Wardrobe Malfunctions
There is a reason why we call her Tiny. Just last week at her two-year well visit. Tiny weighed in at 20 pounds on the nose (Buba was not too far ahead at 23.2 pounds). And while our doctor is somewhat concerned about her daily intake of calories (even though Tiny has seen two nutritionists and both have confirmed that she just is who she is), T and I are just fine with what she is eating and how she is growing.
However, since Tiny was about 12 months old, clothing her has become somewhat difficult. When she was a baby, I could just throw on a cute little one piece outfit and it didn’t make a difference that the tag said 0-3 months even though she was right around 6 months. But once she turned one, I wanted to put her in two piece- shirt and pants- outfits that made her look more like a little girl and less like a baby. And that was tricky.
I’ve never had a big problem with tops. Tiny’s shirt sleeves are always a little long, but they can easily be rolled up. Pants however, are consistently problematic. If the waist fits comfortably, the length is often too short. And if the length is just right, the waist is way too big. Until recently, I was able to solve this problem by buying pants a size too big and then rolling the waist band over. This made the waist smaller and, at the same time, the length shorter.
But in the last couple of months, I became aware of another important variable in finding pants that would fit Tiny just right. The diaper. Yes, it seems that her diaper provided just enough bulk to make the waist-band-rollover trick work like a charm. And now that she wears her big girl underpants, her pants are falling down all the time.
I know that she can’t be the only small waisted child out there. And I’m hoping that I might be to find some line of clothing made especially for kids like Tiny. Until then, I’ll keep praying for warmer weather and start shopping for some nice cotton dresses for summer.
p.s. Don’t forget to enter my very first giveaway! All entries must be submitted by 9pm tomorrow (3/16) night.
Melly has the same problem, to an extreme, and Jessica slightly less so. They wear a lot of dresses. Tights don’t present a problem. Old Navy is a good bet. Gap has some adjustable waist pants. Boys’ jeans tend to come adjustable waisted more than girls’, so they wore a lot of boys’ jeans. Walmart sometimes carries adjustable waist stuff, again, in the boys’ section. For sweats, I just fold the waist over. This makes Melly happy anyway, because she insisted that only shirts and dresses belong on her belly button.
Good luck. (Melly and Jess will be 4 in two months, and Melody JUST broke 30 pounds. Jess is 31.)
Welcome to my world! My 4 year old girls weigh a whopping 29 lbs each. To make matters worse, they are also tall for their age. Last summer they had the most adorable denim capris, which were actually size 18m jeans. 18m. Bermuda shorts made perfect normal length shorts for them. I lived in fear of dressing them for winter when we’d need to find something long enough. According to the size charts they’d be needing a little girls size 4 (not 4T) for length and a size 12-18m for weight.
I finally discovered Gymboree leggings, which they wear as pants. Gymboree pants are far too big in the waist, but their leggings make good pants and don’t look the least bit tight. They do however SHRINK in LENGTH when put through the dryer. So we hang every pair of leggings to dry to keep them long enough and some still end up shrinking a little too much.
I’ve had some luck with Children’s Place Yoga pants and sweats. They run a bit smaller/longer than other brands. These I do put through the dryer and role the waist.
Some people swear by adjustable waist jeans/pant, but I find that they just don’t fit Hannah and Sophie’s shape very well. In fact, most of them end up sitting so that the button for adjusting the waist rubs on their hip bones and makes a raw sore by the end of the day. Doesn’t hurt to experiment, but not that they might not work.
Finally, pants that are several years old. I did some research and discovered that the children’s sizing has changed in the last decade. Sometimes you can get lucky and find gently worn pants that are 5-10 years old and they run 1-2 inches smaller in the waist, but the same length as the current sizing.
I have a few other tips, but the girls are demanding my attention. I’ll have to stop by later. Send me a message if I forget to get back to you.
I hear ya! The length of pants for my daughters is never compatible with the waist size. Thank goodness for adjustable waist bands! Summertime is so much easier than winter since the length of shorts is never an issue and I can buy whatever waist size they need. This winter they wore a lot of their pants rolled up.
Wow. (my kids are heavier than yours at 10 months, but like you say, this is just who they are – and who their parents are) We have the opposite problem with clothes, in that both kids are long and many shirts that fit in the sleeves allow their bellies to poke out. Plus, since we use cloth diapers pretty much no pants fit right (cloth diapers = huge butt).
Sarah has a teeny tiny waist as well. She has loooong legs though so she is often in the “correct size” for her age – currently 3T – but the waist is always big. We like the pants from Gap that have the button waist. I pull the elastic all of the way in and they seem to stay up. Granted she can still pull jeans and cords straight down to use the potty without unbuttoning them but I think that is a good thing! We are struggling with sweat pant type pants right now. For the length to be right they just won’t stay on her. So, we’re wearing 2T pants that are too short but stay up. Looking forward to calling them “capris!”