No XS Cub Scout uniform;-(

[bartman99]

Hi,

 

I hope this is the correct place to post this.

 

My son and I are new to Cub Scouts. He is very small for his age and the small Cub scout shirt is *gigantic* on him. The breast pocket is down at his waist. The look on his face when he tried on the shirt was one of real disappointment. He was so excited with the prospect of wearing the shirt with all the badges but this morning told me he thought he couldn't be a Cub Scout because he was "too small".

 

Does anyone have any suggestions? I suppose we can bring the uniform to a custom tailer hand have it altered, but the cost of that would be prohibitive and I'm not sure it would even work. I could tell him that he needs to wear the shirt "as is", but it does look pretty ridiculous (and it wold be a struggle to get him to wear it).

 

Are there any alternatives?

 

Thanks,

 

Bart

[ScoutNut]

As a Tiger, he could wear the orange Tiger T-shirt. He will not be able to wear any patches or totems on it however.

 

Something to keep in mind, your son might be small now, but he will have grown a lot even by the end of this school year. Cub Scout blue shirts are worn for at LEAST 3 years, sometimes more. Just tell him that everyone starts with their shirt big, and then grows into it thru their Cub years.

 

 

[Eagle92]

When I worked for supply, we told parents to get the uniform "big enough for them to grow into, but without looking clownish." We had Cubs with the bottom of their shirt pockets at their belt. They do grow and grow fast.

 

My advice is to try and find a bunch of photos of cub scouts in action, especially local unit photos as national does use models for things, and look at their uniforms. You will notice alot of youth with large uniforms.

[bartman99]

Well, truth be told, he does look a bit clownish:-( He is the size of a 4 year old and so even the Small shirt is in reality, way too big.I will try to convince him otherwise, of course.

 

[Eagle92]

While I don't have any ideas on fixing pockets, one thing 've seen done is to make a new seam at the sides. basically the mom tucked in the sides of the shirt, and handstitched the shirt so that is was a little smaller. As the Scout grew, she cut out her stitching and let the shirt out.

 

Hope I described that one.

 

Also the old orange TC shirts are still official and can be worn. He just won't be able to wear his rank. If dad was a TC, you could always say that this is just like the TC uniform dad wore.

[Stosh]

Take a tuck or two here and there, but get him in a uniform that looks like the rest of the boys. If his short sleeved short looks long sleeved, so be it. He'll grow. If he doesn't he'll always look the same and everyone will get used to it.

 

Make sure he has a place to put his awards, buttons to hang things and if one has to tuck all the arrow point into his pants, no bid deal, he'll know they're there. Cinch him up and send him off and don't make a big deal about it so that he becomes self-conscious about it. If the other boys make fun of him, maybe it's time for the DL to have a little talk about what scouting's all about with them.

 

Stosh

[Liz]

From the Scoutstuff.org sizing chart:

 

"If you do not see a size in the chart that works for you, keep in mind that our uniforms are also available "Made-to-Measure".

 

Please contact our Customer Service Department at 1-800-323-0736 for more information."

 

If I ever get a uniform, that's what I'll have to do. I'm, well, let's just say I'm shaped in such a way that I can't button a Scout shirt up without it hanging off my shoulders in a ridiculously baggy way. This is one of a couple reasons I opt for the troop t-shirt instead of a uniform.

 

(edited to fix a typo)(This message has been edited by Liz)

[Eagle92]

Liz,

the problem with Made to Measure uniforms is that

1) You must purchase 2 sets of uniforms

2) Payment must be mad ein advance with no refunds allowed

3) You are paying alot more to have it made

4) you will need to go to a seamstress or tailor to get the correct measurements.

[Liz]

Well, that's annoying, isn't it? Bleh.

 

My younger boy was in a den with a couple kids who were small for their age (they're still small, and they're a few years past cub scouts now!!). I remember how much they swam in their oversized blue shirts. I don't think they every fully grew into them, and my son was the only one in the den who ever switched to a tan uniform during Webelos (because he was the only one who ever outgrew his blue shirt, and I couldn't justify buying him a blue shirt for the last 6 months of cubs!!).

 

Probably the best solution, then, is to just buy the cub-scout "dress" and hope he goes through a growth spurt sooner rather than later.

[ManyHats]

I know it's not 100% cotton, but you might try washing it in hot water and dry on high heat. If it's anything like my luck, when you want them to shrink they won't and vise versa.