My son is 5 and I have to fight to get him to wear clothes. And on those rare occassions where he will put on clothes he wears the same outifts over and over. I took him and let him be involved in picking out his clothes but he never wears them. Its the same shorts and top. I don't know what to do. He starts kindergarten in September. Any advice?
Thank you everyone for your responses. I took my son to his "new" pediatrician and asked him what he thought might be going on and after examining and talking with my son he felt he has Textile Sensory Disorder and has written a script for him to go to Occupational Therapy. Now comes the hard part, finding one.
Does he enjoy going outside to play? I would "play" up that angle. Use wearing clothes as his means of going outside to play. I would also use the same "tactic" for school. If he is excited about going to kindergarten tell him he has to wear clothes or they won't let him in. Good luck.
I know what you mean. You are not crazy, nor the only one with this issue. My son is 5, too and last year it took us 2 and a half HOURS to get him dressed, just dressed, for preschool, every morning. And he would ONLY wear certain jeans, and one of two hooded sweatshirts. That is not the case anymore, he has very few clothing issues anymore, but it did not go away on it's on, we did A LOT of work!
I'm not saying, in any way, this is the case for you - my son has Sensory Processing Disorder. Go to this site and review the checklist for your child:
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-proces...
When I did that the first time, it was a real eye opener the beginning of things getting better. I had only barely heard of it, and did not understand it. When a friend's mom, retired, but worked with kids her whole career, watched my son for all of 15 minutes, she pulled me aside and said "fill this out and call your doctor for a referral for sensory integration therapy".
My (former) family doctor, did not "believe" that Sensory Processing Disorder was "real", because it is not currently listed in the official diagnostic manual that psychologists use. The occupation therapy field has entire schools for this! It took time to find therapists to help, resources are limited, but there is so much you can do on your own!
Email me if you have any questions
My son is also very picky. His clothes need to be "cool". We went to the store and he picked out several "cool" shirts...mostly graphic t-shirts that were just a few dollars each. On Sunday night we pick all 5 days worth of school clothes and put them in a hanging cubby. The rule is that he can not make any changes after he places them in the slots. In the morning we just pull out that days clothes and he has to wear them. This saves a lot of time and arguing, and he isn't wearing the same thing all the time.
N.
I suggest you discuss a few rules with your son:
1. He must wear clothes. Or: consequences, no t.v., no dessert, whatever works.
2. He must wear clean clothes. This means that after he wears his one outfit and it is dirty, it is in the dirty clothes and is no longer an option.
3. You will do laundry once a week, so he must find clothing to wear from what is in his drawers.
Other than that, let him wear what he wants. My son went through a camoflouge phase where he only wore camo. Tops and bottoms clashed, it was AWFUL!! Your son will get through this, but just don't bend on your rules. Let the rest go. Good luck.
My advice would be to pick put his clothes at home together the night before. Choose 2 outfits. Praise his choices grandly!! Lay them out for the next day. Include every article of clothing from underwear to socks and shoes. In the AM when he gets up he can choose which outfit. But he does nothing else until he gets dressed. No cereal, no TV, no juice, NOTHING. Once he is totally dressed he then can do his other activities. I would start this now since he starts school soon and you will be limited on time before he has to get ready to go. Remind him that you are the mom and you are in charge and you insist that he gets dressed. Tell him if he does this for 3 days without fighting he gets a special toy or something he has been wanting to do. As he gets more consistent with this - when school starts tell him in 5 days he gets the special thing he wants. But if he even fights once you start at day one all over again! BE CONSISTENT.
Hi J.
My son did this last winter, he was younger though 3. My solution was that as long as we didn't have to go anywhere, I just let him wear whatever it was he wanted, which was usually his t-shirt and undies. Maybe you could come up with some sort of compromise with you son. He should be old enough to understand rules. Maybe if you say that on Saturday he can wear whatever he wants(or doesn't want) as long as he wears clean clothes for school and for errands and to play. He is still young so I doubt there is any real cause for concern other than he is more comfortable with less on and has his favorites when he decides it's ok to wear clothes at that time...
I have a 4 year old grand daughter, who is very picky about what she wears. When she gives me a problem, I lay out 4 outfits for her and let her pick which ONE she wants to wear. You can also make this a game.
For example,you can do "eeny meeny miney moe", or close his eyes, spin him around a couple times and the first one he points to would be the outfit to wear. Each time you lay the out fit down, discard the 'same outfit' he likes to wear at least every other time. If neither of these ideas work, I would put him in time-out until he decides which outfit to wear. Be gentle and loving during all of this, don't react to him in a negative manner if he gets angry or cries.
Also, when you go clothes shopping, have him come with you and help pick out the clothes he likes.
Good luck!
Will he dress himself? My son is starting K this month and I'm trying to get him interested in dressing himself. I put an outfit in a ziplock bag so he has everything there. It is working. But with my son, he couldn't care less what I put on him--he has no favorites or clothes he doesn't like, etc. Maybe do a sticker/reward chart for the days he dresses himself?
