The Battle of Fitting Children’s Clothes

I don’t know about you but I am pretty fed up with trying to shop for clothes for my son. At almost three we have had the same issue since he was about 7 months old; clothes just never seem to come up right. When he was newborn he fed really well and had the typical baby podge he would fill out most of his clothes and as they came in 3-month stages I found it very easy to choose a selection to fit. But as he began to

wean and teethe, he went through a sicky stage and lost quite a bit of weight. With this and the added increase in movement, he gradually began to change shape. He grew taller but not wider, which led to longer legs but a smaller waist and this was where my problems began.

The Battle of Fitting Children’s Clothes

Ok, it’s not quite so bad when the clothes come in 6-9 months then 9-12 months but when you hit that 1-year milestone the sizings suddenly alter to 6-month stages. Why is this?! Why would my child all of a sudden fit 12-18 month clothes? Would he be the same size at 12 months as 18 months? I think not!

And I have now entered the ultimate challenge in age and clothing… he is 2. If you are a parent you will know that this now means you have to try and work out if you dress your child in clothes slightly too small or far too big because they are now only available in 2-3 years- a whole year gap for sizing! He will be 3 in a month and he is still in 18-24 months in most of his clothes, which says to me that something somewhere is going very wrong in our estimations of child growth and sizing. He was measured as being in the 95th percentile for height yet he has been 25-50 percentile in his weight all of his life. He isn’t underweight, he isn’t developing slowly, he just has a different frame; he is slender and long.

 

I Can Never Shop Alone

Each time I go shopping for his clothes he has to come with me to ensure that I can hold the items up to him or even try them on. It would be so much easier if I could just pop into town on my own and peruse the stock but this would result in me returning for refunds. Trousers are either too short but fit the waist, tops fit his arms but are too long for his body and jackets in his ‘correct size’ swamp him. Luckily at his age, most jeans now come with the adjustable elastic inside but this wasn’t the case when he was smaller. It is as if all the retailers just assume that every baby is chunky and doesn’t lose this until they are 2 or 3. What about those who have a slim build? What about those who were premature? Why is there only one view on how a baby/child looks?

 

Variation Between Stores

My other bugbear is that all these clothes sizes then vary from store to store (also a huge problem in women’s sizes). So my poor son has to be dragged around different shops to find the best fit just to get a complete outfit. I am now at a point where I really don’t know what to do next. He is almost 3 and is at the point where 2-3 years are still far too big but 18-24 months trousers are ankle swingers. (I’m not quite sure how old he will be when he finally fills out enough for 3-4 year old clothes!) Why should we have to turn larger trousers up to make them the correct length? Do you know how many times I have to keep stopping him to re-roll them during the day? He is an extremely active child who loves to run about. This doesn’t work out well with clothes that are too big!

Do you want my suggestion? Retailers/manufacturers/suppliers please introduce a smaller age range for older children as you do for babies. Please, please consider how each child is different, how each grows at a different rate and how some are just naturally slim but tall. Bring out clothes ranges in:

• 12-15 months
• 15-18 months
• 18-21 months
• 21-24 months

Then change to 6-month stages from the age of 2.

Make our shopping trips easier and make comfortable fitting clothes for our little people. I would quite happily buy these in-between sizes and I am sure many other parents would do too.

Comfort should always come first no matter the age.

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