Dressing Habits

Updated on February 07, 2011
V.V. asks from Salt Lake City, UT
7 answers

My 4 year old admantly refuses to wear any clothing lately. We live in Utah, and it's been cold. I won't allow her to wear short sleeves. She likes to wear leggings, but I feel like she should cover her bottom by wearing a longer shirt or skirt over her leggings. We bought her yoga pants, which she wore at first, but now refuses to wear those. She has capri leggings which she also refuses to wear, because "they are not long." The shirts she used to wear all the time, she refuses, for one reason or another. I have offered to buy her new clothes, but I feel like we will have the same problems. She'll wear them at first and then refuse. I don't have the money to keep buying new clothes, even from secondhand stores. We go through long tantrums over clothing. I am even refusing to do her laundry because why should I wash her clothes if she has perfectly fine clothing in her drawers to wear? Maybe that's harsh, I don't know! I am so beside myself! We have tried rewards, threats, bribes, taking away choices, everything we can think of... PLEASE help!

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J.F.

answers from Tallahassee on

Wish I could be of some help. Unfortunately, I am going through a lot of the same things with my 4 year old daughter. I seriously think she has some sensory issues and I'm going to make an appointment with her doctor to see what she thinks. Our biggest issue is putting on socks and shoes. Most of the time if we even mention putting on socks and shoes she has a meltdown. One of her dresser drawers is full of different kinds of socks. I've even ordered special socks for her without seams and those don't feel right on her feet either. She absolutely will not put socks on herself so we just have to do it for her and then we're lucky if the socks stay on her feet all day when she's at school. There is only one pair of shoes that she will consider wearing right now and it's hard enough to get her to put them on without crying. She would be happiest if she could wear flip flops every day but it's too cold for that right now and she's not allowed to wear them to school either. The last couple of weeks she's started throwing fits sometimes when she puts pants on. When I ask her what's wrong she cries that they just don't feel right. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

B.S.

answers from Saginaw on

I'm not sure, but it sounds like your being the picky one.

I mean, should she wear shorts in the winter time, of course not. But no short sleeves. No leggings unless with a long shirt or skirt.

Look my daughter has lots of clothing issues. But....we pick and choose our battles. If she preferred short sleeves over long sleeves, well thats why they make coats for the outdoors.

Try to find a balance of what she likes and give in a little.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.P.

answers from New York on

Try ignoring it for a while and see what happens. Ask yourself whether or not this is worth a battle. In every photo at this age I am wearing some form of tutu and a crown. Did my mom love it? Nope, but it simply wasn't worth a battle- except for Sundays b/c the tutu wasn't allowed in church. It was a phase and it was over pretty quickly. My sister wore this hot pink stretch pants w/ matching t-shirt for two months straight... mom washed it most nights b/c my sister would pick it out of the laundry.

If you keep playing the game, she will too. Just let her wear what she wants. If she's cold or embarassed, she won't do it again. If she's not, well... maybe she'll be into fashion some day!

1 mom found this helpful
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J.S.

answers from Dallas on

Stopping giving her options and dont give in. Sounds like she is just be a girl. Let her pick out her own weather appropriate clothing and give her a timephrame to be ready in. If she only wants to wear short sleeve shirts then pack them up and not make it an option until the weather warms up.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.C.

answers from Boston on

She's 4. It's a phase. As long as she's got on a coat when she's outside, why fight her? (If you're going to church or something important like that, then it's a different story. Then give her a choice of 2 outfits, and/or have her get dressed in the car, or something imaginative and novel like that.)
My 3-1/2yo daughter is going through the same thing; some days she wears a bathing suit inside all day. It's not hurting anyone, she's happy, and there are worse things she could be doing.
Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

When my daughter was little, if she wanted to go naked around the house, that was fine with me.
If she wanted to wear a tutu and cowboy boots to church, that was fine too. She grew out of it.

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M.C.

answers from Washington DC on

Have you tried Jeggings? They are leggings that are made out of jeans material. Target also has a bunch of just regular leggings that are made of thicker stretch material.

http://www.target.com/Infant-Toddler-Xhilaration-Pocket-J...

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