by Elizabeth
I am the mother of a very very skinny five-year-old boy, and this had led to some problems of the "Mom, my pants are falling down in the parking lot while we walk to the the doctor's office" variety. The solution to this problem seems obvious, because those pants with the interior adjustable waistbands work perfectly, but in some stores they are remarkably hard to find. I don't even bother shopping at Old Navy for this kid anymore because even when I can find a pair of pants that claims to have an adjustable waist, half the time the descriptions LIE, and if that's not infuriating I don't know what is. And I've already bought two of the ONE pair of pants they had that worked at Target.
HOWEVER, I do have a recommendation to make for parents of similarly scrawny boys -- Janie and Jack. While no one could accuse them of extreme bargain pricing, I find that their sales prices are often really reasonable, sometimes coming in cheaper than the Gap or Old Navy, even, and all their clothes seem well-made to me. Best of all, every pair of pants I've ever purchased or even eyeballed online has come with the interior adjustable waist. I have NO idea if this is an "every single pair of our pants comes with an adjustable waistband" kind of thing, but it sure seems like that is the pretty much the case so far.
Anyone else have any good suggestions for boys clothes for the scrawny? Because that pair of skinny jeans that I refuse to buy at Target is mocking me every time I go in there, I swear.
{Photo credit: janieandjack.com}
Oh we have the same issue only with a skinny 7 year old. He keeps getting taller and we keep having to tighten the waist on his pants because they will fall off of him. Children's Place has a pretty good selection of adjustable waistband pants. I have also had luck with department store brands (Levi's, Polo) although those tend to be pricer and Kohl's carries several brands that are adjustable as well.
Posted by: Julie | February 15, 2012 at 10:16 AM
JC Penney carries the Arizona brand with adjustable waists. They come in slim and regular fits.
Posted by: colerose | February 15, 2012 at 10:36 AM
I second Children's Place. My little guy is not quite 2, but they have a nice selection of adjustable waists, and their "normal" pants seem to have a smaller wasitband, or eleastic back that stays up, even on his tiny waist and bum (event he diaper doesn't help!). They are not the best priced, but during a sale are a great value. The clothes seem to last and wash up nicely!
Posted by: Erin | February 15, 2012 at 10:57 AM
I read about these on Sundry's blog: http://store.dappersnappers.com/
Posted by: April G. | February 15, 2012 at 12:55 PM
Land's End sells slim (not skinny) jeans in sizes 4 and up. That is all my skinny yet tall 5 year old wears.
Posted by: Someone Being Me | February 15, 2012 at 02:09 PM
I love the gap adjustable waist pants and I have found a few at target that work well. It is so hard to spend $$$ on clothes they just grow out of so spending a bit more for the adjustable waist and then having them "grow" into them is the way to go!
Posted by: Meghan | February 15, 2012 at 02:42 PM
Land's End, absolutely. We are now buying only their Trekker pants, which have an elastic waist. (I don't see them on the web site right now.) My boy has vetoed anything with an adjustable waist ("I don't like the buttons.")
We've had some luck with various pants from Carter's/Oshkosh, Gymboree/Crazy8, and Target, but it's hit or miss.
Posted by: cate | February 15, 2012 at 02:58 PM
these are the trekkers, although not slim: http://www.landsend.com/pp/boys-lined-trekker-pants~233826_1189.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::FKH&CM_MERCH=IDX_overstocks-_-boys-_-pants-shorts-_-casual-pants&origin=index
they will probably have them later. stupid seasonal availability.
Posted by: cate | February 15, 2012 at 02:59 PM
We have had luck with Gymboree and Lands End. My 10 year old is still as skinny as can be(but pretty tall) and most pants fall down. Even those with just an elastic waist. Has to have a drawstring in his sweats. He probably should wear a slim but he doesn't like the way they feel. So we cinch his adjustable waist pants as tight as we can .
Posted by: Colleen | February 15, 2012 at 03:48 PM
Again with Children's Place. I wait until they have a sale and stock up because my son can still fit his brother's 6-12 month pants-as-shorts (he's four) (this is a true story - I sent him to his room to put on pants a couple weeks ago and he came back out with his brother's pants). And his brother is 18 months and still in 12 months, so we'll have the same problem with him. The adjustable waist there works wonders for us.
Posted by: april | February 15, 2012 at 08:57 PM