Mums of very thin reception girls, pls help!

[kisaki333]

I have ordered (and mostly returned) at least £300 worth of school trousers in the last month I can't find a single one that looks ok and fits.
Some of the ones with adjustable waist can be adjusted to fit the waist but they look like she did a big poo in her nappy (she obviously doesn't wear one! )
To make it worse, all the adjustable waist ones are polyester. ALL the cotton pull ones I found don't have an adjustable waist. Whyyyyy???
So far we tried:
Next (best results so far but still bad)
M&S
ASDA found one slim fit that has really bad reviews saying it's much too slim lol. This one is ok, but feels poor quality.
Sainsbury's
Various Amazon brands with 0 success

Anyone managed to find something that actually looks ok on a slim petite 4.5yo and with good quaility? Preferably cotton?

And before you say about dresses, i don't want her in dresses, she is very active and a climber, she won't be able to do everything she wants in a dress.

In day to day she lives in leggings but the school won't accept those (how crazy is that, why not?!)

Well, do it yourself then! It's not hard to take trousers in round the crutch seam! It's really not!

Second these. My daughter has a very slim waist and these are the only school trousers she can wear. She is 4 years old and the waist band is fairly rigid so they don’t fall
xown

I went to a specialist uniform shop who had a wider range. Is there one of those near you?

This is what I have to do for DS. Buy 2-3 years younger extra long length, slim or skinny fit and let the grow hem down

When DS was small I went to H&M for trousers for him, and went down a size or two. They tend to have very long legs so you can size down a lot to get the fit on the waist without them being too short.

There are some that Asda do. They are jersey material with an elasticated waist. They’re the only ones that fitted my skinny little one and looked ok!

Cotton chinos with adjustable waist in the boys section of Next and M&S. Usually with some elastane so nice and comfy. Around £10-12 a pair.

This, but if you really are hell bent on trousers then look for slim fit size down on the age and then buy tall. Next boys do have elastic pull ons with an adjustable waist.

Tu sell jersey trousers which are as comfy as leggings but look a bit smarter. As they have a stretchy waist, it would be quite easy to take the waist in a bit. If you can't do it, your nearest seamstress or alterations place would have no problem.

The only issue with them is that they don't machine wash well and develop pilling. However, I've found that if they're gently handwashed they hold up a lot better. Ours have lasted all year this way.

2 Pack Black Jersey Trousers 3 years

I gave up and also went for culottes, and pinafores and dresses with tights or cycling shorts underneath. She hasn't been restricted. She also doesn't seem to mind wearing boys' shorts in summer.

In reception our school allows children to wear joggers instead of trousers - does yours? We got some really comfy, well fitting ones from John Lewis with the bonus of doubling up as PE kit. Fit much better than the polyester trousers.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/2-pack-cotton-rich-flared-leggings-6-16-yrs-/p/clp60627517?intid=mobile_app_pdp_share&color=Black

These are good, like leggings in fit but look like trousers.

boys' trousers

Does your town have a shop that sells school uniform for private schools? They generally have a larger choice, and often have an altering service as well. Just a thought.

The only trousers I've found that fit my skinny DDs (reception and year 2) well is H&M. But that is leggings. I haven't looked if they do school wear, but their leggings and trousers have adjustable waists plus are slim fitting so they are great! I found some jersey trousers from Next that my eldest will wear, but the waist is slack and the legs are getting short. I think I may try and adjust the seam on those tbh if H&M don't do any school ones for next winter.

Asda is the only place I've been able to get trousers to fit my 5 year old DD, she is very small and the 4-5 are the right length but way too big on the waist. The 3-4 jersey slim leg ones have been fine for her all this year, although now getting tight on her bum, they are almost like leggings as they are stretchy, but they are tailored like trousers. The best thing you can do is buy the nicest ones to fit her from wherever, and take them in on the waist, which is what I will have to do in September.

Don't rule out dresses though, they can move in those just as easily, if not more, as trousers!

They DO have them in H&M! This would be my first point of call

https://www2.hm.com/en_gb/productpage.1239470001.html

This, this and this OP.

There really is nothing wrong with putting a girl in a dress with shorts under.

If she has a problematic sizing issue, you might just have to take what is a second best option in your mind. Or pay for a tailor. Or have them look like a nappy. Or buy poor quality and get more.

Personally, I'd go for the dress and shorts and be done with it.

Specialist school uniform shop with different fits and adjustable waist:

https://price-buckland.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOoqc8yTlexvXAR7d3Ucn_ffZ60bUWsjwllMuPyTQSM4nF4UveS6u

Have you seen the school gingham play suits you can get? Next and m and s do then

If the asda ones are the jersey ones my DD wore at secondary, I wouldn't worry about quality - she'd stopped growing and the two pairs she had lasted 3 years (well, four, but lockdowns and wearing PE kit on PE days afterwards meant only three years of wear).

Why on earth does she need four pairs?

The gingham playsuits look great for the summer but might be a bit fiddly for going to the loo. Dresses/pinafores and shorts work great

You can get cotton jersey pinafores that are stretchy and loose fitting and won’t stop her doing whatever climbing she wants to do (but really how much climbing equipment does the school have?) and also won’t have the waist issue. I’ve got a skinny DD and she has been absolutely fine in a pinafore in winter and gingham dress in summer. If you’re really concerned you could get one and ask her to do some somersaults or whatever in it - you’d be surprised at how un-restrictive they are.

We got some jersey trousers from Next but they were quite big, so she only wore them with tights underneath when it was freezing!

Try LandsEnd.com. I tried to link the page, but as I'm in the US and it was giving me a hard time. They do ship to England. They have girls slim sizes in uniforms from skorts, coulottes, pants, etc. They have a 25% off select school uniform pieces. I've had good luck as far as quality, etc. Good luck in your search.

I bought my dd trousers from JL when she was in reception as I knew she’d be more comfortable in them & she hated wearing tights in Winter. Sadly, she was the only girl in her class who wore them & then she got called a boy by the other children and has refused to wear them again.