Need Advice on Kids' Clothing Sizes

My nephew-in-law is having a hard time making ends meet at the moment and his 4 kids are in need of some winter clothing. I've never bought little boy clothes and it's been a long time since I bought little girl clothes. I want to help him out but don't want to get things the kids can't wear.
His daughter is 12--he says she wears a 12/14. Is that usually a medium or a large?
His 3 sons are 10, 8, and 5; he says the 2 older boys both wear a size 10. Does that translate to a medium? The 5 y/o wears a 5/6, which I assume is small, right?
I haven't seen the kids in a couple of years (they live several hours away), but from pics I've seen they all appear to be "normal" sized kids, not thin and not heavy.
I know they all need gloves and hats for winter, but have no idea how to pick the right sizes for those; any ideas?
Most clothing will be coming from thrift shops and yard sales so there won't be any returns if things don't fit.

In most kids sizes there is todler, little boy or girls and big boy and grils. I think they do it just to confuse us! I worked in a deperments store in the kids deparment.
If his daughter is 12 in a 12/14 That should be M-L in big girls. It us usually a 10/12 (M)and a 14/16(L).
Ok for the boys
The 10 and the 8 year old are in a size 10 so that should be a M in the big boys judging by their age. Again usually the size is 10/12 or M
The 5 year old is in a 5/6? Ok so that could be a small in the big boys and a L in Little boys (fun huh? I hated when I worked truck and had to figure out what went where on the floor!) Usually the samll in big boys starts at size 7/8.
That is just the sizeing system that I know of hope it helps!

As for gloves they are just going to be S, M and L. I would do 5 year old in a small, the older boys in a M and they daughter in L. Sense she is 12 adult size gloves will probally fit her just fine as well.

I hope that helps you out. Most tags on the clothes should say M(10/12) to make it eaiser on poeple shoping and help us not losse are minds! Kids are hard enough to shop for why does the sizeing system have to be a pain??

Wow, no wonder I'm confused! I seemed to remember from when my DD was young that there was a size 6 and a 6X. I could never understand why only a 6 had an X. Even with baby clothes I get confused. How can the sizes jump from 18 months to 24 months, and is a 2T the same as a 24 months?
Maybe I should just get the kids toys!
Thanks for the input; it actually helped.

I cant offer any sizing advice but I wanted to suggest LL Bean. They have a sale area and it's probably more than you want to spend but sometimes they have some really great deals
http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/sto...Id=-1&nav=gnro

Actually yes 24months and 2T is about the same size. Yes it is confuseing. I worked truck team alot and I had to seperate out the clothes that came in the boxes and place them in the right spots on the floor it was nuts. There would be the same style of dresses that was little girls as well as big girls and the L in little girls looks about the same size as the small in big girls. I think they do it just to make parents life that much harder! I never quite understood the 6 and the 6X. I just know the 6X is smaller and goes in the front while detaling.

Toys are just as hard to shop for! There are so many of them and so many different types! Barbie even has a cat that tinkels and you can clean out it's litter box now!!

I am happy I helped I was not sure how much sense I made!

When you are shopping for the 12 year-old girl, please stay away from pinks and lavenders. With a few exceptions, most girls that age are way past the princess stage... Stick with stripes and more muted colors, and anything with a skull on it is good. I'd also stay away from dresses; for daily wear shirts and jeans are the way to go at this age.

Our 10-year old daughter wears a size 10 kids' clothes, and a size 0 or 2 in women's clothes. (She finds a lot more shirts that she likes in women's clothes as long as the bust is flat and the fabric is stretchy.)

My advice is for you to tell the dad to ask each kid for the best-fitting jeans they own, and have him measure the waistband and the inseam of the leg, and give you the list. Take a tape measure along when you go shopping; different brands vary greatly in the waistband and the length. You can't go wrong this way and you know the jeans will fit them!

Shirts can always be a little big but the pants have to fit.

You are very kind to help out like this. Good luck!

I have 2 girls. One is still in kids' clothes, the other one just outgrew the kids' stuff and is now in the junior's dept.

12/14 is usually a large. In shirts.

Jeans are a whole different story. And- a 14 in a girls' size is around the same as a 0 in Junior's sizes. 14 in girls' sizes (for my dd) are fine in the waist, but they're shorter in length than the 0's so she didn't get to wear the size 14's I bought for her (at least it was only a pair or 2).

And I agree with SwampWitch. I stopped buying shirts for my oldest dd in the girls' dept before I stopped buying pants. The junior's shirts are usually bigger up top, and if the girl has any "stuff" up top (that's what we call them LOL ) she may appreciate the larger size. And since pre-teen and teenage girls wear shirts in 2-3 layers, you almost need the bigger size.

I don't think I'm going to try to find jeans/pants for the kids. I can't even buy a pair of jeans without trying on half a dozen, even tho' I (obviously) know my size and buy the same brand every time.
I'm trying to be very wary of what I buy, especially for the girl. I figure boys are happy with anything sports/racing/dinosaurs/skulls so they shouldn't be too hard to shop for. My SIL (the kids' grandmother) bought the girl a dress last week. Her Dad told me his DD said "I'll wear it around the house when Grandma's here, but I'm not about to wear it outside!"

I just wish I knew these kids better; I've never even met the 5 y/o !
I'm going to try to get everything together by Halloween. My brother & SIL always come home for a couple of days then, and I can send a box of stuff back with them. I am going to get a few things for Christmas (the kids' Dad is really worried about that this year), so I'll wrap whatever I get and sign "Santa's" name on the gift tags.