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?

My average weight 4yr old daughter has just gone into size 7-8 so I disagree

When ds2 was that age, he fitted better in in girls jeans. I have no idea why they make them slimmer, but they commonly do.
Also you might find some shops are better than others. French brands tend to be slimmer fitting, so maybe try vertbaudet or la redoute

I'm the opposite!

my girl's legs area 2nd centile, but she's got a big belly! At 6 months she's a in 9-12 month sleepsuits and trousers that fit her waist but are almost twice as long at the feet

Next ended up being our 'go to'.

You can only lie so much to a 14 year old that his chinos look fine with either 'adjustable' elastic reefed in to the max, or a belt is creating the 'paper bag waist' look.

Hallelujah to the day they fit 26" waist (about 2 models...) or the sunlit uplands of 28"

17 and 19.

George did school trousers in long and extra long lengths, I too went down a couple of years and got extra long length for my skinny.

For school uniform m&s do slim fit slim leg trousers- which work out at about 2 sizes smaller in all but length - so my skinny but tall 5yr old wears age 5-6yr and they dont bag at the bum!

Gap & h&m are good for Jean's for skinny girls and boys. My 9yr old dd is tall but slim/average width - but now gaining hips - these have worked for her as well as the skinny 5yr old!

But yeah clothing is a nightmare,....

This isn't a new thing my mum had this exact problem with my brother 25 years ago. She just took the waists in tbh and he wore a lot of belts. And all his trousers had adjustable waists, if not my mum made them adjustable. It doesn't mean clothes are made for fat children, although I hope some are as fat DC also need clothes.

I looked it up and there's only about 3/4 of a inch between sizes in terms of waist. I find it really hard to believe that one size can fit fine, then the next size is falling down so much that a belt won't sort it. Or A tiny bit of sewing

I don't think it's the length of the legs - both of mine have very long limbs (arms and legs) and are tall although not unusually so (consistently on the 80th percentile). They also have very similar BMI - in the lower half of the scale but not that low, and they don't look skinny. But the clothing fits differently.

The girl is athletic, has more muscle in her upper thighs and her bottom, and can "fill" the clothes (so now aged 9 she needs 10 for length and while roomy, it's not that big)
My boy has narrow hips, tiny bottom, and at 6 needs size 7 for length but could easily wear 4 for width (and actually still has some shorts he got when he was 3 or 4).

The problem with the adjustable waist was that while not falling off, they often don't look very nice around very small bottom and hips, all scrunched up. E.g. some of his jeans. He really needs narrower cut.

Zara has been good. Gap the worst. We are in NZ so I found that some of Country Road pants (though not all) fit very nicely.

Factors like ethnicity (slight frames), undernourishment, poverty all lead to kids being thinner or smaller than average. Those aside, there will always be a wide range. Lots of kids have done the bulk of their growing by 11 or 12, others will gain height and fill out later. The number is just an idea. Choosing clothes by height rather than age number is a no brainer, surely.

I went trouser shopping recently. For height needed age 8 for ds6, age 11 for dd9. Both with adjustable waists on the tightest setting and there's still too much space in them

I always go for french brands

@TerracottaLeggy, I think we're discussing (at least I am) how length isn't the best guide either, if you have a tall child with very narrow hips. But this thread is not complaining, it's exchanging experiences and advice. It took me a few attempts until I got to Zara as the best choice for my son (and a few pairs of Gap pants that didn't work and I had to give away). He's older now and happy to try on clothes so I'm not making mistakes anymore.

I'd like to know actually which French brands you're suggesting

DS is 2.5 but the height of a 3 yr old. He is currently wearing age 12-18m shorts!

I find even the lengths are mad tho. Bought some Zara chunk type trousers in age 2-3, the legs are very narrow, but the waist (even adjusted) is very big and the trousers are so long. If they are too long for my very tall child, I'm not sure what child age 2-3 would fit them.

I suspect many of these clothes are designed and made with references to data set measurements perhaps from the US where children are often huge (imho) and never actually checked for the target market.

Agree. I think it reflects the childhood obesity crisis sadly, they make the waists huge as a significant percentage of children in the UK are overweight.

I find Scandi brands for better, and they often have an adjustable button in the waistband. Try Zezuzulla, Albakid, Bang Bang Copenhagen, Polarn O Pyret, Molo etc.

It's vanity sizing for kids. I find it really odd. I live in Spain, when the DC were 5 we bought 5yo clothes, when 7 yo and so on and they fit perfectly. When family in the UK got the DC clothes they got a 5yo top for my 5yo DC, my DC was 7 before it fit.

Surely it depends on your child's build. Ds1 is always in the size up, except in Next clothes which are true to his size. Ds2 is fine with his own age or if hes 5 can wear 4-5 but generally its a bit long also can be a bit tight in the waist.

I have the same issue Next is my go to for DS. Although I find M&S uniform ok.

I do wish people would understand that there is a limit to how much adjust trousers have in the waist. I've broken elastic in trousers try ing to put them in too much.

I like the idea of smaller trousers in longer length, but my short skinny 8yo was upset at wearing 4-5 shorts purely when he saw the label.
Incidently a year or so he managed to fit in baby brothers 9-12 mth trousers. They might have looked like drain pipe shorts but he was in them.

I have this problem but I avoid it by my 3 year old basically living in leggings, nice and elasticated.

Yep, has always been the way. They make clothes for fat kids basically. Gap used to make long and lean jeans but they were the only trousers that fitted dd until she hit adult petite sizing

Those saying buy for length are exactly right when you have a skinny child. But the waists are too big. If its 3/4 inch difference between ages, and my average height 10 year old can happily wear age 6 shorts, that 3 inches of excess material bunched round his 21inch waist. Or, according to the ASOS sizing charts, a size 10 woman wearing a size 14, just because they are too tall for a 10.

But for some kuds, they need to buy for waist, and then deal with the excess length. There isnt one waist/height combination that will fit everyone.

When UK based family buy clothes for the DC I always say NEXT is good because the trousers have adjustable waists. @RainOrSun

And you still end up with inches of material bunched round the bum and hips, @LogsOnTheFire.
Its better than nothing, but not perfect.

YY to the different frames for different ethnicities. People in the UK always used to tell me DS was skinny as a baby (half Italian, half Filipino). Whereas in Italy everyone complemented me on how big he was! PIL always bring us back loads of pjs from Asia as I mentioned they fit DS so much better...such cute manga type patterns too.

It works the same for adult clothes too. I'm Italian and tend to have to try on English clothes a lot more than Italian ones (the chest is often too big on English clothes for me, or the hips are a bit snug) whereas the proportions on Italian or Spanish clothes are a lot better for me.

I agree @Camomila It is the same for adults too. I am a size 10, here in Spain I buy a size 10. In the UK I can buy a size 6 and easily fit into it.

Haha @Mrsfrumble I love the summer for this too. My 3 year old son often wears trousers that are too short for him because Asda comfy jogging bottoms are huge on the waist.