things fall off him. On the other hand I struggle to get trousers up around DS2's seemingly massive thighs and bum, and he often outgrows tops because his tummy gets stretched out rather than them being too small. I could barely get his arm into a sleeve today and I still had to roll it over at the end but he isn't THAT fat.

Gap is good for skinny children. Does not fit DS2 properly at all. H&M is better for him and UK supermarket stuff and Next.

I thought this 15 years ago when DD was 3.

She's now 18, 6'1 tall, with a 35" inseam. It's actually got MORE difficult to find trousers that fit her!

I tend to stick to Boden, H&M and Zara for my skinny narrow waisted ds. I do find that a lot of supermarket clothes come up way too big so tend to avoid those. Sainsbury’s is prob the best of the supermarkets, but would avoid Asda.

Next are the worst for this. HUGE clothes. Gap err on the larger side too.

I have the exact same problem with my 4 year old. I had to buy him 18-24 month old shorts the other week! He is very tall and slim but it seems no matter where I buy clothes, nothing fits properly in waist AND length. He mainly wears 2-3 years still but even most of that is too big. I buy a lot of stuff from George because I find their stuff fits in the waist best and is slightly longer in the leg, but I bought two pairs of joggers in the same range recently and one fit fine and the other was massive. It's like a lottery.

Try Scandi brands, Duns Sweden in particular is good for longer skinny kids and they're sized by height not age, so you however tall he is, buy that size and they should fit.

Learn to sew! I used to just sew extra elastic to the inside of the waistbands for dd and ds and it worked like magic

I found Gap waists to be huge, tops are fine but trousers never fitted. Supermarkets and M&S too. It really should not be that difficult to put properly elasticated waist, not the adjustible one, I believe. European brands are probably best- french or scandinavian.

I only buy trousers with drawstrings or the elastic/button combo for this reason. H&M are generally good.

I e just been having this issue looking for secondary school trousers for DS. He needs a 24in waist and 30in leg length, but they don't come that small.
I discovered M&S do not only long length but extra long length too. I got him a pair of age 10 (he's 12) skinny trousers in extra long and tightened the adjustable waist and they'll do.
If you have a super skinny, tall child, you can't always just adjust the waistband without ending up with a ridiculous bunched up, uncomfortable amount of fabric over the bum and hips.

Polarn O Pyret has adjustable waists and if you get it in the sale or on eBay is good value - it does both my kids and still looks new.

At the other end of the scale, Primark leggings are easy to adjust with no sewing - just snip open the waistband at the back, thread wide elastic through the gap and around the whole waistband using a nappy pin, and then pin the elastic at the right tightness. eBay can supply nappy pins and wide elastic for about £3, and it’s a two minute job that can be done in front of the telly. When the leggings are outgrown, remove elastic and pin and use them for the next pair.

There are so many different shapes of kids! Mine had short little legs as preschoolers so if anything we were turning up trousers. We passed on certain brands of clothes to friends as DC wouldn't fit in them - now their legs have caught up we find next slim fit are perfect, and also mostly adjustable. M &S uniform stuff all seems very adjustable too but DC nor us particularly fashion conscious so I don't know if they'd be deemed bunched up.

Verbaudet do slim cut trousers.

opposite for us.my now (just)9 y old has been massive length and weight wise from birth as he was 9lb 10 and 26 inches and would put on a pound or more a week

as a baby and toddler hes always been in much older sized clothes than his age(in 6-9 at birth),starting school at 4 and a few weeks he was in 9-10

at 7 he went in to mens smalls(took him out to home ed at 6 so i didnt have any uniform problems),now hes in mens mediums bottoms/tshirts and sometime needs a large tshirt as hes built very sturdy and solid(think rugby player)

before i get the hes very obese speeches/judgments hes not normal 9 y old size though hes 5ft 3(9, 13 days ago) already and 125 pounds with size 6 shoe