Help with children's clothing sizes!

It sounds like the child might be a little big for her age. To be safe I’d stick to the clothing, shoes are much harder to buy without trying them on. Maybe just add an extra outfit, PJ’s, a toy and leave the shoes off the list to err on the side of caution. It may be as well that buying her clothing a little on the big side will give her more room to grow and wear it over a 6 -9 month period or so.

You could always include a gift card for a shoe store like Payless or another common shoe outlet. It is very sweet of you to sponser a child for the holidays. :-)

@Coloma I have to buy the shoes :( We’re doing it as a group and I was assigned shoes.

Can you get sandals so they’re at least a little more forgiving in terms of sizing? I don’t know about US sizing for children so I can’t comment on the size issue.

Size 11 shoe for a 5 year old is very typical. Any salesperson in a children’s shoe store will be able to help you with it. The sizes go up to 13 (if I remember correctly) and then start over with 1 through 5 and then you go into adult sizes which typically begin with 6.

Size 7/8 and size 11 shoe are very nornal for her age.

I really doubt it is a ‘big girls’ size but @JLeslie is right, just say your looking for size 11 shoes for a 5 year old

A link to make you feel more comfortable.

When I worked in childrens we helped customers buy the right size all the time. Don’t worry about it. Just tell them what you told us. Her age and sizes.

This time of year, most retailers offer a gift receipt, so an item can be exchanged easily. If this is for a little girl who needs some help with clothes, it could be her only pair of shoes to wear for school. Size 7/8 clothes is about second grade size, so the 11 shoes would be girls, not ladies size. It would not be toddler’s though.
Maybe you could get the shoes, and tuck a $5 gift card inside one shoe, so if she needs to make an exchange, there would be no added charge for her choice, or if they fit, she would be able to get a nice hair ribbon or something.

I think with the clothes, get them a size or two bigger, just to be safe, and so they last longer, it means she can wear the clothes more.
and @Here2_4 that is a great idea.
but I would also tuck some other little presents in the other shoe too! hahaha

Shoes need to fit. The only reason to buy bigger is if the clothes are for the next season, which often is the case in stores. This time of year it should still be winter clothes, so you should be ok. If you go up a half size just make sure it is something she can wear in the springtime, assuming you are in the northern hemisphere. Make sure they are returnable and give her a gift receipt so she can exchange them if necessary.

You don’t have to worry about getting size 11 ladies shoes, that is almost impossible to find. No one in a store will be confused about it, and neither will you if you saw a size 11 ladies shoe. That is equivalent to a size 9.5 mens. There are only two size 11’s for females. Little girls and women who are 6 feet tall.

There is no “toddler size 11.” It’s just a children’s size. I would go for bigger clothes, but size 10 for a 5 year old would mean she is likely heavy. If she is not heavy, go for 8. My daughter is 7 years old and she can fit into a lot of 8’s, but I buy 10 so it’s a little big.

@jca , you are right. I haven’t purchased toddler shoes in a very long time. I forgot what the sizes were.
The sizes do sound big for a five year old, but my kids stayed very small untill their teen years. Now they are all taller than me. Maybe though, she has the clothes she needs for right now, and went up a size to have things ready when she outgrows what she has. I would stick to the size requested.
As I said, my kids were small for their age. Even their grandparents could not get it. LOL. They would find clothes they think are the size for my kids’ ages, then go up a size to make sure they would not be outgrown right away. I had so many clothes packed away because it would be a couple of years before they could be worn!