Clothes for really skinny and tall toddler

[Anonymous]

My DD is 21 months old and in the 100th percentile for height but in the 40th percentile for weight. I'm having difficulty finding clothes that fit her well. I recently bought some 18-14 month skirts from Gap with an elastic waistband and they were falling off her but the next size down was too short on her. Any suggestions of slim fit brands?

[aprilmayjune]

my 23 month old is the SAME way.. 75th percent height and 40 percent weight.. I have the SAME problem with her.. She has a couple pairs of pants with adjustable waists, and those work really well.. (they have a drawstring inside on the inside kind of underneath the elastic waste) I got them from my SIL, but I am pretty sure you can get them at KMart and WalMart.

[Anonymous]

Ralph Lauren cuts skinny and long pants for girls, with waist adjusters...I had lots of luck in Marshalls, actually, picking a few up, at 18 months, she was in 3T for length...I'm thinking volleyball scholarship!!!

[Anonymous]

We struggle with this as well for my DD. Clothes are either too short or too loose. For the summer she wears capri pants which still look ok if a bit shorter - I buy her age or below. In winter, tights or leggings under dresses are the way to go. Some styles look better short than others. I buy the right size pants also which she wears with boots on the very cold days - not as obvious that they are too short but yes it is a challenge. The worst time for me was after she potty trained at 20 months - so now not only was she too skinny for much of her clothes there was no diaper to help keep them up!

When she needs something nice, designer brands work and fit much better (but in my view are a ridiculous option for busy day at preschool!)

[Anonymous]

Crewcuts also tend to run skinny. Another option is to shift her wardrobe towards dresses (with tight or long leggings in winter and capri legging or shorts n summer). My now 5yo have similar percentile measurements as your DD and i find that dresses works best for us - no waist band to worry about and they can be worn (as tunics) even when they get a little on the short side.

[Anonymous]

We do dresses and leggings.

[Anonymous]

My DD is out of the toddler age range (elementary school age now), but I'll tell you what we did. We used clothes for much younger kids (like 9 mo old for when she was 21 months), and she just wore the 9 month pants as "capris". For the cold weather, well, we were screwed, but Baby Gap jeans worked quite well. We would also get LL Bean fleece pants and just roll them at the waist so they wouldn't fall down.

The 12-24 month age range is tough, because a lot of clothing lines don't have adjustable waists for kids under 2 years. The Hanna Anderson playdress/daydress combo with leggings is great because you can get leggings in a much smaller size to fit her waist, and it doesn't matter that the leggings are short - they're just going underneath a dress. As my DD has gotten older I've discovered Mini Boden (thanks to this board), and it's GREAT because many of their pants and jeans run very slim. I see that Mini Boden also sells for toddlers, so you could try that.

[Anonymous]

OP here--thanks for all the great suggestions. I am going to try Mini Boden and Crewcuts.

Also, many posters suggested dresses which I thought would work well but with all the sleeveless dresses out right now, the tiny straps fall off her skinny shoulders!

[Anonymous]

for cheaper options, I think The Children's Place runs very small

[Anonymous]

NP here but thanks for the Mini Boden suggestion.

The Children's Place jeans are cut a bit skinnier than other brands, though not as skinny as the Gap and Gymboree slims. I like them as a middle ground with some growing room.

[Anonymous]

I had to pretty much find a clothing style that works, which for my daughter is dresses and leggings. I don't think I have had her in normal pants for 2 years - they are too short and too wide at the waist, and I have tried many brands (though not high-end ones, I just can't see spending a lot on things she wears for a few months only). Dresses you can wear for quite a while, because even if they are short, if you have leggins under, they look fine.

Her uniform this summer has pretty much been short-sleeve dresses, and one skirt from Chidren's Place that is size 24 months (she is 3.5). No strappy dresses, because she looks too bony