My 4 Yr Old Wants to Be a Princess for Halloween

I feel that your husband is being a bit paranoid on this one. It is JUST a Halloween costume! Face it.. the princess get a lot of COOL stuff! My not let him dress up as a Fairy Godfather or maybe a King or Prince. Explain that boys are Princes and Girls are Princesses.

So would he be ok with a daughter dressing as a Fireman, Policeman, or Race car Driver? Just curious.

D.
SAHM mom of two: 19(boy) and 6 (girl). Married to the same wonderful man for 13 years.

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How about a Prince? Is it really the skirt he wants or is it the crown? Prince costumes can be pretty ornate, puffy shoulders, etc... Maybe this would satisfy both Dad and your son.

If it is the skirt.......King's often wear long robes that look like dresses. And he can have a crown too.

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I would ask him what he likes about the princess costume. It may not be so much a girl thing as much as the gadgets & glitz & attention the costume represents.

Maybe he would like to be a wizard...with a nice pointy hat with a glittery moon or lightening bolt on it & have a wand & wear a flowing robe with purple, black & silver colors on it? If you find out the details of the what he thinks when he says he wants to be a princess it might let you find a costume that fits his needs & keeps peace in the family. :)

Good luck! ~Teresa

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Be creative. My son struggled with this too at his early 4 and now I can't get super heroes out of his mind. What we would do is tell him he is a prince and is the strong protector of princesses. Take him to shop for a suit and buy a crown and a staff. There is a crown from oriental trading.
OR the Kings costume at target...
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/184-###-###-####-###...

It is flashy and "manly".
Good Luck!

This year "the Princess and the Frog" comes out from disney. Dress him up as a frog (yes, the princess turns into a frog in this version) and he can be the princess in his mind, even if no one else sees it.

I can still remember the night that my mother dressed my little brother in one of my dresses and coat and dress shoes and we went trick or treating. Everyone thought he was me and wanted to know where I was. We still laugh about all the fun that the neighbors had trying to figure out where my brother was.

I agree with the other posters. Find out why he wants to wear a girls outfit and make the guys outfit to fit his wants. If it's as simple as a crown, you're going to come out as his hero and he'll have fun.

I've known a number of little boys like this. Most grow out of it... some don't. The ones that I know that are a bit older, are some of the most caring and respectful little boys I know. My vote would be to let him be what he wants, and roll with it.

In fact, my husband was a princess about 3 years ago (he still says he was the tooth fairy, but I put his costume together and know better). The neighborhood kids still talk about it, and my kids loved it. You might ask your husband if he'd be interested in joining him - that way, it would take the stigma away from a boy being dressed like a princess, and make it more of a fun statement that daddy and son are making.

By the way, when my hubby was a princess, I did a rather "manly" version... he wore his jeans, gymshoes, and sweatshirt, then we added a princess hat with flowing fabric, wings, an extra large tutu, a magic wand, and some pretty pink circles on his cheeks - put it together in about 5 minutes from the kids dress up trunk!

Good luck!
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What if he just dressed as a mouse or a strawberry? This way it's not a girl thing but still sort of what he wants. There's a lot of good diy costume web sites out there. Some don't even require sewing. Good luck!

Well ,there's a bunch .Fireman,clown,cowboy ,cat in the hat,bunny,winnie the pooh,vampire,spongebob,buzz lightyear,dog,indian,robot,lion ,scarecrow,wizard,pirate,frog ,pumpkin,I can go on...Give him all the ideas everyone comes up with to choose or make a game out of it where he has to search for clues in the backyard and if he fiqures it out thats what he can be ,it might make him more excited about it or say you want him to be a fireman tell him you will take him to a firestation to see a real fireman and truck ,pole etc..Choose a pumpkin and take him to a pumpkin patch. Choose a lion and tell him you will take him to the zoo.Just relax and have fun with the ideas ,Halloween is all about fun and making memories,dont forget to take lots of pictures and videos -T. or Razzle Dazzle the Clown.

This is the age boys start to realize one of two things: Girls are beautiful and all that comes with them or their own sexuality towards other boys.

Don't panic! If you could explain to him how kings of the past always had the most beautiful women around them because they liked beautiful and how they wore fine rich clothing and expensive beautiful gold jewelry because they liked beautiful and it's okay to like beautiful things but not okay to want to be a girl. A man is handsome and he needs to look the part so one day he can get that beautiful girl. And one day he will marry the most beautiful girl and he can buy her pretty jewelry and pretty clothes so he can look at her and like what he sees.
Keep it simple.

I would say no myself to the girl costume.

He's around you a lot so wanting to be like you is only normal.
I know it's scary but he'll pass that stage quickly.

What about making a play on the names like "Mini Mouse" and being an actual strawberry shortcake (costume, not food, of course...hahaha), OR making him a prince with a Princess attached to him, made out of a sheet (face drawn on, hair attached), like he rescued her?

You may just want to talk with him about why he likes the "girl-thing" costumes. Is it their grandeur? Colors, as another poster suggested? Styles? I wouldn't push the questions on him, because then, you'll just make him feel embarrassed and ashamed for telling you, and you certainly wouldn't want that. His feelings and desires are important to you, and you want him to know that. Maybe you could go to Wal-Mart and look at the McCall's book or something and just talk about it then, very lightly, to figure out what his real interest is.

Another suggestion would be to go online and talk about what you'd both like in a costume. Maybe you could look for one, too, with him. This way, you're spending time together, working together, you're still acknowledging his feelings and wants, considering his feelings, and helping figure out what exactly is attracting him to the costumes without embarrassing or shaming him.

Just be sure to be sensitive. You don't know what his motivation is, but you don't want him to feel so terrible about his desires that he doesn't share things with you anymore. So, be loving, caring, gentle, and understanding of his feelings. I hope you all find something wonderful together!

what about an irishman..he could wear a kilt?..or peter pan? or prince charming?

Can you just take him to WM and let him pick out a new costume? Our WM has done a good job of dividing the boy and girl costumes so you could easily tell him that "we are picking one from this side". All that being said, my husband would be like yours, he would never allow one of our four year old twin boys to have a "girl" costume and honestly, it would probably bother me, too.

I like the gender neutral but close ideas (strawberry, etc). I'd be curious to find out why he seems to like the "girl" things. If he's artistic, perhaps he's attracted to the bolder colors, etc. cause boy stuff does tend to be drab & boring. Also, if he has more girl friends, etc, he may be more into their stuff :) Take care and try not to stress.