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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To spend £600 every time my daughter goes up a clothes size?

668 replies

ivebeentotheyear3000 · 05/02/2022 05:34

Every time my daughter goes up a clothes size I end up spending about £600. DH thinks this is a ridiculous amount to spend but I don't really see how I could do it for much cheaper!? I buy from a variety of places but generally Asda, H&M, Tu, Matslan - nowhere really expensive.

Vests £10
Knickers £10
Socks £10
Tights £20
Jeans £30
Leggings £20
Shorts £20
Short sleeved tops £25
Long sleeved tops £25
Dresses £50
Fleece £15
Hoodie £15
Tracksuit £20
Winter coat £25
Summer waterproof £15
Pyjamas £40
Ballet uniform £75
School uniform £75
Trainers, shoes, wellies, sandals, slippers £100
Swimsuit £10

AIBU? How much do others spend and if less, how do you save money?

OP posts:
apprenticewage · 07/02/2022 20:11

Yes I but the size they are fitted for which has the built in room. But I wouldn't buy the next half size up.

Svara · 07/02/2022 20:15

@apprenticewage

Yes I but the size they are fitted for which has the built in room. But I wouldn't buy the next half size up.
So why not buy clothes with growing room too?
apprenticewage · 07/02/2022 20:22

Because as i have said if clothes are bigger they tend to look scruffy....the necks are too wide and the sleeves need to be rolled up...then they half fall down...looks unkept to me.

LittleBearPad · 07/02/2022 20:39

@apprenticewage

Because as i have said if clothes are bigger they tend to look scruffy....the necks are too wide and the sleeves need to be rolled up...then they half fall down...looks unkept to me.
There’s no much in it between a 7 year old clothes and an 8 year olds.

It’s so wasteful for clothes not to last.

apprenticewage · 07/02/2022 20:42

Sometimes there is...my dc are quite small anyway so I just buy the size that fits best. For my age 8 dd that could be anything from age 6 to 9 depending on the store.

WhatIfWhatIf · 07/02/2022 21:17

[quote RussianSpy101]@WhatIfWhatIf it sounds like madness to buy your children the correct size clothing? Did you really mean to say that? So if your son fits in age 6 clothes, you don’t buy him size 6 clothes?[/quote]
@RussianSpy101 No, of course I wouldn't! Because children are growing all the time and I did, he would grow out of them in no time!

That's why children's shoe fitters are trained not to fit children with shoes that fit them properly at that moment but with shoes that have the appropriate amount of growing room in them.

If I do it with shoes, why wouldn't I do it with clothes?

WhatIfWhatIf · 07/02/2022 21:18

...and IF I did...

Runningupthecurtains · 07/02/2022 21:25

@apprenticewage

Because as i have said if clothes are bigger they tend to look scruffy....the necks are too wide and the sleeves need to be rolled up...then they half fall down...looks unkept to me.
Nothing has ever "fitted" my child if legs and sleeves are the right length you could fit three of him in the width. Age 10 he is currently wearing age 13 trousers with the waist elastic pulled as tight as will go but still prone to slipping down age 8 shorts/swimming trunks and tops in a range of sizes. If you have a child that is on the 99.9 centile for height but the 40 centile for weight nothing ever looks fashion magazine perfect. Every single item of clothing he has ever worn has been a compromise of some sort (yep even shoes as he often a full size difference between left and right feet). So year one on top the length is good but it looks a bit big, year two the fit on the body is a bit better but the sleeves are starting to creep up the arms. Perhaps if there was ever a point at which things fitted perfectly we would only ever have one size....
rambleonplease · 07/02/2022 21:42

@Runningupthecurtains

My daughter is the same... 90th centile for height and 25th for weight. You could easily fit 3 of her in many dresses and trousers forever falling down!

Desmondo2021 · 07/02/2022 21:47

Just buy her stuff when you see it and like it, when she needs it or if you see a bargain. I wouldn't even add it up. You sound just like a friend of mine who looks for any excuse to spend money that they can 'justify' spending. You're seriously over thinking it.

Svara · 07/02/2022 21:51

@apprenticewage

Because as i have said if clothes are bigger they tend to look scruffy....the necks are too wide and the sleeves need to be rolled up...then they half fall down...looks unkept to me.
DS's primary uniform was only available in a 4, 6, 8, 10... The children didn't look scruffy.
SkankingMopoke · 07/02/2022 21:54

Runningupthecurtains we have a similar problem with DD1 (she's 60th centile for height, but fluctuates between 9th and 20th for weight). It looks terrible when trousers are adjusted onto their tightest setting, and leggings are often not only baggy but 3/4 length by the time the waist band fits her. I have found we need to pick our brands carefully. Maybe try Zara or other European brands that tend to be cut slimmer? We've also had success with Boden. There's no need for them to suffer bunched up waist bands.

daisyjgrey · 07/02/2022 21:55

Sorry, but when was it standard to know which centile your 9 year old is on? Surely unless they have a health problem that impacts it, you just file the red book thing away once they've started school?!

CloneAViralMess · 07/02/2022 21:56

Second hand

ShallWeTalkAboutBruno · 07/02/2022 21:57

@daisyjgrey

Sorry, but when was it standard to know which centile your 9 year old is on? Surely unless they have a health problem that impacts it, you just file the red book thing away once they've started school?!
I know what centile my 8 year old is on. She’s very small and slight so measured her out of interest. My 6 year old is taller than my 8 year old so also measured her out of interest.
RussianSpy101 · 07/02/2022 22:29

@WhatIfWhatIf because shoes with growing room is completely different to a too long jumper with rolled back cuffs and a baggy neck.

The first is sensible, normal and unnoticeable
The second looks scruffy

Runningupthecurtains · 07/02/2022 22:34

@daisyjgrey

Sorry, but when was it standard to know which centile your 9 year old is on? Surely unless they have a health problem that impacts it, you just file the red book thing away once they've started school?!
Because every time he has a medical appointment for totally unrelated issues they weigh and measure him and usually comment where that puts him on the charts, if he was 50th and 45th they probably wouldn't mention it (I'm pretty sure that if DH was average height random strangers in the street wouldn't feel the need to tell him he is really average or ask him how tall he is either). As DS is regularly seen at hospital/ clinic (asthma) I always have a rough idea and the fact that he is viably much taller than his classmates and needing trousers that are 3+ years old than his age but that they are literally falling down is another pretty good indicator. I'm not obsessively measuring and plotting. I can't think when I last weighed or measured him.
WhatIfWhatIf · 07/02/2022 22:37

[quote RussianSpy101]@WhatIfWhatIf because shoes with growing room is completely different to a too long jumper with rolled back cuffs and a baggy neck.

The first is sensible, normal and unnoticeable
The second looks scruffy[/quote]
I think we will have to agree to disagree.

My children look lovely, not scruffy! Grin

Well, when they leave the house anyway, if not when they return to it covered in mud, snot, lunch, etc, but the size of their clothes wouldn't change that...

SkankingMopoke · 08/02/2022 00:22

That's exactly it Runningupthe curtains. I have little idea about DD2's centiles other than they're pretty average. DD1 has a habit of suddenly dropping weight and becoming really very thin despite a very healthy appetite. It's usually after a growth spurt but also after being unwell, and on one worrying occasion for a still completely unknown reason (she was sent for blood tests just in case, and we managed to get the weight back on her over the following 2 months). I don't weigh her myself, as I can gauge it fairly well now by her wrists and ankles and don't want to make her hyper aware of it. However, she is always weighed when seen by a HCP, so I know what her centile range is.

IrishMama2015 · 08/02/2022 00:37

I would do similar to this but in 2 lots every year. Every year I buy oldest DC a new winter wardrobe around September and then a summer wardrobe around March. I try to keep clothes to use for one year so they are in good condition for use by DC2. I pass on everything except vests sock and underwear. Coats I sometimes get 2 years out of but then they are v grubby for passing down. I prefer doing it this way as it manages the financial side of it and I buy what is needed from my standard list, I match everything up as much as possible and it stops me browsing in between as I know DC1 has everything they need. Outside of those 2 times I buy an outfit for Christmas and birthday and school uniform

WhyWhyWhyMum · 08/02/2022 00:45

There was an idea on Dragons Den about this recently.
I looked to subscribe, but was £££

https://thelittleloop.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvOMlffq9QIVUIxoCR17wgHsEAAYASAAEgJuWvDD_BwE

LittleBearPad · 08/02/2022 08:04

[quote RussianSpy101]@WhatIfWhatIf because shoes with growing room is completely different to a too long jumper with rolled back cuffs and a baggy neck.

The first is sensible, normal and unnoticeable
The second looks scruffy[/quote]
You are over-egging this. There’s half an inch between most sizes - an inch at most. No need to roll sleeves back.

BertieBotts · 08/02/2022 08:53

That dragon's den idea looks bonkers considering the children's second hand market is oversaturated!

Mostlyjustrunning · 08/02/2022 08:53

What’s wrong with scruffy children anyway?

Hoppinggreen · 08/02/2022 09:17

@BertieBotts

That dragon's den idea looks bonkers considering the children's second hand market is oversaturated!
It’s a very niche market and much more about MC eco bragging rights than anything else
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