Clothes for larger children

[Waspie]

My partner's daughter is nearly 8. She's average height for her age so length isn't an issue but nothing fits around her waist.

My partner bought her home for the weekend with us today and she's wearing shorts because her mother can't find any trousers to fit her in her age group.

I went out this morning and bought her 2 pairs of jeans aged 9-10 years. They fit around the waist (barely) but are seriously too long and I'm no seamstress and don't feel confident taking them up. At least she's warm now so I suppose it's better than nothing.

So, my question is, does anyone know of any shops/websites which cater for the larger child? Google has not helped me so far!

Thanks in advance.

You just have to buy by waist size and hem them (wonderweb is brilliant iron-on stuff) or to to a dry cleaner who will do the alterations for you. She might be more comfortable in leggings/ jeggings and boots to hide the excess.

For school trousers, M&S do a larger size so the legs are proportionately shorter. Not sure about more casual styles.

bhs generous fit are really good, you buy the childs actual age, they where a god send for school trousers and jeans (still are) for my son

Next (online at least) do jeans that come in slim, regular and plus fit for girls. I think Vertbaudet does too. Not sure about non-jeans trousers but worth a look.

Tsc I think you are.

Some of us have long bodies and short legs. Just the way it is.

Some children grow out before they grow upwards.

We don't know that the child is over weight - only that she has a larger than average waist - this could be to do with frame and build, not just extra fat.

SecondComing I would have thought that too if the OP were talking about her own child, but this is a step-daughter who doesn't live with them normally. Not much the dad and OP can do on the weekend if the mum won't go along with a diet/lifestyle change during the week.

I don't know if you can order C+A clothes in the UK now they have closed the shops, but they do a good range of reasonably-priced jeans with larger waists. Unfortunately there's quite a demand for them here in Germany.

Thank you all. I will check out all of your suggestions this evening once she's in bed.

TheSecondComing - I wish, but I'm not allowed to comment. Apparently she has has "big bones". I did feed her salad for lunch though!

I find it awkward because I've been saying to my partner since the spring that she is too heavy but he uses the "big bones" and "ready for a growth spurt" excuses and even if I feed her healthy food we can't control what her mother feeds her, and she's only with us 2 nights out of every 14.

Her mother will not acknowledge there is an issue - hence being unwilling to buy larger sized/aged clothes for her. It's the little girl I feel sorry for though. It was minus 2 this morning and the poor child is in shorts

I'm really not trying to start an argument. I was rather upset this morning but now I'm trying to be constructive and just find some nice warm clothes.

Longer term, I have suggested to my partner that he looks into speaking to her school/GP about a sensible diet and perhaps getting one or other of those authority fugures on board will help persuade her mum. He is not convinced there is an issue but I'll work on him again later.

She wasn't this big a year ago so I'm not convinced by the large frame excuses.

No worries TheSecondComing. To be honest it was my first thought too, esp. about allowing her to continue to get larger as she gets older. But I'm going to have to work towards that and find my long lost diplomacy brain cell (last seen 1995) while I do it

They've been out on a 4 mile hike at a local NT place this afternoon so I guess that will have burned a few calories (if they avoided the tea room of course).

I don't know if they still do them, but Gap used to sell "husky fit" jeans and trousers.

What about things like leggings and smock type dresses? Or knitted dresses and tights?

Wonderweb will be ok for trousers but tbh it doesn't last a long time, and would like shite if you used it on jeans. It might be worth biting the bullet, getting her some jeans that fit round her waist, even if they are primark/supermarket, and get them taken up professionally, shouldn't cost you more then £7 a pair.

Def think leggings is the way to go though, as she will probably be comfier too.

It's nice that you are so concerned for her and are trying to help.

Why don't you buy her dresses (not fitted, the sort that fall from the shoulders) and tights? These are generally a lot more flattering and comfortable than trousers for bigger tummies.

I'd second Next, only jeans that vaguely fitted DD1.
I still had to shorten them, but they looked nice.
Thankfully, from 11 onwards she shot upwards and the jeans lasted a good while let down as well.
Thankfully she is now 13y and a standard adult 12 and looks like staying that way. Adult stuff is sodding expensive, but at least it isn't a nightmare to find.

Thanks all. I am going to go into Next tomorrow and order some of the bootcut jeans and a couple of pairs of trousers from their Plus size range.

I'm not going to bother having the two pairs I bought yesterday altered as she seems happy wearing them with turn ups.

Bonsoir - she wears dresses and tights with knee length boots to school so she wanted something different, which I totally understand.

GeordieMinx - I have bought her a knee length jumper dress with leggings as part of her Christmas present. I hope she will like it.

I have been studying her (not in a weird way!) and she does have a large frame I think. For example, her wrists and fingers are as broad as mine (and I'm 5'10" and a size 14). She seems to be carrying excess weight everywhere and not just around the tummy/bottom.

We have all been talking this morning about eating healthily and have made a deal to all start to be more healthy and think more about what we eat and how much we eat. My partner is going to talk to his ex about our "health pact" when he drops his daughter off later this evening. Hopefully she will come on board.

Startail - I'm not sure if she will shoot up. Her family are all average height. I'm glad your daughter has evened out and found a comfortable size It's odd for me because my son is the exact opposite. He's just turned 4 and is wearing age 5-6 trousers because he's so tall but everything is huge round the waist and needs to be belted in. I'm not sure which body type is easier to clothe

Maybe you could also get leggings or tights to go under the shorts. It's a very popular look with girls round here.

Even if the child is overwieght and the mother agrees to put her on a diet it will take several months subtained commitment if not a couple of years for a child to lose weight safely. Crash diets do not work for anyone. In the meantime this child needs clothes that fit.

If the OP wanted health advice she would have asked for it. I hope the little girl can get some nice clothes.