Clothing "shift change"

[judecorp]

I spent a good chunk of time terrorizing my child today, making her try on all of the current pants in the drawer and then the new pants I bought for fall/school. I had to do this while talking to my aunt on the phone (who did not seem to get that the whining was not enhancing my phone experience, LOL) so it was fun on both ends, let me tell you. But we got it done and I got all of her pants tried on and I have learned something very interesting:

1. My kid is no longer super slim, either that or the Old Navy/Gap jeans get slimmer as they size up. When she wore 2T, they were trim but fit well. 3T was more form fitting but still okay. 4T/4 are TIGHT. Like, they actually fit her but they fit like I would have liked my jeans to fit in high school, which is to say they are not very conducive to climbing and squatting and playing. And Punk didn't like them, she complained they were too tight. Bleh. So there are a couple of pairs of jeans (which thankfully were hand-me-downs and I didn't buy them) that I doubt she will be wearing much, if at all.

2. I imagine I will be sending her to preschool in predominantly elastic-waist pants because they are easier for her to take down to go potty. She still struggles with pulling pants UP and no amount of coercing or encouraging seems to help, so I am going to leave that to preschool to teach. Honestly, after all of their crap, they should be teaching her three languages. But anyway, the bonus of the elastic-waist pants is that they fit forever, because they don't get tight. :)

3. Once again, Gymboree wins for the very generous (*cough* too generous) hip/waist sizing (ditto Hanna Anderssen) but thankfully they all have adjustable waist so I can pull them in a ton. Also, their pants are longer than all of the other pants. But it's funny that their "skinny jeans" are way less snug than the "regular fit" at Old Navy or Gap.

4. All of the issues with my kid's pants being too tight were really triggering for when I was a tween/teen and had a hard time squeezing into junior-sized clothes, and feeling like I was really super obese when in reality I just plain wasn't. But for a few minutes I had a heart-attack moment of "Oh no, is my kid getting fat?" and then I basically had to beat the crap out of myself.

Good times, people, good times. But once the 4T fall clothes are washed, the "shift change" is done. :)

Comments

[enchantedmagic.livejournal.com]

I did this yesterday too. It's my least favorite thing to do. I can't wait until she is older and I can get away with doing it twice a year. Now it's every 3 months. ARGH!

I see a real difference between old navy jeans and gap jeans. Gap are a just little bigger than old navy- children's place runs the smallest in my book. I don't love gymboree. I love love- Oshkosh. They have my all time favorite kids clothes. I have no clue why I went on this rant. They ARE making kids jeans tighter and tighter- it's trendy.

I meant to share that I had a similar oh shit moment- because we got mackenzie some winter boots size 7- and I tried them on yesterday- and they won't zip all the way up. They are nearly knee high and my baby's legs are too chunky. For a second, I also thought- my kid is getting fat- then I was like- WHAT?! Not- she really isn't. The boots are made too narrow. :-)

[childlight.livejournal.com]

Kids and sizes can be really crazy sometimes. I have found that I love Carter's clothes best. Luckily we have a outlet near us so we can still find sizes that go beyond 24 months.

kids clothes

[(Anonymous)]

I think Childrens Place jeans are the bomb. They fit Morgan the best and longest. Oh and check out www.skinnykidz.com They make this really cool belt that basically turns pants into elastic waist...sorta! I sent Morgan to school today with one on and her CP jeans in size 4T that were way too big around the waist. She had no butt crack issues!! Plus she can do the potty thing without having to worry about fiddling with a belt!

[(Anonymous)]

Girls clothes are small, small, small! I'll put it into perspective: My 3 year old son is wearing 3T shorts (heh, obvs ;p), my 7 year old daughter is wearing size 8 shorts. When I hold them up waist to waist, my sons shorts are LONGER (and I don't dress Avery like a hoochie...you've seen pics!) and the waist band on Chase's shorts are only slightly smaller than Avery's. It's disgusting how they make girls pants/shorts!

Cristin

[kaleidoscopeeye.livejournal.com]

I had to go buy Izzy jeans this weekend because I realized she has two pair of pants that fit her. Doh.

Izzy and Zach are a little on the short side and a little below 50th percentile and Gap/Old Navy fit them perfect right now. Although they are both in 3T so we shall see if I feel the same way when they move up a size.

And I agree with how well Gymboree holds up, but their pants don't work nearly as well for my kiddos. And I can't buy Izzy anything with elastic waists because she is too skinny and they fall right off of her. Bleh.

[auntiesiannan.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I can relate to #4. Every fall it was a big scene with me mudder shrieking about how much bigger I had gotten and wasn't I a gargantuan disgusting moose. When I eventually grew 1. taller than her small-framed 5'2" 2. Grew bigger feet 3. Grew a bigger CHEST than she did, I was led to believe that I was going to end up like Walter Hudson and have to live in a bed and only sit on concrete blocks for the rest of my life.

[stapynam.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking to myself TODAY "oh, no, it's time to do the clothes switch again."

Jeb is a peanut; he potty trained 2 weeks ago, and is now back in 18 MONTHS shorts since he's got no diaper to hold up the 2T, even though he'll be 3 YEARS old in a few months! Except, 18 month pants look like major high waters. Boo.

[bloomchen.livejournal.com]

One thing that I noticed is that if something is a 4T or 5T vs a 4/5/etc. is that T stands for toddler which also means diaper. A friend and I had this discussion years ago that the clothing gets a lot slimmer after 3T because kids are trending out of diapers and don't need the extra room anymore.

And I love Gap jeans for exactly that reason - no matter what size they are, they fit skinny kids. For girls there are a LOT more choices if your kids is on the slim side - leggings, dresses, etc. But for boys it's pretty much jeans or pants or sweats once they're in boys sizes. I was thrilled when they started to put those tabs inside jeans to cinch them in - at age 11 J can still wear size 8 shorts because his waist is so small, but for jeans I have to get size 10 slim and cinch them in to fit his waist and still have them long enough. Sweatpants with just elastic are a nightmare - we have to have a drawstring or they're obscene. And for older kid sizes, the jeans do come in different fits, even for boys - boot cut, cargo, painter's pants - whereas in the little kid range it's pretty much the same fit.