Do you let your little boy wear dresses?

I think your DH is a bit of a dinosaur 🦕

No I wouldn't allow my male child to wear a dress, fancy costume or otherwise. So glad they never went through that 'phase' either. And no I won't reply to the abuse I'm sure to get for posting this. I stand by what I've said and don't care if you don't like my stance!

My DS insisted he wanted to be a girl for months until he realised that boys can grow moustaches and beards.

DS never cared about dresses but wants me to colour his nails when I'm doing mine. He's 5 now, so I just put a transparent layer on his nails these days if he asks.

There are many cultures and countries in the world today where men wear dresses and skirts.
It's just material.

Your son is so young and doesn't understand our cultural constructs around clothing, and it doesn't matter at his age.

Let him full expression of this phase and it will pass quicker than if you forbid or restrict it!

I agree with this. My 4 year old ds has never shown any interest in "girly" clothes luckily. We have pink toys and "girls toys" at home, just incidentally as I don't see why boys shouldn't play with dolls.
But i wouldn't want my son going out in a dress, I wouldn't want people thinking I was pushing some kind of idealogy on him.
Years ago wouldn't have minded as it meant nothing but too much controversy in this area at the moment.

There is a safety element with dressing up clothes generally, that is true.

Oh that’s so strange - your post is so like mine and I hadn’t seen yours when I was typing!

I think the very best thing you can do is let him crack on wearing what he likes without making a big deal of it.

It is in all likelihood a phase, but most kids will find something even more attractive if opposed.

My dd had a dresses phase when he was pre school. I also have a dd who is 5 yrs older so it was to be expected! We didn’t make a big deal at all. When he started school, he then saw another boy dressed as Batman and then basically lived as Batman for several years (yes he is ND, if that makes any difference! Has ADHD). Then he was Thor for a long time.

At age 11 he doesn’t live in dressing up clothes of any kind any more!

Both of my brothers had phases as young men where they liked anything that comes with a dress code element (so things like rock music) so I think there maybe something in males that would like to dress up but they don’t get to as much as women - I don’t think either of my brothers are ND.

I did. DS went through a phase of wearing a fairy costume with wings. Then he moved on to being superman, spent a massive amount of time dressed as a doctor, then Harry Potter and then got obsessed with being a soldier.

He hasn't worn a skirt since he was about 5. But his brother who never wore skirts in childhood, got into fashion and now does sometimes. He's not a cross dresser, he wears quite masculine skirts - when he lived in a Muslim area, no one noticed as he was wearing long black or grey skirts like all the other men around.

I think it's far more damaging to make a big deal of it. Don't encourage or discourage. Pay little attention to it. He'll either outgrow it or continue to like what we think of as traditionally female clothing. Doesn't really matter, either way.

If you actually read the thread i said i had no issues with dressing up i said i wouldn't buy my son a normal dress or let him go outside in public in a dress. I stand by my opinion

Nothing wrong with any sort of fancy dress for playtime! Fun, imaginative play is great for their development and I wouldn’t bat an eyelid if DD was spiderman and DS Elsa. But I wouldn’t let my DD or my DS wear a princess dress to a bbq (I have a fear of them being anywhere near flames after what happened to Claudia Winkleman’s poor daughter) or to the supermarket (just not practical, could trip) or a non uniform day at school (too sweaty and scratchy to be comfy in all day) so would shut all those right down if they asked.

I think dressing up outfits are fine. I’d probably not buy my boys random day to day dresses though.

I did. It's just clothes.

Would your DH be bothered if a daughter dressed up as spiderMAN? Or SuperMAN? Or any other male character? Prolly not..

I did. I have pictures of him wearing tutus while playing ballerinas with his 3 girl cousins.

as a teen he liked to wear eyeliner and nail polish. He starred as Britt in a production of We Will Rock You in a blonde wig at 17.

now he’s the proud father of two DC with a beautiful girlfriend.

Oh fuck. I’ve gone way beyond gender stereotyping. My kids are going to be so confused - dressing up has included everything from pumpkins to unicorns. For me, I don’t see kids dressing up as a demonstration to others of how outrageously “out there” my parenting is - it’s such a banal thing.

It would be laughable to hear someone debating whether a woman should wear trousers to the office or if a man should wear a pink shirt with his suit. These were considered OTT in the not too distant past.

My son has never shown the slightest interest in wearing anything but "boy's" clothes. In fact, up until the age of about 8 or 9, he barely cared at all what he wore.

My DD on the other hand, has been extremely fussy about what she wears from the age of about 4, refuses all dresses and skirts or anything even a little bit "girly" and would live in spiderman t-shirts and football shorts.

No sparkly dresses here! But to answer the question, I let them wear what they want and only draw the line at things that don't fit, are scruffy or are dirty.

My little one, nearly 3 wears all the dress ups wether its princesses or marvel, i dont see it being a problem at all.

We had a mix of items - sometimes daughter would be dressed as Spider-Man and son dressed as a fairy, sometimes they’d both be princesses, sometimes they’d be hulk and Ironman, sometimes Spider-Man with a tiara and princess shoes or Snow White with a shield and an eye patch. It’s just fun, imaginative play.

My DS 4.5 has a fairy princess skirt in his dressing up box and he will just randomly decide to wear it. If we're going somewhere it's not practical (playground etc) I remind him it's harder to climb etc in a skirt and it might get ripped or muddy and he usually takes it off. I don't stop him wearing it to the supermarket or out for a walk etc. If anyone comments on it, they usually compliment his style (he's usually wearing a superhero or dinosaur T-shirt with it). He's worn it to nursery a couple of times and once he said his friend didn't like it, I asked how he felt about what his friend said and he didn't care, he still wanted to wear it. I don't see any need for parents to enforce gendered clothing so young - it's such a brief period in their lives when they are genuinely free to explore and I love that he can be both a princess and Batman at the same time. If it makes your DH uncomfortable seeing a little kid in a dress playing at being a princess I'd say he's the one with the masculinity issues

I remember my little brother being obsessed with anything ‘girly’. He was 6 years younger than me and would spend every waking second with me when I wasn’t at school - he loved dolls houses, barbies, princess dresses, make up. I remember my dad going absolutely mad at me when I was about 9 and my brother was about 3 because I was “turning him into a gay boy”. Even at that young age I couldn’t understand his mindset, and still couldn’t now. Insanity!

Wouldn’t bother me at all! I’ve never been in that position - my DS5 is the most ‘stereotypical boy’ you could possibly imagine but if he was into princesses/dresses etc you best believe they’d be right up there with his superhero dressing up outfits 😊 I’ve raised him from day one that there are no ‘boys things’ and ‘girls things’ and that everyone can simply like what they like

The costume sounds like a fancy dress outfit. I wouldn't let a son or daughter wear that to a family gathering. I'd save it for playtime.

Material that you put on your body doesn’t make your gender.