Finding Clothes for a larger 11 year old

Notsosharp

My DD is 11 now and I will admit that she is overweight.

It's something we are doing something about, not by going on a diet as such but just by cutting out the junk and carp.

In the meantime is there anywhere I could get clothes for her that fit the bigger girl? I've tried places like Next etc but they just don't seem to consider that girls of that age may be developing breasts (such as my DD is) and as such things that fit everywhere else are too tight around her chest.

Me and my DD are getting increasingly frustrated; trousers are not much of an issue because she doesn't mind wearing leggings but it's tops that are causing the real problems.

At the moment I am buying three of everything that fits but she also wants to be fashionable.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Spendless

Is she a child's size still or moved on to adults? Though I have a boy, I started struggling with him clotheswise around this age as kids sizing was too small and adults too big.

chocdonuty

If she likes wearing leggings then maybe she could wear adult t shirts over the top like tunics? My dd is similar and being short too doesn't help but like you we have cut out the junk and have noticed a difference, she's 11 but looks a 8/9 year old because of her height. Hopefully she will stretch a bit too when she has a growth spurt

Seanymph

next are awful - everything is small sized.

Primark ladies go very small. M & S are generous, so are Asda believe it or not!

It is hard for them in that 'in between time'.

aliasojo

Someone I used to know had an overweight young daughter, she used to get lucky in the ladies section in Matalan.

It wont have been the first time I rocked up with a new top only to see this lass wearing it too.

hippihaz

Hi, I remember when I was starting secondary school, so 11/12, I needed size 10/12 clothes, I wasn't overweight as such, but had my growth spurt at the end of primary school and have remained 5ft2 ever since! my mum used to get me clothes from high street shops like new look, Dorothy perkins, bay trading (now gone I think!) and found stuff that was appropriate for an 11 yr old. HTHs

Lunar_Eclipse

I share this frustration! It's the 'inbetween' age taller/larger kids have.

My 11 year old has recently outgrown most kids clothing. Girls clothes, especially t-shirts but also shorts, are cut much slimmer than boys and she hates fitted, tight clothing (which is good because they only suit a particular body type IMO.)

I think the answer is women's clothes or larger kids clothes.

My daugther wears a ladies size 6/8 (eg jeans, tunics or dresses) or boys clothes. She is fairly tall (5'5") with an athletic build. Try Primark; we've found them good overall but sometimes large on the waist. Also, M&S online have kids clothes such as their Angel range, which go up to age 15/16. That size would actually be far too big for my daughter so look at the size guides carefully due to size inconsistency.

And EBay. I've ordered a few things recently, by measuring my daughter (chest, waist etc) to find out what size of actual clothing she is, eg 26 inch jeans say. Has worked well! I can tell you though that jeans are not sized in actual waist measurements, so for example someone with a 30" waist actually wears a 26" (in Hollister for instance!) Makes shopping even more difficult!

FatVonD

H&M kids clothes go up to age 14 and, in my opinion, are always nicely designed. They're not too child like but not overly adult IYSWIM?

claire16c

New look 9/15?

kingfisherblue

I've had this problem with my youngest for a few years now. He has always been very tall, but also has a broad build. His shoulders are wide, and he does carry a bit too much weight around the waist, which is now thinning down. He has even been checked by paediatricians because the school nurse was so concerned about his height atrimary school - most of his class barely reached his shoulders. Now, at 13, he is 5'11", and has a height prediction of around 6'8" :eek:

I've just bought his new school boots - size 15 :eek::eek::eek: - and he is still growing.

I buy sturdy fit trousers from our local market, where there is a uniform supplier.

http://www.sturdykids.co.uk/

They come in various sizes for the larger child. I buy men's clothes for everything else, and have done for a while. Sports Direct (instore, not online) are fine for Tshirts, joggers and shorts. Matalan or Tesco also have larger sizes and are long enough for his body.

OP, I would suggest trying ladies clothing in the appropriate size. If your daughter is embarrassed, cut out labels so her friends don't see the clothes size when she changes for PE.

Also, our council runs a gym for teenagers. I only discovered this recently, and it is free. It might be worth checking if there is anything available in your area.

Have a look at the Fit for Life campaign as well. It is designed for children, and shows them how to make different lifestyle choices. We tried it for my son, but found it was aimed more at much younger kids, but you may have a better experience. There are online games as well, which might give your daughter further encouragement.

I hope you manage to find something suitable - its hard when your child is bigger than other kids of the same age, especially when they have puberty to cope with as well.

Gigglepig

Sorry to be blunt OP but if your daughter is so overweight already at age 11 that you have difficulty finding suitable clothing, well, I would focus my time, attention and money on dealing with that problem rather than smoothing over it by buying a new wardrobe.

Instead of taking yourself and your daughter to the shops, for the same money you could plan several high energy family outings?