Help - Finding trousers to fit a 4 year old.

[Niecie]

I have a 3, nearly 4 year old DS who is a big lad and I am finding it very hard to find trousers to fit him. He has always been big, but he has developed a bit of a tummy in the last couple of months. (I am hoping he is about to shoot up but I am now watching his diet and portion sizes so it isn't a permanent problem). He is already wearing 4 to 5 year old stuff but it is too small on the waist and sometimes on the thighs - his Dad says he is a future prop forward for England, hence the legs!!

My problem is that if I give in and buy 5 to 6 year old stuff it will be way too long for his legs as he is tall but with a long body and only average legs. It is very bulky to take them up and my sewing isn't that good either.

Does anybody know of a brand that have decent elasticated waists that I could try? We have 3 pairs of Tesco cheapy jeans that are great but he can't wear those all the time! M&S seem to be getting smaller and even my tall skinny 7 year old is finding their waist bands a bit tight. Mothercare are the same. George is OK sometimes but they seem to have nothing but jeans and shorts at the moment and their stuff seems to vary a lot.

Is it worth paying for more expensive brands - do they come up any bigger? Please help as it isn't the weather for shorts at the moment!!

Some places do adjustable waists, which might be a good bet for him. They have a piece of elastic on each side with lots of button holes in, and you can let them out by moving the hole that the button is in. They usually give you at least a couple of inches of extra space.

I know that H&M and Pumpkin Patch do them, and it's worth looking out in places like Next and Bhs as well.

I have always found that Adams trousers come up small, so it might be worth trying him in a pair of size 5 - 6 in there.

(When I say they come up small, I mean the legs are short ... not clear there, sorry!)

hi niecie. i had exactly the same problem with my (bigger built) 4 year old. I had to buy 5-6 to fit round the waist but he was always tripping over the legs!

I find next clothes fit him the best. GAP are also good.

In the last 6 months though he has suddenly shot up and slimmed right down, hence all his 5-6 stuff now fits on the legs but are baggy round the waist!! arrrrrghhhh

I find Woolworths roomy in the waist.

And BHS, actually, are roomy too.

Boots have some adjustable waist stuff and good sales! Certain cuts give more room in the legs e.g. gap do different styles of jeans - I've bought the baggier ones for ds1 in the past and they don't suit him (he's skinny-legged) but carpenter style do. IMO a pair of gap jeans well worth the money as you'll get a year or more's wear out of them and they still look good. I've bought 2nd hand pairs on ebay tho that still look good!

Thanks everybody. I must be in a shopping rut as I have never thought of looking in BHS for childrens clothes! I might invest in Gap as well, especially as the sales will be on shortly.

I have tried some adjustable waistbands but the ones I have tried seem to make an average waistband smaller for a slimmer child. The problem is that even in the same shop the same size can vary a lot and you can't keep shelling out for trousers on the off chance that they might fit.

I will also give Pumpkin Patch a go as I have bought some tops in there that are massive. My 7yo DS has a sweatshirt from there for age 5 which he only now fills properly and he is not small. Not quite sure why I have not bought any trousers other than the price but again, the sales are on or should be soon so I will venture a look. I feel a shopping spree coming on.

I live in hope that he will grow up instead of out but I think he will always be a big boy. He has size 12.5 feet which is only about a size and a half smaller than his big brother. He is big boned just like his Mum.

How do you find Next, Niecie, they seem very wide at the waist and long for my ds? Can you not buy them, try them on him and return them if they're not right? Doesn't matter if it's sales or not. and once you know what suits, you can pick up the size you want via ebay or elsewhere (NCT nearly new sales for instance) more cheaply. Also primark do quite big sizing and very cheap of course, my ds is still in 18-24 trousers (he's 3.7)!

I have a sort of similar problem with my ds - he is tall (long in body - shorter in leg). He is 3 next month but in 4-5 yo clothes and I just got him a load of trousers in the Next sale. I need adjustable waists because he is slimmer in the waist but needs the length etc. in the older boys trews - so if I don't have an elastic/ adjustable waist his trousers fall down - which is not dignified for the poor lad.

My dd is 15m and wearing 2-3 yo clothes and even they are a bit snug as she has a magnificent booty (and tummy!!) and wears washable nappies ... so when she wears leggings she looks like Kenny Everett doing his Rod Stewart impression(don't know if you are old enough to get that reference) She may well grow up to be a rugby player as well!!

So I find next is pretty good for big dc's (and gap is rubbish!!) Tesco clothes are quite generous as well and they have some adjustable waisted trews.

HTH

my ds at the same age (also tall and, umm, tubby) practically lived in tesco and asda cheapy jeans. He has now lost his tum and they fall off him and I am having to look for adjustable waist ones.

Sadly I am old enough to remember Kenny Everett doing Rod Stewart - nice image though!

People keep coming back to Next so maybe I will give them another go and be more careful to choose the right style.

My SIL was telling me today that her DS aged 9, split 4 pairs of trousers in a week because he has the family thighs. That comes from his father and my DH's family not mine, I hasten to add. She agrees that BHS are good for bigger children - her DS is very tubby at the moment as well as suffering 'the thighs'!

I love Tesco trousers too but they seem to have nothing but 3/4 length trousers at the moment. I suppose nobody is buying them with the weather as it is. Roll on the autumn collection!

LOL family thighs
I think combat style would always be looser in the legs than standard jeans although gap do some lovely loose fit jeans too.

We have a family arse - nobody is ready for our jelly! There are also a lot of low down bums...

I like combat trousers and DS1 is wearing some now but they did seem to make DS2 as wide as he is tall! I haven't got him any for a while except a Tesco's pair which are very straight legged and although they don't make him look dumpy they are a bit tight. I will have to look for some really baggy ones and hope he is now tall enough to avoid looking a bit daft.

The difficulty is that I need DS2 to try them on but small boys don't enjoy shopping let alone spending ages in changing rooms. I have burnt my bridges with Next as they insist that I haven't paid them and I insist that I have so after a very chilly conversation I have closed my account so no mail order from them! I will have to trudge around the shops.

Family thighs seem to be an expensive trait. Not only can I not get trousers to fit DS2 and find his brother's hand-me-downs don't fit, but DH wears holes in his trousers where his thighs rub together at the top. There are several pairs of jeans lying at the bottom of the ironing basket which are in perfect condition apart from the holes in the tops of the legs. Suit trousers really upset me as they are so expensive but we don't buy a jacket anymore without at least 2 pairs of trousers so DH can get some wear out of the jacket before he ruins the trousers. I can't think what to do with all the holey ones so I suppose one day I will have to take them to the dump. What a waste!

big mouth - I was keeping quiet about the family arse as I suspect that comes from my side of the family. I hate hipsters as they don't stay up but they don't seem to make trousers that sit on your waist any more. DS2 has the buttocks of Lynford Christie - what with the thighs and the buttocks if he isn't some sort of athlete when he gets a bit bigger I shall be very disappointed!

Niecie - my Dh has the same trouser chafing problem! The no. of jeans he goes through is a mare. We have found that M&S jeans and chino's are the best fit for him but they still have to be replaced regularly.

It is a pain. We didn't give our dc's much of a chance to be delicate little things as both me and dh are 'big boned' ... ahem.

Yes, DH lives in M&S - he looks like an advert but the jeans are cheap and cheerful and I wouldn't pay for designer jeans if they aren't going to last more than a couple of months.

Horrible thought - perhaps the sport that DS2 is built for is all-in wrestling! If you have heard of him, Big Daddy springs to mind!

my gdad was a wrestler i think (amateur only)... don't particularly want ds (or dd for that matter who is showing signs of being a v big girl) - following in his footsteps!!

Giant Haystacks was my fav loved the beard - lol

Can't imagine my DS that hairy so Big Daddy came to mind as he always reminded me of a big baby in a bodysuit lol.

I suppose Giant Haystacks was somebody's baby boy once - how many pairs of trousers did he get through?!

my dd is quite large and i do tend to go for tracksuit type trousers with her from next, but i've also had some success with wonderwebbing jeans - it's just ironing under a damp cloth with the stuff inside the new hem and then later i just pick it out when she's tall enough. john lewis haberdashery sell wonder web

I have always found Tescos to be very roomy in the boys section. Was useful when ds was in nappies as I used washables which made his bottom even bigger. My son is the same. Long body shortish legs.

Can I ask you if you have problems with pants? ds is just in pants now and I am having to buy him age 4-5 pants and mothercares are too tight so had to get 5-6. He is 2 on thu!

Dragonhart, I've given up buying boy's pants from Mothercare as they seem to come up v. long and v. narrow. When ds was 3 he was too chubby to fit into Mothercare 4-5yo pants widthwise but fitted 3yo pants from Next/M&S perfectly. Bizarrely, dd is still wearing Mothercare 12-18mo jeans despite being in cotton nappies but virtually outgrowing Next 18-24ms. Buying clothes for children is NOT easy!

Don't get me started on pants - I have just given a load of George ones away to his playgroup which were labelled 3-4yrs but were miles smaller than other brands. He'd only worn them once and it seemed to a shame to waste them but I don't think they would sell in a charity shop or on ebay after they were used!

M&S seem to come up quite big for pants (but not trousers as I said before). They fit nicely over his bum.

I think the problem might be buying the bargain brands as I have no problem with the ones with cartoon characters on which cost a relative fortune, even from Mothercare. The plain ones where you get 10 pairs for £2.50 or whatever, seem to be tiny. I suppose you get what you pay for but even so, I just wish they would all stick to the same sizing and then we wouldn't have a draw full of pants he can't wear!!!

They shrink too which doesn't help.

I thought the george ones were huge, had to hide some away for next year! Weird isn't it? Niecie, I have one more suggestion - I put some OshKosh jeans on ds1 today (they're 18-24 months, I'd put them away because they were huge at the time) and the legs were sooooo baggy but the length was just right, well a little short but so is he (3.7). They used to do them in boots, but not sure if they do anymore? Also would he wear dungarees? Might avoid the thighs problems a bit more?

accessorize - Don't fancy dungarees now that he is toilet trained (he used to wear them as a baby) - I can envisage all sorts of carnage in the bathroom as he tried to get them on and off. He has enough trouble hitting the pan as it is without the added delay of getting his trousers down! lol

However, I will have a look for OshKosh. I think there are some in a new catalogue I picked up in Sainsburys today called Oli. Don't know if it is anything to do with Sainsburys but it does seem to have some designer stuff like OshKosh, Ted Baker and Timberland in it. Not cheap though - might be a job for ebay to see if I can get some cheap. Thanks for the thought though.