Shopping 'Til I Drop for My Son

Updated on January 10, 2012
B.L. asks from Glade Spring, VA
8 answers

Hello, mamas. My 10 yo son is a little over 5 ft & 150 lbs. My husband and I adopted him and he has grown by leaps and bounds in the 18 months we have had him. The problem is I can't find clothes for him!! I get all these emails from the "trendy" places for today's kids clothing...great deals, but no sizes for my son. We find some things in adult sizes, but that's tricky since when it fits around it's too long and the colors are pretty limited to dark & drab colors. Suggestions for me?
Thanks so much!

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So What Happened?

Just to be clear...I'm only asking for advice on finding clothing. Healthy eating/lack of exercise is not the issue. Oftentimes, children with traumatic histories have food issues and visit more doctors and therapists than anyone their age ever should.

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J.B.

answers from Atlanta on

Hmmm -is he into any type of sports? A lot of "fan wear" -athletic jerseys, sweatshirts -that type of thing is made to be worn kind of big and loose and comes in all sorts of sizes. It's colorful and fun. You could get him an adult M or L. At his size, you should probably be looking in adult and junior clothing sections. You may need to hem his pants or jeans from those sections, but he's not "child-sized" anymore.

I know you didn't ask about his size so much, and I know he needs good clothes to wear regardless, but has he seen a doctor about his weight? He's at the perfect age to really learn and start making healthy lifestyle choices that will help him the rest of his life -eating low fat, unprocessed foods, reserving sweets and "junk" foods for special occasions and treats once in awhile, and possibly the most important -regular exercise! Find something he really enjoys and sign him up for a little league team or if he likes biking or skating, perhaps you could do that often as a family. Hike in the woods every weekend -that sort of thing. Good luck with everything!

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J.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

Old Navy, as well as Children's place, GAP, etc. carry husky sizes. They may not have them in store, but you can look online.

http://www.oldnavy.com/products/boys-husky-clothes.jsp - you might have to cut and paste this link, depending on what mamapedia highlights.

We buy shoes on Zappos. Free shipping to me and back, if I need to return them.

If he's not obese, don't worry about Julie B's comment. My husband is 6'6" and weighs 170 pounds. No matter what he eats, he can't gain weight. His sister was 6 feet tall in 8th grade. We are all different. My 9 year old is 4'8" and 80 pounds. He's extremely athletic and his metabolism is super fast. He drinks nothing but water and we don't eat sugar or sugar substitutes in our family.

I ran a growth chart for your son:

At 10 years:

your child is 150 pounds, and that is
at greater than the 97th percentile for weight.

your child is 60 inches, and that is
at the 97th percentile for height.

Good luck and have fun shopping! Congratulations on the adoption!

PS: I have really short legs, so all of my jeans are too long. I take them to a tailor and have them hemmed. It runs about $10 to have this done and well worth it!

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W..

answers from Chicago on

My 11 year old daughter is 5'2" and weighs 147 pounds (and she can now wear my 8.5 / 9 shoes!!!!!). We moved on from kids clothes a couple YEARS ago. EXCEPT for Justice (girls) and JC Penny - both of which have 1/2 (or - I hate the term - "husky") sizes that are bigger. Justice has a site "Brothers" that is for guys - it may just be online, but they have a size chart you can use.

We have started shopping at Aeropostale. Old Navy has always been good. Even Target will have stuff in their regular dept that is OK for her to wear (not too sexy) - boys don't have to worry about stuff being too old for him, I think.... not as much of an issue??? But all of the above will carry both male and female clothes.

At 5 feet tall he should be about a 27" inseam? That's a "short" length that even some adults will wear, and lots of department stores carry them. Have you tried Macy's, Dillards??? Whatever is in your area?

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V.W.

answers from Jacksonville on

I would suggest you check out the "junior/teen" section. My son is 13 and at that awkward in between size also. He is about 5'2" and 120 lbs. Last summer he was closer to 5' and 115 lbs, and we had to buy him size 16 husky sizes and sometimes shop in the men's department and search for the lost cause of jeans/pants in the 28" waist arena. Unfortunately, in men's clothing, even though S sizes do exist, they have very few of them. Ever shopped for men's SMALL sweatpants or PJ's? They are virtually non-existent in the stores. Everything starts at Medium, which is too big.

Some stores have teen departments and you can find some things in there. Or maybe the "teen" stores? (Abercrombie, Aeropostale, etc) What you might have the BEST luck with, though, is online shopping. Try somewhere like Land's End or LL Bean that carries adult and children's sizing. You should be able to use measurements to find the right fit, get free hemming on many items, and find those odd small adult sizes as well.
Good luck.
My son got a little paunchy around the stomach starting in his 11th year (I have heard from other mom's of sons that that is VERY typical just before they begin their growth spurt years) and finally midway thru year 13 he is "trimming up" again. He actually now wears shorts that he had outgrown earlier last year, because he grew up and slimmed up simultaneously.

Do you know anything about his bio parents? My kids go to karate with a young man who is 6 inches taller than my son who is my daughter's age (10). His parents are BOTH super tall. Dad is close to 7 feet, mom is over 6. One of the instructors at the school (before she had met his parents) thought he was joking/not being truthful about his age, because he is just WAY bigger than the other kids his age. He really does look like a teen (except in the face, lol). So before you get all worried about him being larger, keep in mind what his height may eventually be. No reason not to eat healthy, but you can't make him shorter either. And he IS at the age where he will go rounder before he shoots up taller really quickly.
Enjoy the years to come. Sounds like you will spend a ton on clothes. tee hee

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A.R.

answers from Parkersburg on

I am raising my nephew and we have the same trouble. I buy his clothes at JC Penneys. You can find clothes on sale and they are really cheap in price, but well made to last. I buy huskey as they are bigger around waist and not as long as if you get adult. They also have trendy clothes that the boys wear now days. SEARS also has huskey, just not as big of selection. Kohls has some, but I have found that their huskey size seems to run smaller than the other 2. Good luck!!

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D.G.

answers from Dallas on

HI ! I tend to have the same issue with my 12 year old. He is a little taller though. But we shop the young mens shop and places like Academy. For some reason those clothes tend to fit a little better. He is more into the sports wear also. But I have heard that Old Navy is good for this issue so we are going to try there next time for clothes.

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R.M.

answers from San Francisco on

I bought most of my boys' clothes at Old Navy at that age. For my oldest, I always bought "husky" sized jeans, not because he was overweight, he wasn't at all, he just had a thicker build.

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K.B.

answers from Cincinnati on

Have you tried husky sizes? The carry them at the Gap, which I think goes up to a size 16 boys. Children's Place has them online, they go up to a 14 boys. I think (not positive) Crazy 8 and Gymboree also carry husky sizes.

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