How do I handle this with my 2 year old? I am despairing

For the 'be firm and get them dressed' crowd. Ok. What do you do if the kid either takes them off again or is unconsolably upset? Kids are people and people aren't all the same.

@ooooohnoooooo , you reminded me of my friend making me smile when she admitted telling her (two-year-old) child to stop behaving like a two year old!

Our nursery has a uniform even for 2yo so my 2.5yo is very proud to wear hers. Maybe just make his favourite outfit his everyday one?

Could you use "pijamas" that are just a neutral joggers and top and take him to nursery in that?

I once strapped mine into the car in her pants and said we were going to nursery like that, she got dressed very quickly after that... She was probably a little older though.

I'd do the sleeping in clothes thing for a while, to break the habit, if you don't fancy the nuclear option above 😂

As pp said it’s about being firm. Don’t give your child the option to mess around. You dress them even if it involves kicking and screaming. They soon get used to it!

Definitely this for the win!

My kids have def gone into nursery / preschool in their PJs… I’m sure they’ve seen it all before and won’t think you’re not coping… you’re just taking the heat out of the situation. If not can you just put him to bed in clothes (joggers and a tshirt or whatever he wants) and he just gets up and goes… no need to get changed.

just don’t make it into a battle.

Remember that. I ended up taking her to nursery sometimes in pjs.

I was told
Ask once
Tell once
Then leave them to it. Take them out in pjs (with clothes /shoes secreted so where in your bag). Then at some point they will relent.

It's hard though.

One wise friend once said to me "the trouble with kids is that they are fucking childish. Too right 😂

Ah I feel your pain. This happened to us when DD turned 2 (now 2.5). Getting out of the house is the bane of my life. Tried everything that everyone's suggested but ultimately, if she doesn't want to do it she doesn't want to do it.

If I force her clothes on then she if perfectly capable of stripping off entirely as soon as I let go. If she's only missing a couple of things we just take her as is and then finish when we get there. TV sometimes works. Sometimes getting up earlier helps just to have more time, but equally if she's tired it's actually worse...

Solidarity. You're a good parent - 2yos are just a real challenge.

This! Sometimes you just need to be firm, all this pandering with sticker charts and whatnot sounds mental to me.

I'm in the same situation. My 2 year old has made me late for work more times than I would like to admit lately. Today he wouldn't even let me change his nappy and insisted that he wanted his wet nappy back on 🤦

I find that dressing him first thing in a morning before doing anything else has a higher success rate. Also letting him wear his favourite character clothes and singing whilst he gets dressed sometimes make life slightly easier. There are still plenty of days though where nothing helps and he's just completely unreasonable 😅 I'm hoping this phase doesn't last long!

Absolutely this. Buy some PJ sets that could easily pass as an outfit (joggers, leggings etc with a long sleeve top). Unless he’s wet them, leave him in them in the morning and plonk him in the car. Put his socks / shoes on before you leave / when he’s already strapped into car seat or when you arrive at nursery. Toddlers don’t sweat or get smelly in bed at night.

I don't have much advice but just wanted to say it will pass - hang in there. I have a 3 year old and every morning getting dressed was a nightmare when she was 2 but it's fine now.
Don't give yourself too much of a hard time - sometimes they need to see they can't be dicks without consequences and sometimes that consequence is substandard parenting for a few mins.

They are honestly little shits at this age haha.
2/3 is a horrible age I think it's so so hard

Have you tried not giving him breakfast until he's dressed?

Plus the gap between proper clothes and pjs is tiny in toddlerwear. Put him to sleep in joggers? Mix and match pj sets?

Seriousy, save yourself the angst and send him in pjs. You won't be judged.

I used to play my DS favourite dog 'show me the way to Amarillo' he had to get dressed before the song finished anytime I hear that song I think god that was hard but sometimes I ache for those days 😥

Tried racing him? Toddlers love a race!

I used to wrap my legs around my kids and just get them dressed while they flailed and screamed. It was the only way it was happening. No I didn't hurt them. There were no bruises or scrapes or anything. Just an excess of sweat from me and some swearing under my breath.

It's all in how you frame it. If you are upbeat like "miniKlor has decided that getting dressed is not on his morning agenda so if it's ok with you he's going to arrive in his jammies for a little while, clothes in his bag" they'll probably just shrug and say ok. If you are stressed and "oh my god I'm so sorry I just couldn't get him to put his clothes on, I know it's awful" then they'll worry.

Tell him it's time to get dressed. Then that's ok we need to leave now so we'll put these in your bag and you can get changed at nursery, let's get in the car.

They're total pains in the butt when they want to be. Sympathies.

More sympathy and another vote for making it a game, but I'd also suggest giving him limited choice, eg red or blue t-shirt, black or navy joggers rather than standing looking at the the whole wardrobe. I'm 45 and find making decisions overwhelming all day in the morning, so limited options can be useful.

Brilliant

My 2 year old had major meltdowns as I only used to follow this routine of 'up and dressed before going downstairs' on nursery days. It was protest. Now we do it every single day so it's not linked to the nursery routine. Could this help?