3 Year Old Only Wants to Wear a Costume

Take heart. As the saying goes, "This too shall pass", and before you know it he will be on to the next uber-annoying fad. My oldest (ten now) never had a costume thing, but more 'latest obsession' things have passed through my house than I can count over the years. First it was Blues Clues - I STILL know all the songs by heart (as I found out the other day when my three year old twins were introduced to Blue by big bubba....thanks, Jack). Then came The Wiggles (yay)...Bob the Builder.....Pokemon....Danny Phantom....Ben 10...Now it's iCarly (because he has a HUGE crush on Miranda Cosgrove). And each time he moves on to a new thing, the old thing is suddenly "for babies" or "sooooooo old".

I remember Jack was 3, he used to go around singing the Blues Clues song everywhere we went and wouldn't go anywhere without his Blue doll. People would give me 'the look' as he sang at the top of his voice, but I didn't let it bother me....and now I'm so glad I didn't, because the memory of his tiny little voice and the happiness in his eyes makes me smile as he rolls his eyes and tries to escape when I want a hug from my 'little boy'. These are the times you will cherish because before you can blink, your baby will be a sulky, know-it-all, teenager-in-training like mine!

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Let him enjoy it. Do not even blink about it.. Our daughter wore a "Tail" for so long it was hilarious.. She knew she could not wear it to day care and that was fine with her.. Even on our vacation to Houston, she wore her tail very proudly.. People just smiled that knowing smile..

It got really ratty after a while, it had started out as an orange boa... in the end it was a ratty brownish mangy thin thing..

I was managing a store and a mom and her son would come in and shop.. For 2 years (I am not kidding) he wore his cowboy out fit with hat, guns and vest over every outfit..He was very serious about it. His mom said she hoped he would grow out of it.. I wonder if there is a grown man walking around like that? Of course we are in Texas so at least he would fit in..

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I don't see the harm in letting it continue. Don't be embarrased. The only people that are wondering who that is is the ones who don't have small kids. With digital cable or satellite we ave so many kids channels now and we can still find the older shows. I still see Lazy Town sometimes. Have you looked online for some of the toys or shirts for the show?

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Hee hee! I have so been there with the costumes and silly outfits. I used to look at kids wearing princess dresses and rubber boots at the grocery store and think "I'm not letting my kid walk around like that!" And now, I am that parent and I don't even think about it. I simply don't have time for the battle. I have a feeling that people are not looking at you like you are crazy. Try just smiling and saying "It's the only thing he'll wear!" and they'll probably laugh with you. They probably just think it's funny and that he looks cute--after all, he's only 3. Everyone knows 3 year old have their own definition of style.

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Reminds me of my kids' Backyardigan phase! My husband was so worried that my son wouldn't outgrow it. He thought we'd end up with a teenager still watching Nick Jr. Of course it passed......

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I have a similar situation...my son is obsessed with Ghostbusters. :) NONE of the kids his age have a clue what he is talking about. We let him watch the movie with us at Halloween and that started it. So then I got copies of the 80s cartoons and then he got really into it. He loves it. I tried to ebay a few items, but since they are collector items, the price was more than I was willing to spend. We made a homemade proton pack and ghost trap and he pretends Ghostbusters all the time. For a short lived while it was all he talked about...so I just stopped letting him watch it for a while...it eased the obsession or at least talking about it all the time. He is only allowed two cartoons a day, so that was taken out of the choices for a while. I just redirect when the discussion becomes too much..."Lets talk about something else besides Ghostbusters, like what did you think of the park today?". I don't mind it too much. The pretend play fuels his imagination, he makes up stories and builds ghost traps and firehouses our of his legos. I am just going to go with it for the most part. We survived his Bob the Builder phase, we will survive this too. I am sure there will be a time when I miss having to be Janine and answering the phones and sending my Ghostbuster out on jobs. :)

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OMG, I used to watch LazyTown alone cuz I could not get enough of Sportacus' gluts!!
So you are probably gonna get heat from other moms about letting him watch too much TV, but I googled LazyTown merchandise and there were quite a few hits. How about getting him some jammies and letting him where them instead?
Not sure I would go cold-turkey from the show - you could limit his time and see if there is something else that will spark his interest. I let my youngest wear her Halloween costume well past Halloween just because I knew it would get old after a while. It will most probably run its course. As for other people, at least Homer Simpson is not his hero.

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My 3 year old was Buzz Lightyear for about 3 months --- that was 13 years ago!!

Buzz went dressed to the store, to church, Buzz Lightyear went everywhere with us. The peoples smiles and chuckles were precious.

When I was 4 I had an imaginary pet. My kitten went all over with us. The chair next to me at the dinner table was for the kitten....had to have room in my bed.....Drove my parents nuts.
The a doctor told them that the great imagination and creativity that children experience thru their dress -ups and imaginary friends can be a sign of gifted-ness and will be a skill that serves them well all their lives.
pretty cool, huh?

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My son wears his spider man costume a lot. I see lots of other boys wear costumes also. Sometimes I have no idea what the costumes are but the little kids are expressing an important part of their personality. Embrace the fact that he wants to be unique and support whatever he does. If you can't find a t-shirt with Lazy Town then let him paint one up. Let him be creative! It is just a phase and only ONE phase.

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yeah, i have to agree with most of the other answers here. i have to say that i totally disagree with JL--although her plan sounds like it worked for her child--but allowing a child at this age to indulge in some harmless fantasy/imagination play is actually good for them. it opens up their creative side and allows them to explore a pretend world in a healthy way. a 3yo kid who can hold onto an "obsession" for more than a few weeks is probably pretty smart. forcing him to give up an intense interest because you're tired of it is probably not the best choice, and in fact holds the potential to hurt his self-esteem.
my kids are now 5 & 7. my 7yo doesn't do the costume/obsession thing anymore but occasionally my 5yo still wants to go out wearing her princess dresses or angel wings or bunny ears. i love what Dana said--she decided to find it charming! that's what we have done with ours. it's fun for them and allows them to express themselves. and hey, i really don't care if we are going to the movies or HEB or whatever and she is wearing a costume--she's not naked and she is clean!! :)
i say, let him do his lazy town thing and before you know it, he will have moved on to something else. they are only little once, let him have his fun!

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People look at a 3 year old in costume like he's crazy? I've seen lots of little kids who like to wear costumes. I think you might be misreading people.

Don't worry about what people think. Let your little one wear a costume. It's cute. And take lots of pictures.

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Overwhelmingly you got the same answer, but each answer made me smile ... I had "Cinderella" go with me everywhere for about 7 months until the dress literally fell apart, we even had the same shoes. Each time I encountered a mom who smiled and said that's great you have a little princess too, I feel a little more normal. I learned to go along with the great imagination my little one has and got into the conversations with her. I soon didn't notice the stares and odd looks. Childhood is to be celebrated and it takes all forms and shapes sometimes .... Cinderella's sometimes embarrassed mother and costume washer

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I'd say let it run it's course. As an adolescent I was obsessed w/certain shows & that's all we talked about & cared abt. True some adults are still obsessed w/tv shows & do act like children but that's been rare in my experience. Trying to curb your son's enthusiasm about something probably isn't going to make him happy or it may not even help. He may feel sad & wonder what you don't like abt the show. He might somehow feel that you don't care or want him to be interested in things. If it's a good show w/morals or not violent then what's the harm? If he tries to wear the costume in town, just let him know that costumes are for wearing at home or you may try the 'superman' thing where he could be a superhero in secret & if he wears the costume in public then everyone will know his secret identity. Hope things wk out for you, good luck & hope this helps.

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Oh my god, this make laugh like crazy, because I was in the same 2 years ago with my daughter..and the only thing that i can say is the time will pass and your son eventually will forget sportacus, its just a stage...Do you think I dont know what are you talking about, Im dealing right now with two toddlers of 4 and 2, boy and girl who are obsessed with nick junior channel, I just can't turn off the tv or change the channel because they start to yell like crazy...but also I was dealing probably a year ago with an extreme, extreme Elmo adicction, and believe me Elmo is more patetic!! Sorry for my english, my main is spanish! Take care and good luck!

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You know, this is quite common. My little one is obsessed with Gabba Gabba. It's ok at this stage. This is what they live for and the good thing is it's a great show. Lazy Town teaches kids a lot about health and exercise and being good friends.You can use a lot of the lessons from the show into your daily life.....when he doesn't want to eat his fruit or vegetable or go to bed early. It's a good thing, you can use it as a tool for getting mundane tasks accomplished so be happy. Also, be proud! This shows an early sign of loyalty, trust and passion......qualities we all wish our children have as they grow up to be exceptional human beings. Let him enjoy it.....he won't be a fan when he's 18yrs old.....or 10....or even 6. There are toys you can find online. Try amazon.com or toysrus.com. Amazon may also have clothes. I bought my son Gabba Gabba underwear and t-shirts and tents. Seem to ease the obsession a bit. They have Sportacus action figures. Basque in his happiness. Forget what others think. Those are his friends in his mind. Enjoy.....your son is growing up!
P.S. See if you can get him to wear the colors of the characters, purple clothes for Robby Rotten (his outfits change), different blues for Sportacus, yellow for the mayor, red and white for the candy kid and some fun techno shirts for pixel. Have him pretend these are the characters new set of clothing they wear at home (off the show). ;)

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Oh Lord...Lazy Town. I hated that show and was so pleased when she found something new....Until it was the Magic School Bus. SHe carried around a large Fisher Price plastic bus as if it was a baby doll for 6 months and talked about nothing but busses. I'd say go with the obsession. As long as they like it and the values and ideals of the show are in line with yours, what is the harm? My daughter, 4 1/2, knows all about photosynthesis, how plants are pollinated and sonar in bats...I guess the Bus phase wasn't so bad after all.

She also wore a pink Tutu and green camo rainboots everyday for 3 months at the age of 3. I decided to find it charming and she has cycled on to other things....notice I didn't say better things.....sigh.

At the very least...Sportacus is hot. Robbie Rotten ain't bad either. If they would just stop singing! Go-go-go get 'em Mom! It's the start of a brand new day!

Oh...and check E-bay! Everything can be found on e-bay!

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Here ya go!!!

http://clearance.tystoybox.com/ttp/lazytown-apparel-sport...

http://www.amazon.com/Lazy-Town-Action-Figure-Sportacus/d...

http://astore.amazon.com/lazytowncenter-20?node=1&page=2

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=23...

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=m570&_nkw...

And yes......let it run it's course. It's only a short time in life when you can indulge them with stuff like this. =0)

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Try to embrace it and enjoy it...he'll be on to something else soon. LOL

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Oh, I love LazyTown - definitely one of the more palatable shows for me. Can't stand Blue's Clues.

I'd say let him wear it for now. We have a 3.5 year old, and he's not gotten into costumes yet, but he has certain clothes he loves wearing. Most have Monster trucks on them, and I would prefer something else, but it won't last forever.

I know it's embarrassing to be out in public with him dressed like Sportacus, but most of the people laughing and looking are probably reminiscing about the days when they had kids obsessed with the Wiggles, Barney or the Teletubbies......MUCH worse in my opinion.

Good luck!

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I'm sure other moms have already responded to just let it go as this too shall pass. I totally understand about him being obsessed with things that aren't exactly current. My now 5yo has been through: the old Transformers we watched when we were kids in the 80s, Speed Racer (again- the old cartoons from when my parents were kids), and my hubby has him really into anime by this specific guy. Luckily a couple of the anime movies, "Ponyo" and "My Neighbor Toturo" have recently come out on DVD, so other kids are getting exposed to them now. He does seem to get a little upset when other people don't know what he's talking about, but we've explained to him different families like different things, so it has helped with that some. Now he just teaches other people about them!
I think it's great he thinks outside the box and doesn't necessarily follow what everyone else does. Enjoy your creative little free-thinker! =oD

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My daughter who is 6 still believes she is a mermaid. She still pretends that she sits on rocks and poses with her tail. Has many costumes and still wears them. As far as spotacus he is pleasing to the eyes and I knew every song too. My daughter loved this show and she thought she was stephanie for the longest time. It is a phase and it will pass. She now thinks those shows are for babies and won't watch them. Just enjoy the simple shows now.

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Find something new to interest him. This can be done. Just choose wisely, as you'll go through this again with the new "favorite."

Just keep in mind also, it won't happen overnight. You'll just have to slowly introduce new things to him.

I went through this with Star Wars with my 4 year-old. I stopped letting him watch the videos, and packed up all but a few toys. I then started reading a variety of other childrens books, and limited t.v. /video time significantly. The Rex (he's a Clone Trooper) costume was put in the closet. He has Star Wars p.j.s worn only at night and that was the compromise.

When he wanted to wear the costume on the street, I told him no one wears costumes except on Halloween. I'd give him a sticker to wear on his shirt instead. You might be able to make stickers for your son on a computer using a scanner, since this show has been cancelled.

My kids love that show, too ... but my 3 year old son is obsessed with the Chronicles of Narnia. He has to take his sword and horn EVERYWHERE he goes ... he was blowing the horn at the doctor's office yesterday, and everyone was freaking out! Oh, well ... gotta love them and their imaginations! :)

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. When my son was that age he was a different super hero practically every week. He would get mad if I didn't call him by his superhero name, and I often got it wrong because he changed it lol. So I concur with other response,s let it run it's course. It's great that he is creative and has a good imagination. He will soon move on to other things.

Funny story:

One night we tucked my son into bed, I believe he was between 4-5. About 5 minutes later he came out of his room in his batman costume. When I told him that it was bedtime he replied "Batman doesn't have a bedtime." (With hands on hips in a superhero pose) How funny is that. I of course replied "well Batman's mom says otherwise!"