My 6 year old is very active and somewhat big for his age. I used to buy him Toughskins, but they only go up to size 7.
So, what's next? What brands do you recommend?
I found that by the time my kids were that age they weren't spending as much time playing on their knees, so they weren't really wearing the knees out anymore. I bought Gap, Old Navy and The Children's Place. I found The Children's Place fit my husky kid better.
Good luck, LOL. I have tried many brands, and my boys' pants (jeans or otherwise) don't last more than a few months without getting holes in the knees. Sometimes they don't even last a month. If your son is like my boys, you may be in the same boat.
My boys are tough on clothes...
We love Lands End jeans and GAP jeans!
My son usually wears Gymboree jeans and they hold up very well.
Land's End makes jeans with doubled fabric on the knees.
Buy some denim. Buy some heavy duty Heat and Bond. Wash and dry both the jeans and the denim in the warmest/hottest water you will ever use. Do NOT use fabric softener or dryer sheets in the dryer. It will keep the Heat and Bond from sticking well.
Turn the jeans inside out. Put them on the kiddo. Draw a line where the top and the bottom of the inner patch will go.
There are several ways to do this. This is my preferred way.
Take a piece of the Heat and Bond and adhere it to the right side up/front of the denim fabric. Then peel off the paper. Cut the patch to the size needed. Turn the side with the Heat and Bond towards the knee area, let it cool a moment. Check to make sure it's all adhered.
You now have a super strong knee area and it will last a long time.
Even if it gets ripped up you can adhere another patch behind it, on top of the other one.
When I do this I put the right side of the denim fabric towards the back of the jeans so that if the jeans wear a little thin only the right side of the denim patch shows, not the wrong side of the denim fabric. So that's why I iron the Heat and Bond onto the right side of the patch fabric.
I had great luck with Urban up or something urban from Kohl's when my older son was younger. He grew out of them before wearing them out.
We got the Lee "double knee" jeans (not sure how high they go on size, though). I also put a knee patch on the inside of the jeans for extra protection as soon as I buy them. Usually they lasted until they outgrew them and often could be passed down to one more kid (I have 6 so passing down clothing is essential in our house). I have found that the easiest to blow out the knee jeans is certain kinds of Levis - you can even feel they are thinner. Old Navy jeans never seemed to last long either.
Good luck!
